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Chapter Text

Regulus POV: 

It’s been fives years since that night and Regulus still blames himself for not saving Lily, if only he’d been a couple of seconds faster she might still be alive. Maybe he and James would still have their dear friend with them, and Harry, who Regulus loves more than life itself, would still have his mother. 

They tried their hardest, and over time things got easier, they have a routine now, they’re all genuinely happy as a unique family of three, but at the beginning things were rough. Both Regulus and James were grieving the loss of Lily, and trying to figure out if their relationship could still work after everything that had happened and after explaining to James that he and Barty only joined the Death Eaters because Evan was forced to. Not to mention that they were both clueless on how to raise a toddler by themselves. Regulus thoroughly more confused than James. 

It took much longer for Regulus to forgive himself, than for James to forgive him. James accepted that Regulus did what he did for good reasons, and the fact that he almost died betraying Voldemort made it pretty obvious he wasn’t a true Death Eater. And he risked himself again to save James and his son. Besides James loves Regulus so much, there is hardly anything he wouldn’t forgive him for. At least that’s what James told him. 

Regulus is interrupted from his thoughts by a pair of warm, strong arms wrapping around his waste, which belong to James. “Are you all right, love” James breathes into his ear, giving Regulus goose bumps. “Just thinking” Regulus says relaxing into James. They were standing on the back porch of their home looking out into their overly large yard. No one could see them because of the fidelius. 

They stand stand there in comfortable silence for a while before James breaks the silence “I miss him” he says so quietly Regulus can barely hear him. He doesn’t have to ask to know that he’s talking about Sirius “I know” Regulus looks up at the Sirius star where James is already looking “me too” Regulus replies just as quietly, “I know” James repeats what Regulus said minutes prior. 

After Regulus and James started dating, when they were back in school, Regulus and Sirius and were starting to repair the damage that their parents had caused their relationship. They were learning to be brothers again. But then Regulus broke his brothers heart again by joining the Death Eaters, and he died before he could explain to Sirius why he did what he did. Well he didn’t actually die, obviously, but Sirius thinks he did. 

“He and Remus are probably living the high life right now, taking Sirius’ bike out every night” Regulus says trying to lighten the mood, it must work a little bit because James smiles before he says “probably fucking each other senseless after they get back too, Remus has a bit of a bike kink”

Regulus can’t help the surprised noise that he makes “I did not need that image of my brother” he groans, then they’re both laughing hysterically, James has tears in his eyes. They do this a lot, simply just because they can, they’re safe and happy, their son is soundly asleep in the house. 

“Come on let’s go to sleep” James says lacing his fingers into Regulus’ and lightly tugging him into the house. 

They are both already in their night clothes, so when they reach their bed they lay straight down and go into a spooning position, James as the big spoon Regulus as the little.

As Regulus drifts off to sleep he thinks about how far he has come, when they first got back together, Regulus couldn’t sleep with James arms around him like this, because it reminded him of the inferi. Now he can barely sleep without the warm embrace of James Potter.  

~~

Regulus doesn’t know what time it is when he hears the door to their bedroom open.  “Reg?” Harry says sniffling a bit, Regulus sits up and whispers “kitten?”. Regulus’ animagus form is a cat so he’s taken to calling Harry that nickname. James, who felt that it was unfair that Regulus gets to use an animagus related nickname for their son, calls Harry bambi. 

After noticing that he was successful in waking Reggie up Harry pushes the door open the rest of the way and walks into the room. It’s then that Regulus notices his wet cheeks and puffy eyes. Regulus opens his arms indicating Harry to come closer, as soon as he’s within reach Regulus grabs him and pulls him into a comforting hug. 

After Harry’s sniffling stops Regulus asks “Veux-tu en parler” softly, “j’ai fait un cauchemar” Regulus nods in understanding. “Puis-je dormir ici ce soir” Harry asks quietly “bien sûr” Regulus said without hesitation.

He tucked Harry in between he and James, even with the third person added they all still had plenty of room, as their bed was quite large. Regulus ran his fingers through the messy black hair that he’d come to love over the years. Glad that he could offer comfort to his son unlike his parents ever did for him.

Harry was a truly remarkable kid, at 6 years old he was fluent in both French and English, he could even do some basic spells using either James or Regulus’ wand. Recently he was starting to do some wandless magic, such as summoning a snack from the kitchen, or transfiguring a toy when he got bored of it, to both of his father’s surprise. Neither of them knowing if it was intentional or not. 

when Regulus looked back up he met the eyes of James who has apparently woken up at some point during he and Harry’s conversation. James face was a mixture of concern and confusion, then Regulus realized that James had probably not understood a word of the French. “Nightmare” he mouthed, James face turned into one of understanding. 

They both knew what Harry’s nightmares meant, they knew Voldemort wasn’t actually gone, just like they knew Harry was a horcrux. That’s part of the reason they have stayed hidden for so long, they knew Dumbledore would try to use him. The other reason is that they know about the prophecy and that death eaters are probably looking for him because of it. 

~~

Regulus is the first one awake the next morning, quietly so not to wake the messy haired man and boy in his bed, he makes his way downstairs. “Kreacher” he calls, then the elf appears with a little pop.

“Did master Regulus call for Kreacher?” He croaks. “Please just call me Regulus, I am not your master”, he freed the elf years ago after the cave, but when they went to France the elf insisted on coming, so now he gets payed, which Regulus is pretty sure he gives back to them in secret, and days off. 

“Kreacher can you please make some breakfast for us please” the elf bowed “of course” a little pause “Regulus”, he sounded like he had to force that bit out. “Kreacher will make young Harry some treacle tart, and would you like some tea as well” Regulus Smiled at the elf “I’m sure Harry would love some treacle tart but I’ll take care of the tea” Kreacher bows again then gets to making the treacle tart. 

Twenty minutes later the tea and food is sitting on the table with a warming charm on it when Regulus hears the stairs creek. He walks out of the dining room and is met with the sight of a tall, messy haired man carrying his mini me with green eyes, both wearing glasses. It was obvious from a young age that Harry had inherited his fathers terrible eye sight. 

Another thing that Harry gets from his father is that he is not a morning person. James walks groggily to the couch and flops down, Harry sprawled on his chest. Regulus can’t help the amused smile on his face as he walks towards them. When he’s standing in front of the couch he says “Kreacher made treacle tart”, that does the trick, Harry’s eyes snap open and he doesn’t waste a second before he is running to the dining room, he can briefly hear Harry thanking Kreacher. 

The elf surprisingly has a soft spot for Harry, he’s always making his favorite foods and using his pay to buy him toys, not that the kid needs anymore. When Harry was a baby he over heard Kreacher singing Harry songs to get him to go back to sleep so he would not wake up Regulus and James. The songs were slightly concerning and violent but they did work, even now when Harry can’t sleep he asks Kreacher to sing them to him and the elf complies. 

James groans then holds his hand out, Regulus rolls his eyes but reaches to grab it to pull him up, “you do know that you are both bigger and stronger than me, don’t you” he says trying to sound annoyed but honestly nothing about James Potter was annoying to him. “I know, I love it” James replies tightening his grip on Regulus’ hand “because I can do this” then he’s pulling Regulus down on top of him, Regulus let’s out a surprised gasp. 

Soon Regulus has a leg on each side of James and their faces are just a couple inches apart “your so fucking beautiful, you know that” James says in that voice of his that makes you not able to doubt what he’s saying, then their kissing, James has his hands in Reg’s hair and pulls, Regulus gasps James uses this as an opportunity to put his tongue in Regulus’ mouth, just as Regulus has his hands under James shirt a pop sounds beside them and they break apart. 

When Regulus looks over his shoulder he sees Kreacher awkwardly staring at the floor. Without looking up he says “Harry told Kreacher to get your attention, and to tell you to stop” then not wasting another second he disappears again. 

“Stop being gross and come eat with me” Harry yells from the dining room. James snorts “he knows us so well” Regulus smacks him over the head before standing up and straightening his clothes. James gets up as well looking at Regulus with an offended look, Regulus gives him a kiss on the cheek for his troubles before walking to the dining room, James following closely behind. 

Harry looks up when they walk into the dining and gives them a smirk that reminds Regulus entirely too much of himself. He ruffles Harry’s hair as he sits down beside him. “We were not being gross, for you information” James says as he sits on Harry’s other side. Harry gives him a look “yes, you were” he says after swallowing his food before speaking, because Regulus has taught him proper manners. 

“What makes you so sure” James has his elbow propped on the table and his head resting on his hand, turned sideways so he’s facing towards Harry. “I know things” Harry says tapping his head, “are you sure, it sounds pretty empty in there” James says also tapping Harry’s head. “No it’s not” Harry says pushing James hand away “ok, if you’re sure” James says still sounding jokingly unconvinced, then taking some treacle tart off Harry’s plate and taking a bite. 

Harry looks over at Regulus for help, but he just smiles and shrugs “don’t look at me, he’s your dad” Harry raises his eyebrow, “he’s your boyfriend” he says with sass, yep definitely him Regulus thinks. “You love me” then James in tickling Harry in the stomach, because for some reason he is super sensitive there, and Harry is giggling. 

Regulus leaves them to whatever it is that they’re doing and goes to the room, because he’s pretty sure he heard a voice. He was right, when he reaches the living room he sees Narcissa’s face in the fire. 

The Malfoys are the only ones who know they are alive. They hadn’t wanted anyone to know but since Narcissa helped hide him after the cave and Lucius is the reason he was able to save James, they couldn’t really get out of them knowing. Regulus also had to admit it was good for Harry to have another kid to play with, he and Draco were quite close. 

“Cissy?” He asks as he comes to stand in front of the fire “Regulus, my apologies to bother you so early, but Draco has been asking for days to come see Harry, Me and Lucius have some business to attend to today and tomorrow. and I told him I would ask if he could visit, if you aren’t available today I can get the sitter to watch him while we are gone” she says primly, “of course, Harry has been asking to see him as well, send him through, we’re just finishing up breakfast”. 

Malfoy manor was the only place their floo was connected to, but only Narcissa or Draco could use it or fire call through it, because they were the only ones in on the fidelius. Due to Lucius’ high ranks within the death eaters they all agreed that he should not know their location. Lucius was not loyal to Voldemort as he once was, he and Regulus were on the same side, both of them just wanting to protect their families. Lucius had been spying for Regulus for years. 

Draco comes through the floo just a few minutes later “good morning Regulus, thank you for having me” you would not think this kid was six by the way he spoke, “good morning to you Draco, and of course your always welcome here” Draco nods, “Harry is in the dining room, let me take your bag” Draco hands Regulus his bag with a quiet “thank you” before walking to the dining room. He knows exactly where it is because he’s been coming to visit here since he was a baby. 

When Regulus reenters the dining room he finds that Draco and Harry are sharing one chair and Draco is now helping himself to some treacle tart. Regulus finds some humor that Harry, who is still in his wrinkled night clothes and hair pointing in every direction, is sharing a chair with Draco who is in freshly ironed clothes and his hair gelled to perfection, they kind of reminded Regulus of him and James. 

After everyone has finished breakfast and Kreacher has taken care of the dishes, even though James volunteered to do them, James asks “so what do you two want to do?” “quidditch” they both reply at the same time, “well that was easy” Regulus chuckles, then their all walking outside to the back yard. 

Regulus is sitting on the grass watching them pass the quaffle around, James giving them tips as they play, after all if  it wasn’t for the war he would have gone pro. Draco has really good aim, he could probably be a chaser like James was, Harry on the other hand was really good at diving to catch it when one of them dropped it, he’d be a good seeker like Regulus. 

After a while James came and sat down next to Regulus, interlacing their fingers together, watching the boys pass the quaffle between each other. Regulus noticed that Draco dropped it a lot more than he should, probably because he could tell Harry liked to dive for it. 

 After a while of them playing Regulus made them get off the brooms while he and James went in the house to get drinks, because they’re not allowed to fly without supervision in case something happens. 

Regulus asks Kreacher to get them some drinks then sits down, James sits beside him, then groans, “I think you were right” “I’m always right, but uh what exactly was I right about” Regulus asks with his head held high. James scoffs then bumps his shoulder into Reg’s “I think Harry is going to be a seeker” “I thought that was obvious” Regulus bumps James’ shoulder back, James smiles “I had some hope, that he’d take after me”. 

When Regulus doesn’t say anything James keeps talking “he may look like me but that child’s personality is all you” regulus lays his head on James’ shoulder “I’m not sure if that a good thing or not” “honestly me either” James laughs, Regulus laughs too. 

when Kreacher returns with the drinks Regulus gets up and walks back towards the door, but when he reaches it he looks back at James “has has your hero complex though” then he’s walking again, James catches up and opens his mouth to protest, but before he gets the chance they both freeze at the scene in front of them. 

They look at each other with equally confused expressions and then back in front of them. 

Chapter Text

James POV: 

He does not have a hero complex and neither does his son, he’s about to tell Regulus as much when he notices the scene in front of him.

Draco is petting the snake that Harry is holding, Harry’s making weird hissing noises and the snake is hissing back, almost like Harry is talking to it, but that’s not possible, is it?

James looks at his boyfriend. Regulus is the one who has done most of the research about the horcrux inside Harry, so if this was some kind of side effect Regulus would know. Except when James meets his eyes Regulus also has a look of confusion on his face. 

“Is he speaking-“ James starts to ask

Regulus cuts him off before he can finish, “yes” he says stiffly. 

“How is that possible, is it because of the horcrux”, James doesn’t know much about Parseltongue, but he knows it’s incredibly rare. 

“I don’t think so, this is all Harry” then Regulus is walking over to the boys and James is following. 

“Whatcha doing kitten” Regulus says gently as he crouches down next to Harry. 

“He’s talking to him” Draco says excitedly. 

Regulus rolls his eyes “yes, I can see that, my question is why” 

“We were trying to find a new game, he heard us and said he had an idea” Harry says casually as though this is completely normal. 

“It was so cool, we were talking about what to do next then this snake comes and out of no where and started hissing, then Harry picked him up and starting hissing back, Harry’s been telling me what he’s been saying” Draco says, talking faster than James and Regulus have ever heard him talk before.

“How long have you been able to do this” James asks also crouching down next to the boys. 

“Todays the first time I’ve done it” Harry says with a shrug. 

“Bambi if you put down the snake me and Reggie will let the two of practice spells with our wands” James says trying to show nonchalance, but he has a terrible poker face and he really hates snakes.

Harry hisses something to the snake, then puts it down and it slithers away. 

”Just don’t tell Narcissa” Regulus pipes in on James’ earlier remark. 

“Obviously” Draco says sarcastically “mother doesn’t want me practicing magic just yet, but what she doesn’t know won’t kill her” he finishes as he gets up and dusts himself off.

“What happens at my house stays at my house” Harry says also getting up, then they fist bump each other and walk back into the house. 

Their friendship has always slightly confused James. It was so much different than how his relationships with his friends had been, but yet it seems to work for Harry and Draco. They were each others first friend and for Harry Draco is his only friend. 

“Dad, if you don’t hurry up I’ll put the snake in your bed tonight” Harry calls from somewhere in the house, Draco laughing while he says it. 

It’s safe to say that, that boy is not the best example on Harry, but James’s supposes that’s what friends are for. 

“No you won’t, Reg won’t let you” James replies to his son’s threat confidently.

“Go ahead I won’t stop you” Regulus says before smirking at James and also reentering the house. 

At twenty-five years old Regulus is still the cocky little shit that he was at fifteen. 

James secretly loves it, but he’ll never tell Regulus that, although he’s pretty sure his boyfriend already knows. James has never been good at hiding his emotions. 

When James enters the living room he sees Draco and Harry sitting on the couch, Regulus sitting on an armchair, James moves to sit in another armchair. 

As soon as they see him they stop talking and then switch to French. They love to do this to him, start talking in French and look like they’re scheming something, James can never tell if they’re being serious or not.

”Dis-le moi avant de le faire, comme ça je ne serai pas sur le lit.” Regulus says once again smirking in James’ direction. 

“Attends, tu étais sérieux?” Harry asks with a face mixed with confusion but also a bit of excitement.

”Oui, ça va être drôle, vraiment peur des serpents” Reg gives Harry and Draco a full smile, which James loves because he loves when Reg smiles, but it also slightly scares him because that smile definitely means he’s scheming something. 

“Nous le ferons ce soir” Draco says mischievously. James won’t lie, he’s starting to get a bit nervous, these three either have the last name Black or were raised by one. 

Harry gives Draco a slightly surprised look before Draco shrugs and says “Il a raison, ce sera drôle”, Harry raises an eyebrow, shrugs and then nods. 

“What are you three talking about” he asks officially reaching his max on confusion. 

Harry gets up and walks over to him, climbing on his lap, “you better sleep with one eye open” then he gets up again. James has accepted that he is raising a future slytherin. 

He throws his hands up “do you two want to practice magic or not”. 

“Obviously” the two boys say at the same time. 

“Yeah, James what kind of question is that” Regulus says jokingly. 

“Well all right then, let’s go to the practice room” James says grabbing Regulus’ hand and pulling him up. 

The practice room used to be the ballroom but they obviously don’t need a ballroom so now they use it to train Harry and sometimes Draco some basic spells, or on days that one of them really just needs to send hexes to get some anger out. 

It’s also where Regulus brews his potions. He makes the ones they might need around the house but he also makes many that they don’t need and give them to Narcissa to donate to places such as Hogwarts or St. Mungos under the Malfoy name. 

~~

After a couple of hours they have worked on accio which Harry perfected, both Regulus and James expected considering that he’d been doing wandlessly without trying for a couple of years now, but Draco was still struggling with it a bit. 

They also worked on Lumos which both boys picked up quite quickly. The last spell they were working on is expelliarmus. 

Harry had managed to get the wand Draco was holding to fly out of his hand but hadn’t managed to catch it yet. 

Draco had only managed to get Harry to drop his, but it didn’t move away from his feet. 

James has taken his wand back from Harry and was trying to demonstrate to Draco the correct pronunciation and movement for the spell. Harry was standing beside him moving his hands and saying it the same way trying to practice. 

But as soon as he did it Draco dropped his wand, it didn’t move away from Draco’s feet but it still fell. 

“Sorry” Draco said bending over to pick up Regulus’ wand. 

James met his boyfriends eyes, both understanding that Draco didn’t accidentally drop the wand. 

“That’s ok Draco, why don’t we call it a night and go eat dinner”, Regulus says softly going to retrieve his wand from Draco. 

~~ 

Harry POV: 

After Reg gets his wand back from Draco we go to the dining room, Kreacher made pizza, which doesn’t happen often and a big chocolate cake for dessert. 

After we eat me and Draco go up to my room. They used to try and get us to sleep in different rooms but Draco would always end up coming in my room anyways, so now they just add an extra bed when he stays.

”Whatcha wanna do Dray?” I ask once we’ve changed into our night clothes. 

“Can we watch one of those movie things, mother never lets me” he says moving his hands around like he doesn’t really know what they’re called. 

“yeah, why doesn’t your mum let you watch them” Harry asks while finding his remote. 

Their house has electricity, even though his dads say it’s unusual in a wizarding home, they added it when he was a baby. They even have a telephone on the wall.

”She says it’s too muggle” Draco says watching Harry get the TV turned on. 

“What’s she got against muggles” Harry’s never met one but his dads don’t mind them and their inventions are pretty cool.

”I don’t really think she does, she just says we have to keep up appearances” Draco says, now sitting on his own bed while Harry climbs onto his. 

“Reggie said he used to have to do that before he moved here with me and my dad” Harry said now looking at Draco who nods,

”yeah it kind of sucks” 

~~ 

After they finish their movie Harry says what he’s been thinking since their conversation. 

“I kind of feel bad, their only here because of me, I know how much they miss their friends, they talk about them all the time” 

Draco looks at him sincerity “don’t feel bad it’s not your fault, mother talks all the time about how much they love you” 

“I love them too” Harry says quietly.

They’re about to fall asleep when Draco gasps “the snake!” He says and then they’re going back downstairs to the back yard. 

finding the snake is pretty simple, Harry just hisses and asks if it wants to prank someone and it comes right out of its hiding place. 

When they go back inside Regulus is waiting leaned against the wall, he gestures up the stairs and that’s where they go, right into James and Regulus’ room where James is sound asleep and snoring. 

Harry sets the snake right his dad chest and tells the snake he can do whatever he wants. 

He slithers all the way up until his face is in front of Jame’s he sticks his tongue out and it touches James right on the nose. 

James wakes up and screams like full on screams, he flings the snake to the side gets up and runs down the stairs “I’m going to kill you Harry” 

Harry grabs the snake and he and Draco take off down the stairs after James. 

When they reach the bottom Regulus is laughing against the wall in front of a very unamused James. 

After Harry lets the snake back into the yard James walks over to them “damn kids” he says, ruffling both their hair, Draco rolls his eyes but doesn’t object. 

Regulus was right, that was hilarious. 

Chapter Text

3 years later 

October 31, 1989

James POV: 

Even after eight years, Halloween still brings up bad memories for James, he knows it does for Regulus as well. 

Harry knows what happened to his mum, knows how she died and who killed her. They hadn’t wanted to tell that to a child but he deserved to know why he wasn’t allowed to do certain things that Draco was. 

James and Regulus have kept her memory alive. They have shown Harry every picture they have of her, many of them are hanging up on the walls of their house along with other photos of the people they love. 

They tell Harry stories about how brilliant she was, about how good of a friend she was, and of course her beauty. About how much she loved Harry that first year of his life. 

It’s safe to say that Harry was not planned by James and Lily. He loved Lily in the most platonic way possible, but other than an obsessive crush during fifth year, James had never wanted more than friendship with Lily. He was always too enamored with Regulus, as was Lily with Mary. 

But during the war, things got rough. Sirius and Remus were both out on a mission and it was just James and Lily at the orders safe house. 

The Mckinnons had just been killed and James still felt betrayed by Regulus, Mary was missing.  The two of them got too drunk and slept together to distract themselves from the heartbreak going on around them. It hadn’t messed with their friendship, they brushed it off as two friends helping each other. 

When they found out that Lily was pregnant, James assured her that he would support whatever decision that she made. 

Lily knew from the start that she was having the baby, she gave James a choice and told him he didn’t have to be involved if he didn’t want to, but James instantly shot that down, of course he wanted to be apart of his child’s life. He once again assured Lily that it would be ok and that they could raise the baby together as friends. 

James wrote to Regulus, he knew he shouldn’t but for some reason he felt guilty about it, he told Regulus what had happened between him and Lily, he also wrote that if Regulus ever wanted to come back that he and Lily would welcome him into their off little family. He couldn’t deny that he missed Reg terribly. 

They moved to Potter manor, which was empty after the death of James parents. They live there all through Lily’s pregnancy, Harry was born there. Remus, Sirius, and Peter came to visit often. During the first few weeks of Harry’s life they lived there with them, helping James and Lily with the baby. 

When Dumbledore came and told them that they had to go into hiding, that Voldemort was after Harry, his first choice as a secret keeper was Sirius, of course it was, he trusted Sirius with his life. 

But Sirius had convinced him that using him would be too obvious, that they would be safer if they used Peter, James was a little hesitant but knew his best friend had their best interest at heart so James went through with it. 

When James heard the doorbell that night, he knew that Peter truly was a rat and had betrayed them, Peter had never before rang the door bell when coming to visit them. He yelled for Lily to run before he even opened the door, she should have had time to escape, he doesn’t know why didn’t. As soon as the door was opened Voldemort raised his wand and then James was out. 

Apparently Regulus was about 30 feet away from James front door, under an invisibility cloak that he may or may not stolen, when he saw James get greeted by Voldemort. 

He shot a spell, he knew it was a long shot that his aim would be accurate from that distance but he had to try, he got lucky and his spell hit James and knocked him out right before Voldemort’s spell could hit him. Thinking he was dead, Voldemort started walking up the stairs towards Lily and Harry. 

Regulus told James that he started sprinting towards the house, hoping that he would get there in time, but when he entered the room it was already too late. 

Lily was lying on ground already dead. He saw Voldemort shoot the killing curse at Harry just for it to rebound off him and go back towards Voldemort, Reg said he sort of evaporated away. 

When James woke up he thought he had died because all he was the love of his life holding his son. 

Regulus had quickly explained that Lucius Malfoy had told Regulus that there was a spy and that Voldemort was going to James’ house to kill them, and that Regulus had come as soon as he could to try to save them, and that they needed to leave as quickly as possible as soon as they had buried Lily, that he would explain the rest later. 

Reg made a headstone while James picked her favorite flowers front their garden, both of them crying the entire time. 

After they laid Lily to rest, James and Regulus grabbed the necessities. Then James held his son while Regulus took them somewhere unknown. 

When Regulus was setting up the fidelius he had asks James when he was going to contact Remus and Sirius so that he could let them in on the charm. James told him he wasn’t going to tell them.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, he did. It was just that after the night he had just had, his only concern was keeping his son safe, and he felt that the only way to do that was to live in complete secrecy, with only the three of them. 

Regulus told them that it wasn’t just between the three of them as the Malfoys knew they were alive, he didn’t really like that idea, he didn’t trust the Malfoys, but he trusted Regulus who seemed to trust the Malfoys. 

The first week of them living in France was filled them trying to learn how to raise Harry together, and trying to catch each other up on what had been happening. 

Regulus told James his reasoning behind everything he had done during the war, and about how Kreacher saved Regulus from the cave and how Narcissa helped hide him. 

James missed his friends, but he knew that Sirius would have taken care of Peter to avenge him. He knew that when the time came when he could see his friends again they would give him a very detailed explanation of how they killed him. 

~~

Regulus POV: 

Regulus and Harry are currently in the kitchen making cupcakes from scratch, while Kreacher is making dinner. 

Harry loves to bake things the muggle way instead of the magic way, James and Regulus really love this because they’ve tried to make sure Harry grows up with an appreciation towards muggles, it’s what Lily would want. 

It’s also worked out because Draco also doesn’t mind muggles and even Narcissa is warming up to certain muggle contraptions. Regulus isn’t sure how Lucius feels as he does not see him very often, except when they are trading information that they have discovered. 

Despite the bad memories that Halloween brings, they’ve tried to still make Halloween a fun day for Harry, he’s still a kid and deserves to be able to enjoy the day without only thinking of it as the day his mother was murdered. 

They’ve made a bit of a tradition, every year Draco and Narcissa come over and have dinner, then the kids eat way to much sugar for dessert, after that Narcissa typically leaves and the rest of them all watch a scary movie. 

Narcissa has been a great help to them over the years, not only has she kept their secret over the years, she makes sure they get daily posts so that they knows what’s going on outside. She makes sure that Regulus’ potions get to their intended place. She goes and gets their clothes for them. She has really become apart of the family. 

As soon as they get the cupcakes on the oven, Regulus sends Harry out to the backyard where they will probably find him talking to his snake friend. 

Their prank on James was the first of many, the boys found it entertaining and the snake also enjoyed it, so Harry says. 

The two have created a sort of friendship if you could call something between a boy and a snake that. Harry even gave it a name, Slither, which is an absolute terrible name if you ask Regulus but Harry was six when he named him. 

Regulus puts the thoughts of that away while he walks upstairs to his and James bedroom, where he knows his boyfriend is currently hiding trying to get his emotions in check. 

This day is sad for him too, the only difference is that he is much better at controlling and hiding his emotions. 

When he opens the door, he finds James sitting on the bed looking through one of their many photo books of their friends. Regulus goes to sit beside him. When he looks down at the book he finds that James is looking at a photo of James, Regulus, and Lily. It hurts Regulus’ heart a little bit seeing how their family could have been. 

“I shouldn’t have listened to Sirius, I should have just made him secret keeper anyhow” James says finally looking away from the picture to look at Regulus. 

“You can’t blame yourself for something you had no control over, something you couldn’t have known” Regulus tells him grabbing James’ hand into his own. 

“He was my friend, I should have noticed that he was acting weird I-“ James starts to say but Regulus cuts him off, 

“exactly he was your friend, you had no reason to think you couldn’t trust him, it. Is. Not. Your. Fault. Do. Not. Blame. Yourself. Regulus says while cradling James’ face. Then they’re kissing, it’s not fast or aggressive, it’s soft and comforting. 

“Narcissa and Draco will be here before long we should probably go downstairs” James nods then they walk downstairs. 

Regulus was right when they past the back door Harry is sure enough holding the snake, James does a little shutter that makes Regulus laugh. 

They have perfect timing, as soon as they enter the living room Draco and Narcissa step out of the floo. 

“Cousin” Narcissa greets before Regulus walks over and kisses her on both cheeks. 

“Harry is outside with Slither” Regulus tells Draco, the blond smiles and then takes off running outside, it’s safe to say that Draco has gotten a lot more comfortable around James and Regulus and has let down many of his walls. 

The three adults follow behind Draco and make it outside just in time to see the blonde hurl himself at Harry and the two of them hit the ground along with Slither who lets out an angry hiss. 

You would think that the two boys hadn’t seen each other in forever but they saw each other just last week. 

Narcissa continues to walk the rest of the way to the boys, while James and Regulus stay on the porch. 

When Narcissa reaches the wrestling boys she clears her throat and they stop wrestling, and look up. 

“Cissy!” Harry says before getting up and hugging her, just as Draco had gotten more comfortable around them, Harry had gotten more comfortable around her. 

The first time Harry hugged her Regulus was worried about what Narcissa’s reaction would be, but she is surprisingly affectionate to the boys in private, you would never catch her that way in public, but alone is different. 

~~

When Kreacher is finished with dinner they all sit down to eat, James and Regulus sit beside each other sneaking touches under the table, Harry and Draco sit across from them, whispering to each other and giggling, Narcissa sits at the head, pretending not to notice any of this. 

For dessert they eat the cupcakes that Regulus and Harry made, Draco and Harry eat way too many of them. 

When it’s time for them to watch a movie, Narcissa gets up and the two boys give her pleading glances, every year they try to get her to stay, but she never does. Regulus notices that even James is looking at her just a little  bit to innocently, this whole situation makes Regulus snort. 

Narcissa stares at them all for a second before she says “I suppose I could stay” Harry and Draco give each other triumphant smiles, “you’ll love it” Draco tells her. 

Narcissa in fact does not love, the constant jump scares in the movie concerned her, she is quite glad when it’s over. 

As she makes her way towards the floo, she stops and turns to the boys “I almost forgot” she says pulling out two very large bags of candy and handing them to the boys. 

“Really” James groans. 

“Better you than me” she says before entering the floo.

“Damn Slytherins” James says looking at Reg. 

Regulus smirks but then remembers that the two boys who are about to be on a massive sugar rush are in his care for the night, and his face quickly falls. 

~~ 

When James and Regulus finally make it to their room, they can still hear the boys giggling but honestly Regulus doesn’t care anymore. 

He shoves James down on the bed before climbing on top of him and kissing the life out of him. James groans and puts his hands on Regulus’ waste. He is just about to open the button on James pants when James gently pushes Regulus off of him. 

Regulus lets put a whine and James chuckles. 

“Sorry love but we can’t do that with children in the next room” James says getting up off the bed to search for something to sleep in. 

“There is such thing as a silencing charm you know” Regulus replies. 

“Not risking it, Narcissa would actually murder us if she found we out we did that while her son was in the house” James says matter of factly. 

Regulus just sighs before also getting up to get something to wear, because James has a point. 

After they get changed, they climb into bed and get into their usual spooning position. 

Regulus is just about to fall asleep when James says “I want to reach out to Sirius and Remus”. 

Chapter Text

Regulus POV: 

Regulus has been waiting for James to say that for years, it’s honestly taken him a lot longer than Regulus thought it would. 

“Ok we’ll send a letter in the morning” Regulus says rolling over so he can actually see James. He’s surprised to see a look of confusion and shock on his boyfriends face. 

“You don’t care if I tell them?” James asks. 

“Of course not” Regulus replies, “I’ve always liked Remus and even though Sirius is an absolute idiot, he’s my brother and I love him”. Regulus sees James. 

“If you ever tell him I said that, I will deny it” Regulus says pointing a finger at James. 

James pulls Regulus in for a kiss.

”I love you” James says against his lips.

”I love you too” Regulus says pulling on James lower lip with his teeth. “Which is why even if I couldn’t stand my brother and his boyfriend, I would still let you bring them here and I would smile  and pretend I didn’t care, because you deserve to be happy” 

That statement apparently does something for James because he cast silencio and the next thing Regulus knows their both naked and James is reaching for the bottle of lube. 

~~

After they have both finished, Regulus cast a cleaning spell, then turns to James. 

“I thought it wasn’t worth the wrath of Narcissa” Regulus says raising an eyebrow at James.

”Your little speech turned me on” James says shamelessly, that night they sleep naked limbs tangled with each others. 

The next morning the first thing Regulus does is get some parchment and a quill so James can write his letter to Remus and Sirius. 

“Remember to not make it to obvious in case it goes to someone else” Regulus says as James sits down to write it. 

“I know, I’m not stupid, just trust me” James says. 

“You’re right, you’re not stupid and I do trust you, you know I do” he puts a hand on James shoulder and squeezes. 

Despite the fact that the letter is just going Remus and Sirius, it’s nerve racking for the both of them, they’ve lived in secrecy for so long, and they’ve never had to travel themselves to anyone before. 

Dear Remus and Sirius, 

It’s been too long since we’ve talked, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to reach out, but it’s time you know that I had not been hunted. We should meet at the place where dear and canines were friends every month. 

From your dear friend. 

“Is it ok” James asks after Regulus finishes reading the letter. Regulus smiles at him “I’m impressed, are you sure they’re going to be able to figure this out?” 

“Sirius probably won’t be able to, but Remus should” James says with a shrug. 

“Are you sure you want to meet at the shack, is that safe” Regulus asks, he trusts James but he want to be sure that they aren’t putting themselves as risk. 

“Yeah, everyone thinks its haunted they don’t go there, also I’m surprised you knew that’s where I was talking about. 

Regulus gives James an offended look “I’m smarter than my           
brother”. 

James snorts “I won’t say your smarter, but your definitely more observant, oh don’t look at me like that Reg, your my boyfriend which is why I’m not disagreeing with you, but he’s my best friend which is also why I’m not agreeing”. 

Regulus huffs “let’s go send this letter before I change my mind”, then he’s walking out of the room. 

James laughs then follows Regulus out of their room. 

“Aww Reg are you jealous of Sirius” James says in a mocking voice. 

“No” Regulus says still walking down the stairs in front of James

”I don’t believe you” James says before poking Regulus in the ribs, which gets a huff of a laugh out of Regulus. 

By this point they have reached the bottom of the stairs, Regulus turns around so fast that James jumps, and he grabs ahold of his boyfriends waist and pushes him into the wall and kisses him roughly. 

“That is why I’m not jealous of my brother, because I get to do that, and he does not” Regulus rasps as they break apart. 

James opens his mouth as though about to protest, but Regulus clamps his hand over James mouth. 

“Yes, I am aware that my brother was your first kiss, do not tell me again”, Regulus says, sounding like he wishes he didn’t remember that at all. 

Then without warning James sticks his tongue and out licks Regulus’ hand

”What the hell, that is disgusting” Regulud says pulling his hand away. 

“Oh so now you find my tongue disgusting, last night you seemed to think differently when I-“ 

James is interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. 

When the two men separate they turn and see Narcissa standing in the doorway of the living room, looking very unimpressed. 

“Are you two grown men or teenagers, I cannot seem to tell lately” she says with extreme poise. 

Both men blush slightly under Narcissa’s glare. 

“I have come to bring Draco back home, however I assume I will still be seeing you next week?” 

“Yes, I have everything we need” Regulus replies. 

James gives a little nod. James,  Regulus, and Narcissa have planned a bit of a surprise for Draco and Harry. 

The three them head to walk back into the living them, and Narcissa looks at Draco then gestures at the fireplace. 

The two boys hug and mumble bye to each other before, Draco steps into the floo. They always get sad when Draco has to leave even though there is never that much time between their visits. 

As Narcissa walks towards the floo Harry looks up at her and says “bye Cissy” she then bends down and kisses him on the cheek, “bye Harry dear, i’m sure I’ll see you soon” then she’s gone. 

For the first time since they’ve walked into the room, Regulus looks around and notices that the mess from the night before has been cleaned up. 

“Did Narcissa clean up the mess” Regulus asks Harry. 

Harry shakes his head “No I did, so you wouldn’t have to” 

“Thank you Bambi” James says 

“You didn’t have a wand” Regulus says, but it sounds like a question.  

Harry just shrugs again “no I don’t need one” then he turns his attention to James’ hand, “what’s that” he asks, pointing to the letter. 

Regulus can’t help but smile at the fact that Harry finds wandless magic so easy, their raising a truly powerful kid, but that also means that it makes his life more dangerous, means more people will want to use him as a weapon, which Regulus will not let happen. 

“It’s a letter for Remus” James says with a smile. 

Regulus can tell how happy James is at the thought that he might get to see his friends again, that alone makes Regulus happy. 

“Remus!?” Harry says questionably but also excitedly. “Am I going to get to finally meet him” 

Harry has heard just as many stories about his uncle Padfoot and Moony as he has about Lily.

He’s also heard stories about Marlene and Mary and Regulus’ friends, such as Dorcas, Evan, Barty, and Pandora. 

Regulus wasn’t going to tell Harry about his friends but James insisted that Regulus was Harry’s father too and if he got to know about James’ friends he should know about Regulus’ too. The only difference is that Harry knew he’d never get to meet Reg’s friends, as most of them were dead. 

“Hopefully” James says still smiling “want to come outside to send it with me”

Harry nods, James ruffles Harry’s hair when he steps up beside him then their walking outside. 

When they reach their yard James whistles and Apollo, Regulus named him, their black owl, flies down on Harry’s shoulder and he laughs “Hi, Apollo”. 

James scratches Apollo’s head “I have a job for you”, the owl hoots excitedly while James ties the letter to its leg, then he’s off. 

They don’t use him very often, they don’t want to attract attention to their whereabouts by owls coming and going. 

They don’t really need to send much mail anyhow though as Narcissa gives them the news on what’s going on, but if they must send something they usually floo over the the Malfoys to send it from there, but in this particular letter there’s not anything that really gives them away so their not worried about it. 

~~ 

A week later 

Harry POV: 

Its been a week since they sent the letter to Remus and Sirius and they haven’t heard anything back, Apollo hasn’t even returned yet. 

Harry is outside telling all of this to Slither, “My condolences about not being to meat your Moony, but I am glad the bird is gone, he wanted to eat me” the snake hisses back, Harry is about to object to the latter part of that statement when a voice from the house interrupts him.

“Haz can you come here for a second” Regulus calls

”Just put the snake down first” James adds

Harry can hear Regulus snort. He hope one day he finds someone who love him as much as his dads love each other. 

Harry rolls his eyes, “Apollo won’t eat you” he says before putting Slither down and making his way into the house. 

When he walks into the house he walks past the living room and heads towards the kitchen. 

“We’re in here, turn around” Regulus calls, and Harry realizes that they were in fact in the living room. 

“Sorry” Harry says blushing slightly. 

“Don’t be” Regulus straightening Harry’s glasses “you get it from your father” 

James makes an indignant noise, both Regulus and Harry ignore him. 

“What’s going on” Harry asks still confused on why his parents are just standing in the living room, and Reg holding two bags. 

“We thought the three of us could go to Malfoy manor for a visit” Regulus says smiling at how Harry’s jaw dropped. 

“You’re actually going to let me go to their house” Harry asks still shocked. 

He has only been to the Malfoy manor twice, once because it was James and Regulus’ anniversary whatever that meant, and the other because his dads had to go on an urgent trip. Those were also the only times he’s met Lucius Malfoy. Harry will admit that Lucius scares him, he wasn’t mean to Harry or anything, and Harry knows that Lucius helped make to keep he and his dad alive, but he’ll also admit that he prefers Narcissa. 

“I was surprised too Bambi” James says then Regulus elbows him. 

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to, but then you also won’t get your surprise” Regulus acts like he’s about to turn around. 

“No! No I want to go” Harry says a little urgently

Regulus chuckles “that’s what I thought, we’ll go on then we’ll follow you, their already expecting us” Regulus says gesturing towards the fireplace. 

Harry Practically runs to the fireplace and grabs floo powder, then says “Malfoy Manor” loudly and clearly. 

He’s barely stepped out of the floo before Draco is hugging him. 

“Let Harry breathe dear” Narcissa says looking fondly at the two boys. 

Draco either doesn’t hear her or ignores her, Harry isn’t sure which. 

“Mother, may I show Harry around the manor?” Draco asks, still sounding excited 

“I suppose, but don’t take too long and don’t interrupt your father” she says as Regulus steps out of the floo, but Draco drags Harry away before he can say anything to Reg. 

“I can’t believe you’re actually here” Draco says as they reach the stairs, “me either” Harry replies. 

When they reach the top of the stairs they nearly collide with Lucius. 

Lucius looks at Draco “slow down Draco, don’t run in the house” Draco nods “sorry father”. 

Then Lucius looks at Harry “good to see you again Mr. Potter, Draco talks about you a lot” Harry doesn’t quite meet his eyes but says clearly “it’s nice to see you as well sir”. 

When Harry looks over at Draco he’s blushing slightly. 

Draco takes Harry to his room first, it’s decorated in a lot of green, he has quidditch posters on his walls. Harry notices that there are many moving pictures of the two of them together, just like in Harry’s own room. 

After that Draco gives him a tour of the entire Manor, saying that since he knows Harry’s home so we’ll, Harry should know his. 

“We have a house elf named Dobby, but I don’t know where he is” Draco says as they are walking back down the stairs. 

When they reach the bottom of the stairs Narcissa, Regulus, and James are all sitting at the table with a cup of tea. 

“I was beginning to wonder if you were coming back” Regulus says before sipping his tea.

”Sorry we got distracted” Draco says, but he doesn’t actually sound apologetic.

”Understandable” James shrugs. 

“Shall we go into the living room” Narcissa asks, standing up from the table. 

“Where is father” Draco asks as they follow the parents. 

“He just left, he had business at the ministry” Narcissa answers. Once again Draco nods. 

Regulus, James, and Narcissa all sit on the couch, Harry and Draco sit on the floor opposite them. 

Regulus hands them each a bag.The boys each take it gently, unsure of what is inside. 

When he opens the bag the first thing Harry sees is a small glass bottle with a little bit of a cloudy liquid in it, Harry looks at Draco confused, but finds the blonde also looking confused. 

The next thing Harry pulls out is a glass phial, then there’s a small bag that has what looks like a leaf and a chrysalis of some type of moth inside it. The last thing Harry pulled out of the bag was a Transfigeration book. 

“Turn to page 215” Regulus says.

Both Harry and Draco turn to the page at the same time, it’s a page about how to become an Animagus. Both boys understand at the same time, they jump up and go over to their parents. 

Harry runs and jumps onto James and Regulus with so much force they both let out a grunt. But yet they both move to return the hug that their son is giving them. 

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you” Harry says. 

Regulus gives him a bright smile. 

“Bien sûr, je t'aime Chaton” Regulus says  

Harry smiles “I love you too” Harry looks at James “both of you” 

As Harry gets off of James and Regulus he sees Narcissa kissing Draco on the cheek, they were definitely more reserved than Harry’s family. 

“Remember you have to keep the mandrake leaf in your mouth for an entire month, we are putting a lot of trust in the two of you by allowing you to do this, you have been doing really well with you magic training lately and we thought you could handle, you have to take this seriously or it could go really wrong” Regulus says sternly. 

The two boys nod

”Today is a full moon so you can go ahead and start with the leaf” James says. 

Harry and Draco smile at each other as they each put their leaves in their mouth. 

~~ 

Regulus POV: 

It’s finally the next full moon, Draco had come over this morning to do their mixtures. 

They spit their leaf into their phials then put in teaspoon of dew that Regulus had given them a month ago, then the chrysalis of the Death’s-head hawk moth, that Lucius had purchased for Regulus to give them. They then gave the mixtures to Regulus to put away in a dark safe place. 

All they had to do know was say the incantation every night until an electric storm happened, which if the muggle weatherman was correct would be in three days. 

Narcissa had left after they finished their mixture, Regulus envied her a bit, he loved the boys, but he had never heard them be so loud and talk so much before. 

Their only doing it because they haven’t seen each other for a month, the adults thought it would be wise, because if they were together there was no way the leafs would have stayed in their mouth for an entire month, they talked and laughed too much. 

But right now Regulus was slightly regretting that decision. 

The boys were currently chasing each other on their brooms while James watched and laughed finding it all amusing. Regulus supposed it reminded James of his friends a bit. 

They still hadn’t heard anything back from Sirius or Remus, and he could tell his boyfriend was getting discouraged and worried, and honestly so was Regulus, he missed his brother. 

The three of them come in and go to the dining room to eat what Kreacher has prepared. The has been trying to learn more modern meals and he’s honestly doing a good job. 

“So what do you think you’ll be” James asks Harry and Draco. 

“Honestly I don’t know have a clue” Harry says before taking a bite of food. 

“I think you’ll be a cat” Regulus says and James shoots him a look, James is secretly hoping that Harry will be a stag too, but Regulus just doesn’t think that’s going to happen. 

“What about you, Draco” James asks the blonde. 

“I don’t know either” Draco says while shrugging. 

“I think you’ll be something sneaky, like a ferret or something” James says 

Draco’s eyes widen “Don’t say that” he shrieks 

Harry snorts “imagine” he says, then he’s full on laughing. 

Draco smacks him on top of the head then Harry’s laughing even harder. Then Draco is laughing too because Harry’s laugh is contagious. 

The two grown men roll their eyes used to the boys antics at this point. 

~~ 

3 days later 

Harry’s POV: 

The muggle weatherman was right, there’s a huge storm going on and Harry thinks that Draco can’t get here fast enough. 

As soon as he walks through the floo Harry grabs his hand and pulls him outside, their parents stand in the doorway so they can watch without getting wet. 

Draco has Narcissa’s wand and Harry has James’, they point the wands at their hearts and say the incantation together. 

“Amato Animo Animato Animagus” 

Then they drink the potion that Regulus prepared for them. 

The next thing Harry knows he’s looking at a beautiful white fox, that is Draco. 

He hears Regulus say “I told you so” to James and knows that he must be a cat. 

When he looks at James he says “good job Harry” 

Then James and Regulus both transform to their forms and the four of them run around the yard, in the rain playing with each other for hours, while Narcissa watches fondly. 

Chapter Text

1 year later 

Harry is 10 years old. 

Regulus POV: 

When James and Regulus step out of the floo into their living room they find a black cat with a white lightning bolt on his head and bright green eyes  and a white fox with grey eyes curled up on their couch. 

They’re just returning from the Malfoys. Lucius had called and asked them to meet, he doesn’t call unless he has information so of course they agreed.

Turns out Lucius heard news that Dumbledore has spies out looking for Harry. Most people would have given up since Harry hasn’t been seen in nine years, but Dumbledore being the thick old git that he is, still holds out hope that he’ll find Harry and be able to use him as a weapon towards Voldemort. 

What the old man doesn’t know is that Harry has four very influential and very powerful wizards on his side that won’t let that happen.  

“Your mother wanted me to tell you that your dinner is finished, Draco” Regulus tells the fox, which quickly stands and returns to a blonde headed boy. 

Draco pets the cat’s head and whispers “bye Haz” before grabbing some floo powder and going home. 

James goes and sits next to Harry who is in his cat form, Harry climbs into his dads lap and yawns while James scratches him behind the ears. Regulus rolls his eyes but then also changes into his cat form and joins his son, and sits on James’ lap, James takes his other hand to scratch Regulus. 

Regulus will only ever act this improper in front of these two people, their his family and he loves and trusts them enough to let down his guard completely, but if they ever muttered a word of this to any other human being, Regulus would probably murder that person to get rid of the evidence, excluding Draco. 

An hour later Regulus gets off the couch and transform back to his human form, the three of them may have fallen asleep. And although Regulus is a little embarrassed that be napped in cat form, he doesn’t care that much, he’s allowed to take a nap with his family and be undignified, he didn’t fight to survive inferi to be miserable for the rest of his  life. 

Regulus hears movement and turns to look at Harry and James who are also waking up, Harry also transforms back into his human form and James is patting around the couch trying to find his glasses, which he lost during their slumber. 

Regulus and Harry smile at each other because James’ glasses are right beside him he just can’t see them, then Harry to help his dad, “I think you’re more blind than me” Harry says as he’s handing James his glasses. 

“Ha ha” James says then he jumps up and goes to grab Harry, but Harry bring the future seeker that he is, is faster than James and takes off running, nearly taking Regulus out along the way. 

Then James also almost runs into Regulus in his haste to catch his son. 

When Regulus was a child he would have never ran through the house like that, or made the loud laugh and screaming noises that Harry is making as James catches up to him. No, Regulus would have never done that because he would have been heavily punished. 

That is why Harry is doing those things, because Regulus has made sure that Harry felt comfortable enough to run around and have fun in his home. Regulus had a terrible childhood so he’s made sure that Harry’s had a good one. 

Suddenly Regulus hears the screams and laughter stop, for a second he’s about to go check and make sure their still alive then he sees James walking into the dining room with Harry on his back. 

“Reg! Come to the dining room” Harry calls, and so Regulus does. 

When he enters the room Regulus sees James and Harry sitting beside each other at the table, and Kreacher carrying two bowls of ice cream towards them. 

When the elf spots Regulus he asks “would Regulus like some ice cream”. 

“Sure” Regulus replies as he sits down across from James. 

“Kreacher thought young Harry and James were going to hurt each other so I offered them ice cream” Kreacher tells Regulus as he sits a bowl down in front of him. 

“Thanks Kreacher” Regulus laughs, “I know they can’t be left unattended”. 

Both James and Harry mimic Regulus in annoying voices at the same time, which just makes him laugh again. Which in the end makes James laugh, which then makes Harry laugh, even Kreacher is smiling. Well at least as close to smiling as the elf can get. 

After they finish their ice cream Regulus looks at Harry “I have a couple of potions I need to brew, do you want to see if you can do one”. Regulus knows he can, Harry is very smart and helps Regulus with potions often. 

Harry looks at Regulus and nods “yeah I can try” 

They get up and go to the practice room where the potions lab is set up. 

They’ve got some cauldrons set up and are getting ingredients out when James walks in “do you need anything from the garden” he asks. 

Regulus has starting growing his own garden containing some of the ingredients he needs for potions, it’s covered in charms to make sure it grows all year round. 

“I guess you can get some dandelion roots” Regulus says to James while smiling. 

James smiles back at him “if their are any weeds I’ll pull them out too” 

“Thank you” Regulus replies, he truly doesn’t deserve James. 

After James leaves Harry looks at Regulus “Il nous reste beaucoup de racines” he says gesturing towards the drawer full of dandelion roots. 

Regulus chuckles “je sais, il aime avoir l'impression d’aider, mais il est nul en matière de préparation de potions”. 

“Je me sentirais mal pour personne qui doit boire une de ses potions” Harry replies while chopping his ingredients. 

Regulus snorts, it’s kind of mean but he can’t find it in him to correct Harry, because as much as he loves his boyfriend it’s true that potions are not his strongest attribute. Transfiguration on the other hand is. 

Regulus really should have thought about it a little harder before he agreed for James to weed the garden. 

When his boyfriend enters the training room, he’s carrying a handful of roots, and he’s taken his shirt off showcasing his perfect abs that he’s kept even after all these years off the quidditch team, his hair is messed up but in a way that Regulus finds really hot, as James walks closer to them Regulus feels all of his blood flow downward. 

James hands the roots to Regulus, who quickly puts them away, then he bends down, his mouth right next to James’ ear “outside now” Regulus rasps, James eyes widen and he looks at Regulus with a sort of hunger in his eyes. 

Regulus spins on his heel and starts walking towards the door, he hears James tell Harry “i-uh Reg wants to show me something in the garden” then he’s scrambling after Regulus. 

“uh huh sure” he hears Harry say after them, Regulus can tell from his voice that he knows that’s not what’s happening. Damn kid is to smart. 

The door to the practice room has just closed then Regulus is on James, kissing him and running his hands all over James’ muscles. James has his hands in Regulus’ hair and he loves it. Then Regulus pushes James against the wall and is getting down on his knees and unbuttoning James pants. 

James does the same thing to Regulus. Then Regulus cast some spells to clean up their mess and make themselves presentable again. They both know that they took long to just be in the garden, but they also know that Harry already knows they weren’t going to the garden, he’s too young to know details but still. 

When they reenter the training room, Harry has finished his potion and has the cauldron set to the side, he’s also started the potion Regulus was going to do. 

Regulus goes to inspect Harry’s potion, though he’s pretty sure that it will be perfect because Harry always tries his hardest at everything that Reg asks him to do. James pulls up a chair and sits down, knowing to not interfere with the two while they are brewing. 

As expected Harry’s potion is good. He smiles proudly at Harry and says “good job” Harry beams back glad to have gotten Regulus’ approval.

”Knowing how to do these things will be very beneficial when you go to Hogwarts” Regulus adds. 

He and James had gone back and forth whether or not they would allow Harry to go to Hogwarts or not, it wasn’t necessary, they could teach him everything that he needed to know and he already knew a handful of things, but James had really good memories at Hogwarts and they had both made friends there, they wanted Harry to be able to experience that. Also Draco would be going and it wouldn’t be fare if Harry wasn’t allowed to go with him. 

There was also the slight downside that everyone thought that he was dead, but that would be taken care of next week, if everything goes as planned which of course Regulus will make sure it will. 

“I also started yours, hope that’s ok” Harry says gesturing to the other cauldron. 

“Of course it’s ok, but I’ll take over from here, can your bottle yours” he says poking Harry which makes him laugh. 

After Harry bottles his potion he walks to James and gives him what can only be described as puppy dog eyes. James smiles then stands up “you’re lucky I love you” he says then he’s in his stag form, Harry climbs up on his back then he’s riding the stag while he runs around the room, while Harry is laughing. 

Regulus watches them while making his potion. He wishes he could go back and tell his seventeen year old self that everyone would be ok, and that this is how their life would turn out, but his old self would never have believed it, because it’s just too perfect to be his life. 

~~

A week later Regulus has just stepped out of the floo in Albus Dumbledore’s office, he leans against the wall waiting for the old man to come back, it could be a while because he doesn’t know Regulus is there. 

In order for Harry to go to Hogwarts Dumbledore has to be aware that he’s alive, so Regulus has decided to have a meeting with him, to set things straight, he’ll also make sure that Dumbledore doesn’t tell anyone else about him being alive. 

They’ve decided to keep the fact that James is alive a secret, just in case something goes wrong and they have to take Harry in hiding again there’s still someone whom they won’t be able to track Harry too. 

Finally the door to the office opens and the old man walks in. The office is quite dark so Dumbledore can’t seem to see where Regulus is leaning against the wall in a corner. 

“Hello Albus” he says stepping away from the wall, the old man jumps and looks in his direction. Regulus smirks when the man’s eyes land on him. 

“Regulus Black?” Dumbledore says unbelievably. 

Regulus smirks wider “miss me?” 

“Your dead” the old man says still sounding questionable 

“Am I” Regulus says twirling his wand 

“You’re a death eater” Dumbledore doesn’t bother pulling out his wand, evidently not thinking that Regulus is a big enough threat. That’s a mistake he thinks. 

“I think you’ll find that I am neither, I am obviously still breathing and I was never loyal to Voldemort” Regulus is really getting quite annoyed that the man is barely saying anything. 

“What information do you have about him” Dumbledore finally says a full sentence. 

“No, I am not your spy, I have managed to find out more about how to destroy Voldemort in a few years than you have in multiple” Dumbledore raises his eyebrow at him. 

“I know about the horcruxes,  I’ve destroyed one, I’m searching for more everyday, I know that Harry is one” 

Dumbledores eyes snap up to Regulus’ shock very distinctly there. 

“What do you know about Harry Potter” Dumbledore asks 

Regulus keeps eye contact with him “everything, I’ve raised him” 

The look on the man’s face is pure shock. 

“You have no right, he’s not your son we need that boy to-“ 

He’s cut off by Regulus casting “oscausi”, the Dumbledore’s mouth disappeared, making him shut up. 

“you are the one with no right to Harry, James Potter was the love of my life and I have raised his son as my own, he loves and trusts me, you will not be using him for anything he is just a kid” Regulus says forcefully 

“However the entire reason I’ve come here today is to tell you that when the time comes to send out letters next year, he will be receiving one, it’s not because I can’t teach him because I can and I have but he deserves to be a normal kid and make friends” he points his wand back at Dumbledore

”Also if you tell another soul about me being alive I will tell the entire world about all of your secrets, about everything that you’ve kept hidden about Tom Riddle and everything you’ve known that could have saved people if you’d said something, I will make people see you for who you are” 

“Are. We. Understood.” He says still pointing his want at the man’s chest. 

When the man nods he reverses the spell and Dumbledore’s mouth returns.

”or better yet, I might kill you” Regulus  says as he grabs floo powder 

“are you threatening me in my own office” 

“Yes, but as long as you keep your side of the deal, nothing will happen” he says as he steps into the floo, then he’s gone. 

Regulus floos to Diagon Alley then apparates home to make it harder to find out where they live. 

As soon as he walks through the door James is marching towards him looking concerned. 

“Relax, everything went fine, Harry will be receiving a letter next summer and no one else will know I am alive” Regulus says hanging up his cloak. 

“He just agreed?” James asks 

“Well I threatened him” Regulus says with nonchalance 

James huffs a laugh “I’m not even surprised”, he pulls Regulus into a hug and kisses his cheek, Regulus leans into him. 

“Where is Harry” Regulus asks after they pull apart 

James rolls his eyes “he’s upstairs reading one of those fantasy books you got him” 

Regulus just nods, then James speaks again “how can you people just sit around and read, I can’t understand it” 

“Well maybe we don’t understand why you like to workout” Regulus looks him up and down “though I am  not complaining” 

James chuckles “I was just having some tea before you got home” he says while pulling Regulus to the table. 

They sit their drinking their tea in silence for a while before Regulus says “I want to teach him occlumency, Dumbledore will try to get in his head, we have too many secrets for that, also it’s only a matter of time before Voldemort is strong enough to use their connection against him, he needs to be able to protect himself” 

James nods “I think it’s a good idea, especially as he’s about to be in the public next year, I won’t be much help though, I’ve never learnt occlumency, never had a reason too” 

“That’s fine, you can be the emotional support for Harry, learning occlumency can be draining” 

They put their cups in the sink then head up to the library where Harry is. 

When they enter Regulus goes straight for Harry and crouches down next to him

”How do you feel about learning something new” he says placing a hand on Harry’s leg 

Harry closes his book and sets it to the side “I’m listening” 

Regulus pulls a chair in front of Harry and sits in it. 

He explains what Occlumency and Legilimency is and how it will be useful to Harry. 

He tells Harry that in order to do Occlumency one must clear their mind and be one hundred percent focused. 

“When I enter your mind I’ll be able to see everything” Regulus warns Harry before they try for the first time 

“There’s nothing in my mind that you don’t already know” Harry tells Regulus. 

Regulus is able to enter Harry’s mind easily the first few tries, he sees images of Harry and Draco together, laughing and doing things they shouldn’t, he sees images of Harry, himself, and James from the time Harry was a baby to now. 

Finally Harry manages to push Regulus out of his mind. 

“Good job kitten” Harry smiles then James hugs him

”That’s enough for today” Regulus says joining their hug. 

They practice everyday until Harry is able to push Regulus away before he enters Harry’s mind.

After Harry masters occlumency they start working on legilimency which Harry picks up much faster, he practices on both his parents.

Regulus struggles with letting someone into his mind he’s so used to having to hide from people. He hides the fact that Harry is a horcrux, he won’t tell him that but of information yet, because he deserves to be a kid, he also hides the images of him and James, but other than that he lets Harry practice looking through his mind. 

James and Regulus find some comfort in the fact that Harry now has an extra form of defense once he goes to Hogwarts. 

Chapter Text

Regulus POV: 

Tomorrow is Harry’s eleventh birthday, which means this fall he will be going to Hogwarts, although he and James had decided that Harry deserved to know and they trust that Harry can defend himself, Regulus can’t help but feel sad and worried about Harry leaving. 

What if something happens and they aren’t their to protect him, or if he doesn’t make any friend and he’s lonely, he has Draco and Regulus has zero doubts that between the two of them everything will be fine, but even with that knowledge he can’t seem to settle his anxiety. 

Which is why he and James got him what they did for Harry’s birthday, it’s just to give him an extra friend and a little extra protection, and they know Harry is  sneaky enough to keep it hidden. 

Regulus is sitting on the floor in front of the couch with a book, while James is sitting on the couch running his fingers through Regulus’ hair when Harry comes storming into the room holding something. 

“It came, my letter form Hogwarts came” he says as he runs over to sit beside James 

“I didn’t think it would”

James and Regulus give each other a knowing glance, they knew quite well that Harry would be receiving a letter, Regulus made sure of it. 

After Harry opens the envelope the three of them read it together, then Regulus says 

“When do you want to go get your supplies” 

Harry looks up confused, “wait I actually get to go to Diagon Alley?” 

James laughs “well if you going to go to Hogwarts you’ve got to come out of hiding eventually” then he tickles him, Harry giggles. 

“Can we go tomorrow afternoon, maybe we can see if Draco and Cissy want to come” Harry asks after he stops giggling. 

“Yeah, we can do that” Regulus now taking his turn to tickle Harry 

What Harry doesn’t know is that Narcissa and Regulus had met the day before and had already planned on going to Diagon Alley together so the boys could get their stuff. 

They’ve also got the glamours picked out so that James and Regulus can go with him posing as some friends just taking Harry for some shopping. 

~~ 

Harry POV: 

Harry wakes up way too early the next day, but he can’t help that he’s excited, it’s his birthday and he finally gets to go to Diagon Alley later. 

He doesn’t expect anyone else to be awake quite yet, but he’s proven wrong when he’s barely stepped off the last step and there is a flash of blonde hair running towards him and knocking him down. 
 
Harry thinks about casting a cushioning charm and when they hits the ground he finds that he was successful in casting it. 

“Happy Birthday Haz” Draco says still on top of Harry on the floor when their parents walk in. 

Regulus rolls his eyes at them and James smiles, Narcissa says nothing but Harry swears he sees a small hint of a smile on her face. 

“Did you cast a wandless and wordless cushioning charm?” Regulus asks Harry 

“Yeah, I guess? I just wished that I could because I knew it would hurt when we landed and then when we did hit the ground there was a cushion there” Harry replies as Draco pulls him up. 

The three adults walk up to Harry and Draco, Regulus pulls Harry into gentle hug and whispers into his ear “Joyeux anniversaire, chaton, je t'aime” Harry hugs him a little tighter and replies "Je t'aime aussi" 

Next is James and his hug is significantly less graceful, it’s more of a full on bear hug, he even picks Harry up and spins him around “Happy Birthday, mini lookalike me” he says while still spinning Harry around while he laughs. 

Even Narcissa walks up to him and kisses him on the cheek then says “Happy Birthday dear” 

Harry smiles at her and says “thank you” 

Then Draco is grabbing his hand and dragging him to the dining room “come on Kreacher made cake” he says. 

Harry can hear James laugh and Regulus say “children” in a voice that Harry knows means he’s rolling his eyes. He hears Narcissa say “I’m glad they have one another”. 

When they enter the dining room Harry sees a huge cake decorated with white icing, with the words Happy Birthday written on black. 

It’s not just any cake though, it’s made out of treacle tart, Harry’s favorite. 

Harry walks over to the elf  bends down and hugs him “thank you for the cake” 

Kreacher is shocked at first, he just stands there frozen, then he slowly puts his small arms around Harry and hugs him back “of course, Kreacher knows it’s your favorite” 

Once they all enter the room and sit down, Kreacher insists on serving them, he gives them all large pieces of treacle cake, Draco and Harry’s slightly bigger than the rest. 

After they’ve all finished their slice and washed it down with some tea, or milk in Harry and Draco’s case, they move to the living room so that Harry can open gifts. 

Draco insisted that Harry open his gift first, obviously very excited to give it to him. 

Draco handed him a small box wrapped in green and silver paper

”He made it himself” Narcissa told Harry before he opened it, Draco blushed “Mother helped” he mumbled. 

When Harry opened the gift he found something that looked like a watch but instead of having a small clock on the top it had a small, round, white crystal.

Harry looks at Draco slightly confused, the blonde smiles at him shyly before he explains. 

“It’s for when we go to Hogwarts, I have one too” Draco pulls up his sleeve and shows a matching bracelet on his own arm. 

“We don’t know what houses we’ll be in” well Harry doesn’t know what house he’ll be in they all know Draco will be slytherin, “So I’ve charmed these so we can communicate” 

Harry smiles at Draco, struggling to put it on before Draco helps him. 

“If you press it once it will flash green, meaning that your ok, if you press it twice it will flash red and tell me that your in danger, if you hold it down it will send warm and comforting feelings to the other person to like say hi or something” Draco continues 

After Draco finishes his explanation Harry hugs him with so much force that this time he knocks the blonde down, once again managing to cast a cushioning charm. 

It means a lot to Harry that Draco doesn’t care what house he ends up in, that he still plans to be friends with him no matter what, and the fact that Narcissa helped him make it means that she also didn’t care if they were in separate houses. 

“So I’m guessing you don’t want to open anymore presents” James says when the boys are on the floor for a little too long. 

Harry jumps up “No, I do” 

“That’s what I thought” James replies, the interaction making Regulus laugh.

James and Regulus get Harry way more stuff than they probably should have, but they spoil him. 

It wasn’t hard, they either sent orders by owl, and Narcissa picked it up for them, or a couple of times they gave her the money and she went and got it, once they disillusioned themselves so they could go. 

They got Harry some muggle books because he enjoys them, some new clothes, a holder for his wand when he gets one, James also got him a massive bag filled with candy which they are going to regret later when he’s on a sugar high. Harry is about to open his last two gifts. 

“Close your eyes, because this is going to be obvious once you see it” James says as he gets up to go grab the gift in question. 

“Open” he says 

When Harry opens his eyes he says a new broomstick in front of him, not just any broomstick a Nimbus 2000 

He looks up at James and Regulus

“Oh. My. God, thank you” then Harry is running is launching himself at Hames and hugging him, he gives Regulus a much more composed hug

”Aren’t these like really expensive” All of them snort, even Narcissa, though hers is much more composed and barely sounds like a snort. 

Draco looks at Harry with a raised eyebrow and a grin “did you really just say that” 

Harry looks back at his dads “what am I missing” he asks 

“Let’s put it this way kitten” Regulus says “me and your dad separately have more money than we know what to do with, when you put our fortune’s together, let’s just say money is not an issue” 

Harry blushes “oh, yeah” he knows that, but sometimes he forgets how wealthy his and Draco’s families are. 

“Your not technically supposed to have brooms in first year, but Draco has one too, you both know how to shrink them, and you can use your animagus forms to sneak out and fly them at night” James says looking at the boy’s mischievously. 

Regulus smacks him on the chest “you weren’t supposed to just say that, you were supposed to hint it” Regulus looks back at Harry “But yes that was the plan” he adds. 

Draco looks at Narcissa as though waiting for her to object, she just looks at him out of the corner of her eye and says “Don’t get caught”. 

Draco and Harry grin at each other, that’s not a problem at all, they’ve been sneaking out to fly at night for years. 

Their pretty sure Regulus knows, but he’s like one hundred percent more perceptive than almost every other person.

“I’ll go get your last gift” Regulus says getting, he ruffles Harry’s hair before he leaves the room, Harry rolls his eyes acting annoyed but they all know he secretly loves it. 

“For the record this was mostly Reg’s idea I did a small part of it, but I just wanted to warn you” James says quickly before Regulus comes back 

When Regulus comes back into the room he’s carrying a small box, Harry can hear a hissing voice saying something about how dark it is. He looks at Regulus questionably, he’s pretty sure he already knows what’s in that box. 

Regulus sets the box down in front of Harry “I think you have a pretty good idea what’s in the box so go ahead and open on carefully” he says looking excited while James looks nervous. 

“I don’t mean you any harm, can I pick you up out of the box” Harry hisses, ignoring the confused look Draco gives him. 

“Sure” the snake hisses back, Harry reaches in the box and lets the snake curl itself around his arm before pulling it out. 

James recoils at the sight of the snake even though he knew what was in the box, Draco looks at it with awe and understanding, Narcissa looks intrigued. 

Harry pets the snake on the head while Regulus explains

”She is an Eastern Green Mamba, she is highly venomous, and I have magically altered her so that her poison can not be healed by simple magic, it did not cause her any harm” 

“Do you have a name” Harry asks the snake 

“No” she hisses back 

“How do you feel about Ebony” Harry ask her

”I Like it” 

Harry looks back at Regulus “her name is Ebony” 

Regulus nods then looks at James, James reaches behind him and pulls out two wooden objects, both are long and skinny with a long strap attached to each end, the other one has two smaller straps on each end. 

“There so she can wrap around them and you can carry her under your robes during the day” James says 

“This one” he says pointing to the one with the long strap “can sling over your shoulder sideways either across your back or chest” 

“This one” now pointing to the one with two straps “is for your arm” 

Harry picks them up to examine them. 

“We know you can take care of yourself, but we still worry” Regulus says “which is why I got her, this way we know you have a friend with you at all times” Draco looks offended by this “other than Draco” Regulus adds looking at the blonde with a smirk “and if something happens she can protect you” 

“Are you ok with this” Harry asks Ebony 

“Yes, I like you, and they saved me from going to the zoo and having to sleep in a cage” she looks him in the eye “you won’t make me sleep in a cage will you” 

Harry laughs “no, I won’t make you sleep in a cage” 

Harry introduces Ebony to everyone else, and translates so the Draco can ask her questions. 

Harry and Draco go to Harry’s room to show it to Ebony and put his new things away before they go to Diagon Alley. 

As excited as Harry is, he’s also incredibly nervous about going to Diagon Alley, he’s never been around anyone other than his and Draco’s family. 

The good thing is that he’s not revealing who he is yet, him and his dads are going to be glamoured so that no body can recognize them.

Harry won’t be showing his true self until he’s getting on the train. 

Draco can apparently tell that Harry is a little off, because he asks “Are you ok” while Harry is folding some of his clothes. 

Harry looks up at him “yeah, just nervous, I’ve never been out in such a public place before” 

Draco nods “I know, but neither your or my parents are going to let anything happen, and we’ll be together, and that always helps keep me calm” 

Harry smiles at him and then hugs him “your the best friend I could ask for” 

Draco hugs him back “yeah, I know I’m pretty great” 

Harry scoffs and rolls his eyes, then going back downstairs leaving Ebony somewhere in Harry’s blankets. 

He wanted to take her but he’s not wearing robes today and that would make it hard to hide her. 

When they go back downstairs and Narcissa changes his appearance while Regulus and James do each other. 

Narcissa makes both his hair and skin lighter, and gives him blue eyes, as well as making his hair shorter. 

When he turns around he finds that Regulus lightened James hair and skin lighter, he and Harry’s new appearances look just as identical as their normal ones. Regulus’ hair is longer and his skin and eyes darker. Any outsider would not be able to recognize them. 

They go through the floo to get to the Malfoys first, because their house isn’t connected to any other floo network. 

When they reach the fireplace they find Lucius standing there waiting for them. 

Harry is a lot less nervous of Lucius than he was when he was younger, partly because he’s came to the Malfoys multiple times since he become an animagus, because now if someone shows up he can transform and hide. 

But also he’s not as scared of him because he knows that Lucius is a good parent to Draco, he’s not nearly as affection as Narcissa though. 

Harry knows that Lucius used to be involved in the same bad stuff as Regulus was, but Lucius actually believed it, but Regulus said when it came down to it Lucius realized that what truly mattered was keeping his family safe, and siding with Voldemort was not going to accomplish that. 

He still doesn’t love muggle borns but he’s not aiming to kill them anymore. 

“Happy Birthday” Lucius says to Harry with a nod 

“Thank you, sir” Harry replies back. 

Lucius goes through the floo first, followed by Narcissa and Draco, then Harry goes followed by Regulus and James. 

What Harry sees causes his mouth to drop open, making Draco laugh at him. 

There’s just so many people and so many shops to choose from, he feels a warm feeling go through him and knows Draco is holding down his bracelet. Harry subconsciously grabs ahold of Draco’s hand, a little overwhelmed. 

First they follow the Malfoys to Gringotts so they can get their gold. They stand outside the bank while the Malfoys go in. They have all of their gold in an underground safe with every protection spell known to man on it. 

They had to keep it there for two reasons, one they live in France and it wouldn’t make sense to keep their money in London, two they are technically dead so they can come to a bank asking to collect money. 

When the Malfoys return, Draco is wide eyed and slightly green

“Are you good” Harry asks him slightly amused 

“That cart ride, should not be legal” Draco groans making Harry laugh 

He’s heard all about the Gringotts cart ride from James, though his dad of course had found it fun. 

They went to Madam Malkin’s to get their robes, Draco and Harry went in alone while Regulus and Lucius went to get their books and James and Narcissa went to look gloves, hats, and cloaks. 

“Hogwarts dears” a witch who Harry’s assuming is Madam Malkin asks when they walk in. 

When they nod she directions them to the back of the shop, where there are two stools, the witch gestures for them to stand on them so they do. 

“What house do you think you’ll be in“ Draco asks as Madam Malkin goes between the two of them, taking measurements.  

Harry shrugs “I don’t have a clue” 

“Yeah, I guess we don’t really know until we get there, do we?” Draco says 

Harry looks at him “We all know your going to be Slytherin” 

“Maybe, but it doesn’t matter what houses we’re in, you’re still my best-friend, that why I made the bracelets” he gestures to the band on his wrist. 

“I know” They smile at each other for a second 

“I wish we could play quidditch this year” 

“Yeah, it’s stupid that we can’t” Harry relies, equally annoyed about this fact. 

“We’ll just have to tryout next year, it will be a crime if we’re not picked” Harry nods, thinking back to the times they’ve played with James and occasionally Regulus. 

“Especially after we practice this year” Harry adds to Draco’s statement. 

They pay for their uniforms then walk outside to find James and Narcissa holding Dragon hide gloves, pointed hats, and two thick cloaks. 

“The list said one cloak, but it gets cold in Scotland” James tells Harry as Harry gives him back the extra change. 

“It never hurts to have an extra” Narcissa says as Draco does the same. 

Not long after Regulus and Lucius show up with the books. 

“Can we get ice cream” Harry asks Regulus 

“sure” he replies 

“Draco, you can go with them, we’ll go get the rest of your things, then we can get your wands” Narcissa tells Draco 

Draco nods 

Regulus gives Narcissa some gold so she can the rest of Harry’s stuff as well. 

When they get to the ice cream shop, Harry orders chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts, Draco orders mint chocolate chip, James gets some chocolate mixture that is way too sweet, Regulus gets vanilla. 

After they finish their ice cream Narcissa and Lucius haven’t returned yet, the go to get some parchment and quills, Harry gets some color changing ink. 

When they meet up with the others again Narcissa is carrying a cage with a white owl in it. 

“she’s beautiful” Harry tells her as they meet 

“That’s good, because she’s yours” Narcissa hands him the cage 

”You didn’t have too” Harry says staring at the owl. 

“No, but this is your birthday present from, me and we all know that those two” she points at James and Regulus “will fret less if you have an owl to write to them with” 

“Thank you” Harry says, if they weren’t in public he would hug her. 

When they go to Ollivander’s Draco finds a wand rather quickly, Harry on the other hand tries many, he’s starting to feel like he’ll never find one, when he finally does, he’s disturbed to find out that it’s a brother to Voldemort’s. 

When this news is revealed he sees all the adults make eye contact and exchange a look. 

As they walk out Regulus and James walks on either side of Harry and have their arms comfortingly across his shoulders. 

After they let go Draco walks up beside him and whispers in his ear “the wand doesn’t define the person, now you just have to prove how different you are from Voldemort” 

~~ 

Harry is still upset that he paired with the wand that killed his mother, but it definitely helps that Draco is spending the night with him, and his dads are in the kitchen with Kreacher making all his favorite foods for dinner. 

Draco and Harry are outside, watching Hedwig and Apollo fly around and introducing Slither and Ebony to each other, when Kreacher comes out and tells them it’s time to eat. 

As Harry sits at the table with his favorite people in the entire world, people he knows would do any and everything for him. He knows that he doesn’t care what happens do him, just as long as they are safe. 

Chapter Text

James POV: 

Harry goes to Hogwarts tomorrow, and he’s gonna miss that kid. It will be nice to have some alone time with Reg, but that has been their entire world for ten years. 

The longest they’ve ever been away from him is occasionally one night while he stays with Draco, but that’s only happened a few times. 

They don’t even get to go with him to the train station, he’s going with the Malfoys. 

Of course if it was up to him he would accompany Harry without a second thought, but Regulus says it’s too risky. 

Of course his boyfriend is right as always, don’t tell him that. 

If they were to show up at the train station with Harry Potter, people would be suspicious of who they were and why they had raised him. They can’t reveal themselves yet, Reg has a plan for that later. 

Harry is going with the Malfoys, which is still suspicious, but he won’t be spending much time with them before he goes on the train. It wouldn’t matter, but when Voldemort comes back it needs to be believed that Lucius is still loyal to him. 

It helps James and Regulus feel better that they are closer now. They loved to Potter manor a few weeks after Harry’s birthday so that they were near if Harry needed them. 

They wouldn’t hesitate to reveal themselves for Harry. 

But until if or when that happens the manor has enough wards to prevent anyone unwanted in without them being noticed. They still have their estate in France if they have to take Harry and go into hiding again. 

Just like in the France estate, the floo is only connected to the Malfoys, even though everyone thinks Potter manor is abandoned, and have no reason to come here, it never hurts to be safe.

Regulus is in Harry’s room talking with him about tomorrow.

James loves the connection that they have, James understands the slightly reckless and playful side of Harry whereas Regulus understands his quiet side with demons. 

When Regulus comes back he sits on the floor beside James. He rest his head on Regulus’ shoulder and whispers “I’m kind of jealous that he gets to go tomorrow” 

Regulus tilts his head so it’s touching James’ “that’s understandable, Hogwarts was good for you, you had your friends there, and you pulled all of your pranks, Hogwarts wasn’t the best for me, with everything that happened, but I at least had my friends, sometimes I miss it. Now it’s Harry’s turn to make memories there” 

James nods “I hope he makes more friends” 

“He will, he has a way of making people like him, I’m still surprised he won over Narcissa” Regulus kisses James’ head “another thing he gets from you” 

The next morning James and Regulus are downstairs helping Kreacher clean up from breakfast. 

They only had toast and tea, because they knew Harry wouldn’t eat much, as always when he’s nervous. 

They hear the floo and then Draco and Narcissa are entering the dining room.  

“Are you excited for Hogwarts” James asks Draco. 

Draco nods 

“He’s upstairs in his room” Regulus tells Draco 

Draco smiles and turns around heading for the stairs 

“please make sure he is actually packing” Regulus calls after him. 

They can hear him running up the stairs, and then what sounds like someone falling, and then more running. 

James snorts, Regulus rolls his eyes, and Narcissa says “He only gets that excited to see Harry” 

“Harry’s the same way” Regulus replies. 

~~

Harry’s POV: 

Things are flying around the room and into his suitcase as Harry waves his new wand around to pack. 

Due to the wards Reg has put around the house the ministry won’t be able to tell that he’s using underage magic, not that he even has the trace on him yet, but he will after today. 

He hears steps coming up the stairs, then the door to his room opens and Draco comes in. 

“Did you seriously wait until the morning we leave to pack” Draco asks sounding exasperated. 

“I’m a procrastinator” Harry says with a shrug. 

Draco waves his wand and the rest of Harry’s things, including his shrunken broom fly into his trunk. 

“It’s more than that isn’t it?” Draco asks coming to stand beside Harry “you could have put it all i together like I did, but you were hesitating, why?” 

“I don’t really want to go” Harry whispered 

“What, why” Draco says bewildered 

“I don’t want to leave my dads and also what if people hate me or expect me to some kind of hero because I survived Voldemort, or they might not even believe that I’m who I say I am” Harry rambles 

Draco puts a hand on Harry’s shoulder “If you need James or Regulus they will be at the school immediately and you know it, as for if they expect you to be a hero, you don’t have to prove anything to them, but Regulus is a hero and he’s the one who taught us, so that’s something. If they don’t believe that you are Harry Potter that’s their problem and you’ll have to prove them wrong” Draco smirks as he says the last part. 

Before Harry can respond the door opens again and James walks in. He’s carrying a bag of something and a piece of parchment.

”Are you packed” he asks Harry 

Harry nods and points toward his trunk.

“What’s that” Harry asks his father pointing towards the parchment and bag. 

“These belonged to me and my friends when we were in school, and now I want you two to have them” James reaches into the bag and pulls out a silvery cloak. 

Draco and Harry’s mouth fall open “is that an invisibility cloak?” Draco asks 

“The one I’ve heard stories about” Harry adds. 

“Yep” James says. 

“And that must be the Mauraders Map then” Harry gestures to the parchment 

“right again” James smiles. 

James shows them how to use the map, then helps Harry put them away in his trunk. 

“I didn’t want to give them too you in front of Narcissa and Regulus, I’m not sure how Narcissa would feel about me giving you the resources to break the rules, as for Reg I’m pretty sure he knows that I was planning on giving them to you, but I’m not going to tell him” 

Harry and Draco look at each other 

“He definitely knows” Harry says laughing 

“yeah” James sighs 

Before anyone can say anything else Regulus’ voice floats up the stairs “if you don’t leave soon your gonna miss the train” 

Draco and James both look at Harry seemingly understanding that he has mixed feelings on whether or not he wants to get on the train. 

Harry knows that his parents would never force him to go if he didn’t want to, but he also knows that Regulus went through a lot of trouble for him to go, and he wants to make him proud. 

Regulus hasn’t told Harry exactly what he did, but Harry knows that someone had to tell the headmaster he was alive, and of course it was Regulus. 

James gives Harry a side hug and says “I’ll meet you downstairs” before walking out the door. 

Harry points his wand at his trunk and shrinks it, then grabs it and sticks it into his pocket, he then lets Ebony wrap around the holder on his arm, he has to keep her hidden because snakes aren’t technically aloud at Hogwarts, then he grabs Hedwig’s cage and they set off down the stairs. 

When they reach the bottom of the stairs, the three adults are standing there waiting on them. 

“Do you have everything” Regulus asks as he pulls Harry into a tight hug. 

When they pull away Harry nods and pulls out his shrunken trunk. 

“Be careful who you trust, under no circumstances are you to trust Dumbledore” Regulus says running his fingers through Harry’s hair trying to tame it. 

“And remember to have fun, and don’t get caught” James tries to kiss Harry on the cheek but Harry pulls away “eww” he pushes James away making James laugh. 

Regulus looks at Draco then at Harry “you two need to stick together”. 

“Duh” Draco says rolling his eyes. 

“Write to us after you get sorted, we’ll be proud of you no matter what” James tells Harry. 

“Also write to us if you need anything” Regulus adds 

Then the three of them are hugging

Narcissa clears her throat and they break apart “We really need to get going”. 

As Harry is getting ready to go to the Malfoys through the floo, he swears his dads have tears in their eyes, which makes Harry want to cry. 

They use side along apparition to get to the train station. Harry goes with Narcissa while Draco goes with Lucius. 

When they get to the station Draco and Harry return their trunks to normal size and get everything loaded onto their trolleys. 

”How do we get onto the platform” Harry asks 

“Didn’t Regulus tell you” Lucius responds rudely. 

Narcissa shoots her husband a look before looking at Harry “There is a barrier between platforms nine and ten, you have to walk through it”.

”I have to walk into a wall” Harry says shocked. 

“It’s not actually a wall, and it won’t hurt” Draco tells Harry confidently. Then adds a little less confident “will it mother”. 

“No, Draco it won’t hurt” she replies. 

Draco pushes his trolly towards the wall and Harry follows. The boys stop when they reach it. 

Harry turns to look at Narcissa “I’ll go first then I’ll get straight on the train, I appreciate you bringing me” 

“Of course, I’ll see you at Christmas” She bends down and hugs him loosely. 

“I’ll find you on the train, I want to introduce you to my other friends” Draco tells him as he runs towards the wall. 

On the other side of the wall there was an entirely new platform labeled Nine and Three-Quarters. There were owls hooting everywhere.

”Where are we I don’t like this” Ebony hisses from his arm. 

“I’m sorry we’ll be on the train soon enough, no body can see you and we need to keep it that way” he whisper hisses back. He knows she’s annoying but he can’t really help it right now. 

Peoples heads were turning to look at him, his hair was cut short right now so he knew people could see his scar, still he tried to use his hand to push his hair over it, but had no luck. 

He could hear his name being whispered. Had people really put it together that quickly, he supposed it really wasn’t that hard if you calculated the date and out it together with his scar, but he hadn’t expected people to be that smart. 

Someone who wasn’t paying attention ran into him and knocked his trolley over, causing Hedwig and his trunk to fall over. 

he picked up Hedwig’s cage, but before he could take care of his sideways trunk a voice said “want a hand?” 

Harry looked up and saw a pair of red headed twins.

He smiled at them “It’s ok I’ve got it” he waved his hand and his trunk shrunk and flew into his hand, “thanks though” 

The twins stared at him open mouthed for a moment before they narrowed their eyes at him. 

“Blimey, are you-“ said one of the twins 

“He is” said the other twin. 

“What am i” Harry raises his eyebrow 

“Harry Potter” the twins said together 

Harry nodded “the one and only” he said with a sass that Regulus would be proud of. 

The twins gaped at him and Harry was fighting his cheeks not to blush. 

Finally a woman who Harry assumed was their mother called for them and they left. Harry couldn’t help but release a sigh of relief. 

Harry walked until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train, he returned  his trunk to normal then levitated it to the shelf. 

His parents had told him that since the train station is so full of magic because of all of the people that it would be ok to use magic, also it’s even safer if he used wandless magic because they can’t track the magic to his wand.

Harry sets in the compartment alone stroking Hedwig through her cage and talking to Ebony for a little while before another red headed boy walks in, this one his age. He wonders if he is related to the twins. 

“Can I sit here” the boys asks, gesturing to the seat across from Harry. 

Harry nods, he notices that the boy keeps glancing at him. 

The door slides open again and the twins are back. 

They tell the boy about someone who has a tarantula, then they look at Harry. 

“Harry” one of them say “did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And that’s our brother Ron. Well, bye” 

“Bye” Harry and Ron say 

So Harry had been right they were related. 

“Are you really Harry Potter” Ron finally burst. 

Harry nodded 

“Is that scar really from You-Know-Who?” Ron gestures to his forehead 

Harry nods again then says “I don’t really want to talk about that” 

“ok, I can understand that” Ron replies then drops the topic

They talk for a while and Harry is really enjoying talking to this boy, but he wishes he knew where Draco was. 

When the trolley comes by Harry who wasn’t able to eat much at breakfast jumps up and buys way too many sweets for him and Ron to share. 

Not long after a bushy haired girl and a round-faced boy stop by. 

“Have you seen a toad” the boys asks 

Harry and Ron shake their heads 

“I’ve lost him” he wailed 

“I can help you find him, if want” Harry told the boy. 

Both the boy and girl stepped into the compartment. 

“How are you going to find him” the girl asks “I’ve been studying the books and I haven’t seen any spells to find a toad, which of course we’ll probably learn one at Hogwarts, it is the best school of witchcraft. I was very pleased to get my letter as no one in my family is magic, I’ve learnt all of our set books by heart. Oh, I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, and this is Neville Longbottom” she gestures to the boy, “who are you” 

Harry could tell by Ron’s stunned face that he did not know many spells yet, which is how most people are when they come to Hogwarts.

“I’m Ron Weasley” Ron muttered 

“Harry Potter” Harry says 

Hermione’s head snaps toward him. 

“Are you really?” She says “I know all about you” she lists off all of the books she’s read about him in and Harry is slightly uncomfortable by this. 

“Do you want me to help you find your toad or not” Harry asks changing the subject 

Neville nods “please” 

“What’s your toads name” Harry asks him. 

“Trevor” he responds 

Harry waves his hand and says “Accio Trevor” After a few moments the road flys into his hand and he hands it to Neville. 

They are all staring at him 

“How do you know that spell” Ron asks 

“Was that wandless magic” Hermione asks at the same time as Ron. 

“I know that spell because my family has been teaching me spells for years so I was prepared for Hogwarts, and yes, it was wandless magic I’ve also been practicing that for years”

They are still staring at him so he says “do you want to stay and sit”. They do and soon they fall back into conversation. 

Hermione is talking about what house she wants to be in when the door slides open again and Draco walks in. “Harry Potter” he says and Harry rolls his eyes at him. 

He looks Ron up and down then says “red hair, freckles you must be a Weasley”. 

He looks around at the rest of the compartment then back at Harry “you should choose your company more wisely, you-“ 

Harry waves his fingers and and sends a slight shock through Draco’s body to get him to shut up. 

“I can choose my company just fine on my own, thank you” he says after Draco stops. 

Draco glares at Harry and Harry glares back "Je te cherchais, la seule raison pour laquelle je t'ai trouvé, c'est parce que j'ai vu un crapaud voler dans les airs”

Draco narrows his eyes “Qu'est-ce que tu faisais, tu sais que tu n'es pas censé utiliser la magie devant les gens.” 

Harry blushes “je ne pensais pas” 

“'alors commence'” Draco snaps 

Harry shrugs and Draco’s expression softens 

“Je voulais que tu t'assoies avec nous, mais il y en a d'autres assis avec nous en qui nous ne devrions pas faire confiance.” Draco tells him in his usual soft voice 

Harry smiles at him “Je comprends” 

Draco tilts his head “Veux-tu que je reste avec toi, parce que je le ferai” 

Harry shakes his head “Va t'asseoir avec tes amis, on se voit tout le temps, tu les vois à peine” 

Draco turns to the rest of the compartment who are looking very confused and says “my name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy” then he reluctantly leaves. 

“Was that French” Hermione asks with awe 

Harry nods 

“Have you met Malfoy before, he’s such a git” Ron says 

“He’s really not, well at least to me” their expressions only seem to have gotten more confused to Harry explains. 

“We grew up together, we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember” Harry says 

“But everyone thought you were dead” Hermione says 

Harry nods “yeah very few knew” 

“Your saying the bloody Malfoys knew” Ron bursts 

“Their family is friends with my family” Harry shrugs. 

He can tell they’re all still confused but they don’t bring it up again. 

It doesn’t take long before Draco returns, this time with a dark haired girl and a dark skinned boy. 

The girl walks in and goes straight to Harry “You must be Harry Potter, I’ve heard all about you, I didn’t know you were Harry Potter until today because Draco never said your name” 

“What are you guys doing here” Harry asks, the question is for all of them but he’s looking at Draco. 

The girl is the one to answer “Draco was pouting that he couldn’t sit with you and also us so we just decided we would sit with you” 

“He’s quite annoying when he pouts” the boy finally speaks. 

Draco turns red then glares at them “I was not pouting” 

“Sure” the boy rolls his eyes. 

“Are you going to sit or…” he trails off. 

Harry scoots over against the window and Draco sits next to him then the boy then the girl. 

Once they sit down the girl looks at Harry “I’m Pansy Parkinson and this” she points to the boy “is Blaise Zabini”. 

“Nice to meet you, I would tell you my name, but you already know” he holds out his hand and shakes both of theirs. 

Harry notices that the compartment is split in half, neither side will look the other in the eye, or make conversation with each other. Harry is the only one who will talk to everyone. So this isn’t going to be awkward at all. 

Chapter Text

Harry’s POV:

The first person to break the awkward silence is Pansy. 

“You have something on your nose” she tells Ron scrunching up her face. 

He glared at her “well you look-“ he starts but Harry cuts him off 

“Enough, the year hasn’t even started yet, let’s not make enemies” 

They go back to their awkward silence. 

Harry noticed that Neville looks really nervous and uncomfortable, which makes Harry realize that he probably is terrified right now, his parents were tortured by Death Eaters and now he’s sitting in a compartment with children of Death Eaters, one of them whose aunt is the one who did the torturing. 

“You ok Neville” he asks trying to comfort him a little 

Neville nods and says “yeah”.

Ebony starts moving on his arm, obviously making his sleeve move, Draco notices and they lock eyes for a moment before Draco positions himself to try to cover Harry’s arm. 

It’s no good Hermione already saw. 

“What’s that” she asks 

“What?” Harry says trying to sound innocent and confused. 

“Your sleeve was moving, I just saw it” 

“Well you’re seeing things” Draco says defensively. Harry likes how protective Draco is, he just wishes he didn’t get quite so rude. 

“No I am not, if you don’t tell me I’ll tell a professor that your sneaking something in” 

Harry is really concerned that Draco is going to hex her which is why he pulls up his sleeve to show the snake on his arm. 

Everyone gasps

”That’s a Eastern Green Mamba isn’t it” Neville surprisingly says.

“Yeah” Harry’s says impressed. 

“Snakes aren’t an option for a pet, and even if you were that would mean you brought two” Hermione shrieks. 

Draco pulls out his wand and points it at Hermione “don’t tell anyone” 

“You can’t use magic on me, you might get expelled” Hermione says emphasizing the last word. 

“If you tell someone, it might be worth the risk, besides that snake is extremely venomous, we can get revenge through her” Draco says petting Ebony’s head. 

“Harry won’t send a snake after us” Ron says, then adds “will you” timidly. 

“No, I won’t be getting revenge on anyone, at least for right now” he says, and doesn’t miss how Neville swallows when he says right now. 

“Believe me that snake holds grudges, and she’s been magically altered so that her venom can’t be healed easily” Draco says 

Harry can tell that they are all sitting back in their seats as though now unsure about Harry. 

“I don’t want to hurt anyone, just don’t tell anyone and everything is cool, but she really does hold grudges” he says looking at Hermione. 

“Can we pet her” Pansy asks 

Harry nods and stretches his hand over so that Pansy and Blaise can pet Ebony’s head. 

It’s kind of funny to Harry how obvious it is who was raised in a slytherin family and who wasn’t just by how they reacted to a snake. 

Harry on the other hand was raised in a home that doesn’t care where you get sorted, just that you’re happy. Harry misses them already. 

A voice announced through the train that they would be arriving soon and that they needed to leave their luggage on the train. 

Ron looked absolutely terrified “I wonder what the test is, Fred and George said it hurts” 

Harry shrugs “I guess we’ll find out when we get there” He and Draco new it was a hat, but Regulus said not to tell anyone, if their parents wanted them to know they would tell them. 

When they get off the train a giant man was calling for the first years. 

“Hagrid” Harry whispers into Draco’s ear, they’d heard all about him from James. 

Harry nearly falls as they’re following Hagrid down the path making Draco snort, Harry elbows him then almost falls again, this time Pansy and Blaise snort along with Draco. 

The four of them get into a boat together, Harry sees that Ron, Hermione, and Neville are also together. 

After getting out of the boats they follow Hagrid up to the castle. They are all amazed by the size of it, they knew it would be big but had underestimated just how big. 

Hagrid leaves them with Professor McGonagall who Harry has also heard stories about. 

McGonagall explains the rules and what each house is, then leaves. 

Harry goes to find Ron, Draco reluctantly following behind him, he doesn’t like Ron much. 

“Hey” he says when he finds Ron. 

“Hey” Ron says back, his eyes shift to where Draco is standing behind Harry then back to Harry. 

“I just wanted to say that I really liked talking to you on the train, and I’d really like to be your friend, what house we’re sorted it won’t matter” Harry says, he’s never had to make new friends before he hopes he’s not making a fool of himself. 

“Yeah” but he doesn’t sound very convincing. 

He feels Draco grab ahold of his clothes and pull him away, “don’t listen to him, if he cares about houses then he doesn’t deserve to be your friend”. 

Harry looks at him “you care about houses” 

Draco shrugs “yeah, but not when it comes to you, we were friends long before being sorted, your stuck with me” they smile at each other briefly.

When they look away Draco’s face becomes a mask, Harry had seen Narcissa and Regulus do this a lot but had never seen Draco until on the train. 

“Let’s go find Pansy” Draco says dragging Harry off again. 

They have just about reached her when when the three boys she was talking to turn around. 

A tall and Skinny one narrows his eyes at Harry, the two tough looking ones behind the tall one look at Harry as though they want to fight him. 

Draco pulls Harry around back towards the middle of the crowd. 

“I can defend myself” Harry says to Draco defensively. 

Draco sighs “I know that, but they can’t” 

“Who are they” Harry asks 

“Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle” says Blaise who came out of nowhere. 

“Their who I was telling you about on the train, the ones we can’t trust” Draco adds 

“Why can’t we trust them” Harry asks still confused by the entire situation. 

“Their families are like major Voldemort supporters” Blaise tells him. 

“We grew up with them, their not bad people, but we need to know where they stand, they don’t need to know about how much you know of their just going to rat it off to their fathers” Draco says “just don’t make them your enemy, that’s the last thing we need” 

At this point they’ve found their way back to Ron and are just standing near him when Theodore finds them. 

He sneers at Ron, “How many people wore those robes before you Weasley, they look ancient” Crabbe and Goyle laugh.

Harry won’t let someone make fun of his friend so he says “fuck off Nott”, he hears Draco and Blaise sigh, he’s just done what they told him not to. 

“Oh yeah, what are you going to do about it Potter?” Nott says now looking at Harry 

“You’re about to find out” Harry says reaching for his wand. 

Professor McGonagall returned at that moment and told them to get in a line. 

She led them into the Great Hall and it’s even more magnificent than his dads had described it. He faintly heard Hermione say something about how it’s bewitched to look like the sky. 

He looked at her “it’s amazing” she beamed seemingly happy that somebody had been listening to her. 

Harry, Draco, and Blaise laughed as the hat started singing, but still clapped along with everyone else after it had finished. 

He watched as people got called up to be sorted.

Hermione was sorted to Gryffindor and Ron groaned, Harry could tell Ron didn’t particularly like her, sure she was a bit annoying but she seemed alright. 

Neville also got sorted to Gryffindor, which surprised him a little as Neville wasn’t very brave, but the hat knows more than he does. 

When Draco got called up Harry smiled at him as he went, the hat had barely touched his head when it called “SLYTHERIN” just as Harry at expected. Draco beamed at Harry before walking to the table and Harry beamed back. 

Pansy was sorted into Slytherin as was Nott. 

Then “Potter, Harry”. 

The whole hall went mostly quiet except for the few murmurs of his name. If people hadn’t heard the rumors of him being at the train station, they definitely knew he was alive now. 

People gaped at him as he walked up to the stool, but once he put the hat on there was a voice in his head. 

“Difficult. Very difficult” it said to him. “You have plenty of courage, you’ve got a good mind, and lots of talent and power, so where shall I put you?” 

It’s quiet for a moment as though considering before it asks “do you have a particular house you would like to join” 

“No” Harry thinks “I know you’ll put me wherever I am meant to be” 

“hmm well better be SLYTHERIN” the hat yells. 

The hall is silent for a moment other than the cheers of Draco, Pansy, and Blaise. The silence only last a moment before the Slytherin table burst into applause about how they got Harry Potter, and everyone else claps politely. 

Harry makes his way to the table and sits down beside Draco. Pansy sitting across from him. 

Draco hugs him. Harry is really happy he had been for Slytherin so he could be in the same house as Draco, and he got his wish, the only down side is that he’s also in the same house as Nott, Crabbe and Goyle. 

“Ron gets Gryffindor, Harry is happy for him he knew that’s what Ron wanted, he just hopes that he doesn’t take the Gryffindor Slytherin rivalry seriously. 

Blaise gets sorted into Slytherin too, the three of them clap and cheer loudly for him. He sits on Harry’s other side and throws an arm over his shoulders. 

Harry basically ignored what Dumbledore says, but he does dig in when all the food appears in front of him. 

“I’ll be honest I did not expect you to be sorted into Slytherin” Pansy says to Harry from across the table 

“Me either” Blaise says, his mouth full of food. 

“I did” Draco says quietly “and Blaise don’t talk with your mouth full” he scolds. 

Blaise rolls his eyes.

~~

Draco POV: 

They had all thought that there was a chance Harry would be Slytherin, even James had admitted it, his personality combined with him speaking parseltongue just made it seem likely. 

He had also prepared himself just in case Harry was sorted into Gryffindor. All of the Potters, as well as Lily had been in Gryffindor so that had also been a possibility. 

But it’s over now, they were both in Slytherin, and they wouldn’t have to be separated. 

The only downside was that Harry had befriended a Weasley. Harry had been good to Draco’s friends and Draco knows he should return the favor. However that doesn’t mean that he has to enjoy it. 

Draco is enjoying his dinner when Harry nudges him. 

“Who is the dark haired professor” he asks into Draco’s ear. 

Draco looked up briefly to see who Harry was talking about before he said “that’s Professor Snape, our head of house”. 

“Snape as in your Godfather and my moms friend” Harry asks abandoning his food for the moment. 

“Yes” Draco puts his fork down as well “why?” 

“He tried to get into my head, I pushed him out though” Harry says in an even quieter voice. 

Draco looks up and sure enough his Godfather is glaring at Harry, his gaze then slides over to where Draco is sitting next to Harry, their eyes meet and Severus’ gaze turns from daunting to questioning, he’s wondering why Draco and Harry seem so close. 

“I don’t think he likes me much” Harry says once Draco and his Godfather break eye contact. 

“I’m sure it’s nothing” Draco tells him, though based on Severus’ glare Draco also doesn’t think he likes Harry much. 

When Dumbledore tells them about the third-floor corridor is closed to everyone who doesn’t want to die a painful death, Harry laughs and looks at Draco with a look that he knows means they will be going to that corridor this year. 

That was another reason Draco thought Harry could have been a Gryffindor, he’s really brave. 

Draco groans, Blaise and Pansy look between them questioningly by Draco just shakes his head. 

When Dumbledore tells them to pick a tune Draco just rolls his eyes and stays silent, but Harry keeps poking him until he starts singing. 

Draco is confused at first, Harry hates Dumbledore as much as he does, but then he realizes Harry is just trying to have fun, he’s not doing anything for the old man. 

After dinner is over they get up to  follow the prefect by the name of Oliver Hart, all Draco knows about him is that he’s a half-blood. 

As they’re leaving the hall Harry tries to say something to Ron but he’s ignored, and Draco won’t stand for that. 

Draco grabs ahold of Ron’s arm and pulls him away from the crowd. 

“What the-“ Ron starts but stops when he sees who grabbed him. “what do you want Malfoy” 

“Your being unfair to Harry, his house doesn’t change who he is, you were perfectly fond with him on the train, talking about how you want to be his friend, if you really want to be his friend you wouldn’t let what a stupid ancient hat says change that” Draco let’s go of Ron 

“I do not like you and would have no complaints to never seeing you again, but Harry is a lot nicer than me and for some unknown reason likes you. He’d let you walk all over him and use him, but I won’t so if you want to be his friend, act like it or don’t come near us again”

Draco spins on his heel and starts walking in the direction his house mates went. 

It’s not long before he runs into Blaise, Harry, and Pansy. 

“Where did you go?” Pansy asks 

“We got to the dungeons and realized you were gone” Harry adds 

“Got lost” Draco shrugs. 

Pansy and Harry seem to believe him, but Blaise narrows his eyes and Draco has a feeling that Blaise knows what he was doing. 

Luckily they had gotten the password before they went to look for Draco so the four of them let themselves into the dorm. 

Harry, Draco, and Blaise found their way to the boys dorms, their dorm had six beds, three on each side, the ones belonging to Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle all had their curtains drawn. 

Draco claimed the bed closest to the door, while Blaise hurried to claim the one farthest from the door. Draco met Blaise’s eyes, they had very purposefully put Harry’s bed in between theirs. 

After they change into their bed clothes Draco walks over to where Harry is sitting on his bed. 

Draco hands him a piece of parchment “if you write the letter tonight we can send it in the morning”

Harry finds a quill and writes a letter to James and Regulus telling them what house he got, and how he likes school so far. 

Draco sets beside him doing the same thing to Narcissa and Lucius. 

After they finish they each crawl into their respective beds, Draco cast a protective spell on Harry’s bed as well as his own, he also cast a silencing charm in case Harry gets a nightmare, like he sometimes does, he’s pretty sure Harry already cast spells on his bed, but you can’t be too careful considering who their in a room with. 

The next morning Draco and Harry wake before anyone else, they go straight to the owlery to give their letters to Hedwig and Zeus, Draco’s owl. 

They climb out of the window and go to the spot Regulus and James told them about to relax before their day starts. 

Chapter Text

Regulus POV: 

Regulus is in the training room working on a potion when James runs into the room “Harry wrote” he says holding up a letter. 

Regulus abandons his potion, he can always make another. James opens the letter and they read it together. 

As a Slytherin Regulus is excited that Harry was sorted there, but if he’d been sorted to any other house Regulus would be just as supportive. 

Regulus is concerned about his house mates though, he hopes that they don’t give him too hard of a time, many of them might be supporters of Voldemort, and will blame Harry for his defeat. 

Harry is powerful enough to defend himself, but he’s too good to actually do it, he doesn’t like hurting people. 

When Regulus looks over at his boyfriend he sees James smiling sadly, at first he’s worried that James is disappointed about Harry’s sorting, but he shoves that thought away, this is James, the same James who fell in love with Regulus against all odds and even hung out with his slytherin friends. 

“I’m glad he seems to be making friends with the Longbottom boy” James says. 

Regulus nods, he remembers James being friends with the Longbottoms during the war, they were tortured around the same time that Lily was killed. 

“It’s good he’s made friends with Blaise and Pansy, he needs allies” Regulus says 

This time James nods “I’m not going to lie I was concerned when Draco had said he wanted to introduce Harry to them, that they weren’t going to be welcome towards him, but thankfully I was wrong” 

Regulus goes opens a drawer and pulls out a piece of parchment and a quill. 

“Do you want to write it or should I?” Regulus asks James.

”You should, your handwriting is a lot better than mine” James says sheepishly. 

Regulus snorts 

“Dear Harry” he writes 

“I am relieved that I am no longer be the only Slytherin in this house. Your dad is not amused that he is out numbered, but he is extremely proud of you as am I.” 

“It’s good that you made friends with a couple other Slytherins, you need as many people on your side as possible. But remember to tread carefully around your other house members until you are able to tell how they feel about you, even then watch what you say” 

“Your dad is glad that you have befriended the Longbottom boy, he has had many of the same struggles you have due to Voldemort.” 

”As for Professor Snape trying to get into your mind, don’t worry too much about it, we went to school together, he was in your dads year but in my house, as you know. He didn’t like your dad and his friends much so he might be taking out some of that hatred to you. He did however love Lily, so he might not like you, but he won’t harm you. 

“It also helps that your in his house” 

“We love you, write as often as you want” 

Give our best to Draco. 

                       “From your Dads”

James takes the letter and folds it up while Regulus puts the quill and ink back in the drawer. 

They’re walking to the back door to send their letter when they hear a voice behind them. 

“Is that a letter for young Harry” Kreacher asks them holding something. 

“Yes” Regulus replies. 

“Can you send this with it” the elf asks handing James whatever is in the parcel. 

“What is it?” James asks. 

“Some homemade treacle tart” 

“I’m sure they-“ Regulus is cut off from saying that they have treacle tart at Hogwarts by James elbowing him in the ribs. Hard. 

“Let me go grab a quill to add it to the note” James says after he’s sure Regulus won’t say anything else to Kreacher. 

When he comes back Regulus sees that he added “PS: The Treacle tart is from Kreacher” to the note. 

Regulus actually finds the whole rather adorable how the elf treats Harry. They had been concerned when Harry was a baby that they would have to send Kreacher elsewhere for Harry’s safety, but that had not been the case. 

They tie the letter and the parcel to Apollo’s leg so he can bring them to Hogwarts. 

Once the owl is out of sight, James picks Regulus up with no warning. They’ve reached the shed where they keep the garden utensils before Regulus can even comprehend what’s happening. 

“What are you doing” Regulus asks, a little out of breath because James carrying him really turns him on. 

“I thought that was kind of obvious” James replies as Regulus’ back is hitting the wall. 

Regulus kisses him and their tongues tangle with each other.

”Why are you still wearing this”  James says in the voice he only has when they’re intimate. He pulls on the front of Regulus’ shirt so hard the buttons break, James pushes it off his shoulders. 

Regulus can’t remove if that shirt was expensive or not. At the moment he doesn’t care, it can be replaced, but moments like this with James are priceless to him.

James is kissing and licking every inch of his skin from his neck to his chest. 

“This is the only good thing about Harry being at school” James says between kisses. 

Regulus who is incapable of words at the moment makes a strange noise that is meant to be his agreement. 

Regulus doesn’t find it to be fair that he is shirtless and James is not, so he starts working to get James’ shirt off. 

After that it doesn’t take long before they are both completely naked and on the floor. 

James is rough and demanding, Regulus loves it. 

After they’ve finished Regulus is lying wrapped in James’ arms. 

“I cannot believe we just did that in the shed” Regulus says 

James turns Regulus around so that they can see each others faces. 

Regulus, who is not expecting James to move him, gasps. 

“Remember what I said back in school” James says looking Regulus in the eyes. 

“You said a lot of things in school” Regulus replies thinking back to their many conversations. 

“I said that I wanted to fuck you on as many surfaces and locations as possible, I’m keeping my word” 

“Ok” Regulus says, not being able to think of anything else to say. 

James chuckles and buried his head into Reg’s shoulder. 

~~

Harry POV: 

They sit on the ledge of the owlery until the sun comes up, at which point they know it’s time to go down to breakfast. 

Considering it’s only their first day they should probably be more concerned about getting to places on time, but the worst they can do is expel them, which Harry doesn’t want to happen, but it won’t be the end of the world if it does. 

Regulus has taught them more than they will learn at Hogwarts, the only reason they’re there is because it looks good on paper and to have fun. 

When they get to the hall Blaise and Pansy are already sitting at the Slytherin table. 

From the moment they opened the door to the hall Harry could hear his name being whispered and people were staring at him. 

He could hear people murmuring things about his appearance and that he was next to the blonde trying to point him out to their peers. There were also confused murmurs about him being sorted to slytherin. 

Once they reach the table they sit opposite Pansy and Blaise. 

“Where were you?” Pansy asks them as they’re fixing their plates. 

“owlery, we were sending letters” Harry says buttering some toast. 

“It took you that long to send letters” Pansy says accusingly

”We sat up there for a while” Draco shrugs. 

Pansy rolls her eyes, but changes the subject to talking about her new dorm mates. 

Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott don’t say anything to any of them, but they sent dirty looks. 

Professor Snape walked along their table passing out time tables. He stopped when he reached Harry.

“Mr. Potter how wonderful for you to have come back from the dead. I hold the students of my house to high standards, I do not except any rule breaking” Snape drawls. 

Harry nods “yes, sir” he is starting to understand why his dad doesn’t like Snape, he’s wondering why his mum did. 

Professor Snape nods to Draco before continuing down the table. 

“He doesn’t like you” Blaise says matter of factly 

“Evidently” Harry replies. 

If a professor, especially his head of house, already disliked him this was going to be a long year. 

Harry received the letter from his dads by dinner, he smiled the entire time he read it and folded it up to save for later. 

“What are you smiling about” Pansy asks him 

“Oh it’s just a letter from my family” Harry says much more confident than he feels, he doesn’t know how to explain his childhood without revealing his dads secret. 

Pansy opens her mouth as though to question him but shuts it abruptly with a jump. 

Harry would say that Draco kicked her in the keg if he had to make a guess. 

A giant owl that Harry knows belongs to the Malfoys lands on Draco’s shoulder, it had two parcels tied to it. 

Draco unties them and reads the small note that came with it. 

“This one is for you, from my mother” Draco says handing Harry one of the packages. 

Harry smiles and opens it, it’s filled with a bunch of sweets. 

“I love your mum” Harry says to Draco making him laugh. 

~~

History of Magic was by far their most boring class, Draco and Harry had resorted to practicing wandless stunning on insects that they let in through the windows. 

Professor Binns never noticed how destructed they were, he barely even notices there were other people in the room with him. 

They found that they were decent in astronomy, neither of them knowing too much about the stars but they both knew where to find certain peoples stars, Draco knew a few more than he did, but overall the class was fairly interesting. 

Harry was also fairly decent at Herbology as he had been helping Regulus with his potions garden for years.  

Due to Professor Flitwick’s reaction to seeing Harry they didn’t really do anything in that class yet, but Harry and Draco were incredibly excited for it as they were quite good at many charms. 

During Transfiguration the two boys were able to turn the match into a needle on the first try, they could that Professor McGonagall was impressed. 

Despite how excited they were for Defense Against the Dark Arts, they were disgusted once they actually had the class. 

Quirrel wasn’t a very good teacher, he was extremely nervous, and anytime someone mentioned something that he supposedly did he blushed and changed the topic, it was extremely sketchy if Harry was honest. 

The teachers were all shocked but also impressed with the amount of magic Draco and Harry knew and were able to cast at such a young age. Harry noticed that they were significantly more surprised about Harry than Draco. 

Of course no one knows who raised Harry, other than Dumbledore, so it makes since. 

Friday came around and the four Slytherins walked down to breakfast together. 

Harry noticed that they hardly ever let him go anywhere alone, one of them always volunteered to go join him. It was usually Draco but there had also been a fair amount of time that the others joined him. 

Harry suspected it was because there was some negative feedback from the other students. The Slytherins either loved having him as a house mate, or loathed it and blames him for defeating their master. 

Pansy goes to sit with her dorm mates so the three boys all sit on one side of the table. 

“What do we have today” Harry asks as he slumps into his seat. 

“Double potions with the Gryffindors” Blaise replies. 

Harry groans and drops his head onto the table with a thump. 

Harry had said a few words to Hermione in the library once, but that’s the most communication he’s had with the Gryffindors since the first night. 

When you combine that with the professor who hates him before they’ve had their first class, it’s going to be torture. 

“The universe hates me” Harry says, his voice muffled where his head is on the table. 

“The universe does not hate you” Blaise says. 

“You’re so dramatic” Draco says poking Harry. 

This makes Harry sit up straight, he looks at Draco incredulously. 

“You’re one to talk” he says to Draco. 

“Me!?” Draco exclaims “I am not dramatic”, he looks at Blaise “am I dramatic?”

Blaise just looks away and doesn’t say anything which gives Draco his answer. 

“I. Am. Not. Dramatic” 

“Sure” Harry laughs 

Draco huffs and crosses his arms over his chest sulkily. 

Harry meets Blaise’s eye out of the corner of his own, the two boys have to fight not to laugh, Draco is just proving their point. 

“It’s ok Draco, we love you anyway” Harry pats Draco on the shoulder, still trying not to laugh. 

~~

Severus POV: 

Severus truly questions why he teaches daily, children are nightmares. 

Today will be worst than most days as he has the first year Slytherins and Gryffindors, which means he’ll have Potter. 

Where that boy has been for the past ten years Severus does not know. He never believed that the boy was dead, although he might have been the only one. 

Severus had told Dumbledore to hide Lily and her son, of course the noble James Potter went with them. 

Severus has always hated James Potter and his stupid friends, but he hates him even more now, it was his stupid friend who betrayed them. 

Severus went to their house only to find it destroyed. Potter and the boy were nowhere to be found, there was a grave for Lily.

Severus knows that people don’t just disappear out of thin air and people don’t bury themselves. 

He told Dumbledore that he’s the one who buried Lily. If James Potter is alive like Severus thinks he is, he’s not doing this to protect him, he’s doing this because Lily Evans was his best friend at one point, he did it for her to try to make up for his past mistakes. 

One thing that is confusing to Severus is how Potter seemed to know and be close to Draco. At first he had put it off as two house mates meeting each other and being high on adrenaline. 

But this week Severus has been watching them and it’s more than that they’re closer with each other than they are with their other friends, almost as if they knew each other before Hogwarts. 

It doesn’t seem possible, Severus can’t imagine that Lucius Malfoy would allow his only son to fraternize with Harry Potter, he supposed he’ll have to talk to his godson to get answers. 

Another matter that is concerning Severus is when he tried to get into the boys head to see if his theories were correct, he was kicked out almost immediately. The boy is incredibly skilled in occlumency, especially at such a young age. 

That just makes it even more obvious to Severus that he was raised by a wizard. 

Severus opens the door to his classroom letting the first year students in. 

Potter is surrounded by Draco, Zabini, and Parkinson. They’re walking around him as though he’s some kind of god. 

Draco and Potter sit together with their other two friends behind them. 

He’s just like his father, by looks and attitude. Severus hates him, he’ll protect him for Lily, but if he caused Draco to get killed like his father got Lily killed, Severus would kill him and his father both. 

Severus stops at Potters name when he’s taking the register. 

“Ah, yes” he drawls “Harry Potter. our new celebrity” 

A few students snigger, both from Gryffindor and Slytherin. 

Severus gives the class a basic introduction to potion making. 

He notices Potter looking a little two confident, and want to humble him a little. 

James Potter was never good at potions so Severus knows there’s no way his son will have been taught much about them. 

“Potter!” Snape says suddenly “what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” 

He sees a Gryffindor girl with bushy hair raise her hand, but he ignores her. 

The boy looks him in the eye, Severus inhales slightly. He has Lily’s eyes. 

“You would get the Draught of Living Death” the boy replies not breaking eye contact. 

Lucky guess, Severus thinks. 

“Where would you find a bezoar?” he tries again. 

“It’s a stone found in the belly of a goat” Potter fires back. 

Severus had been so sure of his theories about Potters childhood, but now he’s also convinced that someone helped James Potter raise the boy. There’s no way that James Potter taught the boy how to protect his mind and about potions. 

“What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?” 

The girl stands up and stretches her hand further into the air. He continues to ignore her. 

“They are the same plant, which is also known as aconite” Potter answers his previous question. 

“You should ask Hermione some questions, she seems like she wants to answer” Potter says pointing at the Gryffindor girl. 

He’s cocky just like his father. He seems to have his mothers brains though. 

“One point from Slytherin for talking back” He would take more if it wasn’t his house. 

He gives the class an assignment to brew a simple potion. During the class things are blown up, one kid melted a cauldron and had to go to the hospital wing. Severus is already dreading this class. 

The only ones who are decent at brewing is four of his slytherin’s, which are Potter and Draco, and their other two friends, and the Gryffindor girl from earlier. 

After class is over Severus walks over to the table Draco is sitting at with Potter.  

“Draco stay after class” he says only looking at his godson, not looking at his companion. 

Draco nods, Potter whispers something into Draco’s ear then leaves with his other friends.

“How do you know Potter?” Severus asks Draco after the class room door has shut. 

“We have known each other since we were toddlers” Draco says simply. 

Severus isn’t one to get caught off guard very often, but this statement truly caught him off guard. 

“Do your parents know” it’s the first thing he thought to say.

He’s even more surprised when Draco nods “of course, my mother is quite fond of him”. 

“Who raised him” Severus demands. 

Draco crosses his arms “I’m not telling you”.

”What will you tell me” Severus questions. 

“That Harry is my friend, we grew up together we’ve trained and practiced together, yes I know his secrets but their his and I will not be telling you” 

Severus nods, accepting that Draco isn’t going to tell him anything. 

“You may go, but remember Draco if you need anything that I am here” 

His Godson smiles at him before leaving the class room. 

He should have known Draco wouldn’t tell him anything, that boy is extremely loyal to those he cares about. 

Chapter Text

Draco POV:

He understood why Severus was confused and concerned about his and Harry’s friendship. 

Severus is close with his parents and he’s never heard or seen anything about Harry, but Harry and his families secrets are not his own to share. He won’t throw them under the knight bus. 

Draco reaches a hallway in the dungeons and finds his friends leaning against the wall waiting on him, like Harry told him he would. 

When they see him they push off the wall and walk towards him. 

“I need to go to library” Blaise says 

“Lead the way” Draco says. 

“What did he want to talk to you about?” Harry asks him once they are walking beside each other. 

“He asked about you” Draco says tentatively 

Harry turns his head to look at Draco “what did you tell him?” 

“I told him that we have been friends since we were toddlers, but I would tell him anything else” 

Harry nods “thank you” 

Draco puts a hand on his shoulder “of course” he drops his voice to an even lower whisper and says “I care about James and Reg too”. 

Harry smiles at him, they walk the rest of the way to the library in comfortable silence. 

When they enter the library they see Weasley and Longbottom sitting at a table in the corner, definitely not doing homework. 

Draco notices Harry look at them for a moment then look away when he notices Draco watching him. 

As much as Draco hates Weasley he was hoping that his speech would work, Harry hasn’t had a chance to make friends growing up, now that he has they won’t befriend him back because of his house. 

Draco was about to steer Harry to a table on the opposite side of the library when Weasley looked up and met Draco’s eyes, Draco sneered at him. 

Unexpectedly Weasley calls out “oi! Harry want to sit with us?” 

The four of them freeze for a moment before Harry smiles, he turns to look at them and says “you don’t have to sit with them if you don’t want to, but I’m going to sit with them” then he’s walking towards them. 

Draco admires how Harry won’t force them to hang around people they don’t like. 

The three Slytherins look at each other and silently agree to follow Harry. They don’t trust that Weasley won’t use Harry because of his fame, and he’s had such little experience with people that he’d let himself be used. 

Once he found out though, it’s safe to say that person wouldn’t cross Harry again. He wouldn’t permanently harm anyone, but he knows enough jinxes to make them regret it. 

And Draco would prefer if his best friend didn’t get kicked out of Hogwarts before they’d even been there a year. 

“What’s up” Harry asks as they sit down. 

“Pretending to study” Weasley says. 

“Why are you pretending, why not actually do it” Harry questions. 

“Her” Longbottom points to where Granger is sitting at a table alone with a book. 

“She’s awful” Weasley groans, “all she wants to do is read and study, and if we’re not she starts lecturing us”. Longbottom nods. 

Harry didn’t say anything as he pulled out his own books, Draco knew Harry was wondering what was so bad about wanting to read and study, just as Draco was. 

Growing up they were constantly asking to read books out of the library and practice the spells that they contained. Weasley obviously did not which was probably why he was so much more behind in his classes. 

On the other hand Draco wasn’t pleased that Weasley hadn’t apologized or said anything at all about him being an arse to Harry all week.

So when Weasley looked back at them he was met with looks from three Slytherins who knew how to school their faces into the perfect glare. Thankfully Harry was too focused on what he was reading to notice the severe glaring that his friends were doing. 

Weasley seems to get the hint because he clears his throat then says to Harry

“Look I-um-I was a jerk, someone told me that you were the same person now as you were on the train, I just couldn’t see it because I’ve grown up thinking Slytherins were bad, but we got along on the train and I would like to try to be friends despite our houses” 

Harry smiles then shrugs “it’s fine, I’d like to be your friend too”. 

Weasley opens his mouth to respond but Draco cuts him off “no it’s not fine”

Harry shoots him a look but Draco ignores it. 

“You can’t let people walk all over you” Blaise adds

”We met you for the first time on the train and if you had been sorted into Gryffindor we wouldn’t have ignored you for an entire week” Pansy says still glaring at Weasley. 

The red head snorts “you’re telling me that if he had been Gryffindor you wouldn’t have had any rivalry feelings toward him at all?” 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying” Pansy retorts “we all expected him to be sorted there, that didn’t stop us from hanging out with him on the train, the problem is-“ 

Draco is pretty sure she was going to say something quite rude but Harry cuts her off by smacking the table. 

“Stop it, house rivalries are bullshit, all they do is make us weaker” Harry looks around the table at all of them. 

Most of the group is shocked because they’ve never seen Harry raise his voice before, Draco on the other hand knows Harry has a temper, he is however shocked that he cursed, Harry doesn’t do that often. 

“Our houses make us unique, if we were all in the same one life would be relatively boring. Their are only so many of our kind let’s not separate ourselves from each other just because we aren’t the exact same” 

No one argues anymore after that, the Slytherins start studying again. Longbottom makes and excuse to leave, Draco gets the feeling they make him nervous. 

Harry looks over his shoulder a couple of times like he’s wanting to say something but isn’t, until he finally says 

“Hermione do you want to sit with us” the girl jumps slightly but nods at Harry. 

Weasley groans but doesn’t say anything. 

“Hey” Harry says as Granger sits opposite him. 

“What are you guys working on” she says opening one of her books. 

The Slytherins name off the class’s homework that they are working on but Weasley says nothing, Granger rolls her eyes at him. 

“Harry I actually had a question for you” She says. 

“What is it?” he asks giving her his full attention. 

“In transfiguration I heard you and Malfoy were able to change your matches fully into a needle, I was only able to make a slight change. How did you do it” 

Harry nods “it’s the motion you make with your hands” he shows her the correct motion and she mimics it “that looked good” he tells her. 

“Thank you” she sounds genuinely appreciative that he helped her. 

“No problem, my family has been teaching me some basic spells since I was little” 

This causes Granger to raise her eyebrows “not to intrude, but who raises you, your mothers family were muggles and you know a lot about magic so it wasn’t them and I thought your dad’s parents also died” 

All sound at their table disappeared and everyone was looking at Harry. The only there who knew the answer to this question was Draco and he currently wasn’t breathing. 

To Harry’s credit he doesn’t even flinch before he says “I was raised by two distant cousins on my dads side, the war was pretty bad for them so they don’t come out much, they taught me magic so I could defend myself” he said it so convincingly that Draco almost wanted to believe him. 

“We should get back to the dungeons” Blaise says. 

Draco had forgotten that he was there. 

On the walk back to the dungeons Draco whispers into Harry’s ear, “that was a good lie” 

“It wasn’t a complete lie” Harry whispers back “Reg is technically a distant cousin, and they don’t come out much, or at all, and they taught me magic to defend myself” 

Draco shrugs because that is true. 

Once they reach their dorm they cast the protection spells on their bed and fall into sleep. 

The next morning at breakfast Harry gets a letter, Draco thought it was from his parents until he looked at it and saw the messy handwriting. 

“Who’s it from” Draco asks. Harry shrugs then they read it together. 

Dear Harry, it says, 

We haven’t met yet, but I knew your parents. I was wanting to know if you would like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three, you can bring your friends. Send an answer to me with your owl.     
        The grounds keeper Hagrid. 

Harry scribbles a “yes” on the back of the letter and sends it back with Hedwig. 

“Do you guys want to go have tea with Hagrid later” Harry asks Blaise and Pansy. 

“The grounds keeper?” Blaise responds 

Harry nods 

“I don’t” Pansy says “he’s like totally a half giant” 

“Oh so half-breeds bother you now do they” Harry says crudely. 

Pansy opens her mouth to retort but Blaise elbows her “that’s not what she meant” he tries. 

“Yes it is, it’s fine” Harry snaps before he grabs a piece of toast and walks out of the hall. 

Pansy huffs and has her arms crossed. Blaise and Draco look at each other exasperated before Draco gets up to go find Harry. 

He searched in the corridors, outside, and in the dorms, but he was unsuccessful in locating Harry. He wishes he had the Marauders map but Harry had put it in his pocket this morning so they could do some exploring after breakfast, as it’s Saturday and they don’t have classes. 

Draco knew Harry hated people who disliked muggle borns and halfbloods, which is understandable because of what he is and what his mother was. 

Draco has opinions on that topic that he doesn’t share with Harry because he doesn’t want to offend him, though he will admit that Granger seems quite brilliant despite being a muggleborn, and of course Harry is extremely talented but Draco has never really thought of him as a half-blood Harry has always just been Harry to him. 

Draco ended up hanging out in the common room with Blaise playing wizard chess, Pansy had come over at one point and hung out with them, she had told Draco that she hadn’t meant to offend Harry she just didn’t feel comfortable spending the day with a half giant. 

Draco understands Pansy’s hesitation giants don’t have the best reputation, but he has heard enough about Hagrid from James and Regulus that he knows Hagrid isn’t a threat. 

At three Draco leaves the common room in hopes to meet Harry on his way to Hagrid’s. 

Draco didn’t see Harry on the grounds so he assumed that his best-friend was already at the hut. 

He knocked on the door and heard a loud bark then Hagrid’s big hairy face peaked out of a small crack as the door was pulled open. 

“Malfoy what yer doin here?” Hagrid says not opening the door anymore. 

Draco is about to say that he’s looking for Harry when he hears Harry’s voice inside the hut say “you can let him in Hagrid” 

The man opens the door  cautiously, Hagrid’s giant boar hound starting licking Draco’s hand “yuck” he said trying to push the dog back. 

Hagrid grabs the dog by its collar and says “back, Fang”. 

Draco goes and sits next to Harry “did you seriously ask Weasley to go with you instead of me?” he whispers.

”I didn’t think you’d want to come” Harry whispers back. 

“I’ve heard just as many stories about Hagrid as you have, don’t take what Pansy said to heart, she’s just, well she’s Pansy” 

Harry rolls his eyes before looking back at Hagrid and pointing at Weasley “this is Ron” Harry says. 

Hagrid makes a joke about Ron’s twin brothers. 

Then Harry points at Draco “this is Draco, we grew up together” Hagrid nods but looks apprehensive. 

“He looks mean on the outside but he’s really a softy on the inside” Harry adds. 

Weasley snorts, Draco glares at him. 

The rock cakes that they were given were disgusting, Draco was about to say as much when Harry elbowed him, Weasley and him were pretending to enjoy them. 

Draco didn’t really join in on the rest of the conversation, but he didn’t miss how quickly Hagrid changed the subject when Harry asked why Severus hated him, Harry also seemed to notice the quick subject change. 

Harry picked up a paper and quickly showed it to Draco “that happened on my birthday! We were there”

”That is quite weird, when me, mother, and father were inside everything seemed normal”. 

It was surreal that they were there on the day when Gringotts was broken into, that has never happened before. 

Draco was sure that Hagrid was avoiding their gazes which was making him suspicious. 

As they walked back to the castle Harry and Weasley’s pockets were full as they were too polite to decline the rock cakes, Draco on the other hand had down right denied any more. 

Draco and Harry were quiet on the walk back, both their minds reeling on Hagrid’s odd behavior, Weasley on the other hand had zero concerns and was jabbering on about something that Draco didn’t care to listen too. 

Surely Hogwarts ground keeper hadn’t had anything to do with the robbery at Gringotts, right?

~~

Harry POV:

Harry and Pansy hadn’t spoken to one another for the rest of the weekend until Sunday night when Pansy had some gossip and Draco and Blaise wouldn’t listen to her. 

Today was Monday and they had their first flying lesson with the Gryffindors. 

Harry was extremely excited for this, he already knew how to fly, but he’d take any excuse to be on a broom right now. He was a little upset that he wouldn’t be able to ride his own broom, but he technically wasn’t even supposed to have it at Hogwarts. 

He had left his pet snake Ebony in his dorm for the day as he might accidentally hurt her while flying or someone might see her. 

Draco of course also knew how to fly very well, Blaise had been on a broom a couple of times, Pansy had never been on a broom and had zero interest in flying so she was dreading the lesson. 

As they were passing the Gryffindor table Harry saw Neville holding a small glass ball that was glowing scarlet. Harry stopped but the rest of his friends kept walking. Draco belatedly realized Harry was no longer beside him and stopped to wait for Harry. 

“What’s that?” Harry asks Neville 

“It’s a Remembrall, it glows red if you forgot something” Neville explained. 

“What’d you forget?” Harry gestures to where the ball is red. 

“I-I don’t know” Neville replies. 

Draco snorts and mumbles “what a nutter”. The Gryffindors evidently heard him because Neville goes red and Ron jumps up as though he’s going to hit Draco. 

Harry grabs ahold of Draco’s robes and drags him to their table. Harry glares at Draco, it was his aunt that tortured Neville’s parents, the least Draco could do is leave Neville alone. 

Seeing everyone receiving letters made Harry realize that he needed to write to his dads, he hadn’t since the first time, he’s just been overwhelmed with his first week at school. 

That afternoon Harry and his fellow Slytherins walked down the front steps into the grounds for their lesson. 

They were there of before the Gryffindors so the Slytherins branched off into the different friends groups and had quiet conversation. 

When the Gryffindors arrived their teacher still hadn’t arrived so Harry went over to talk to Ron and his brothers Fred and George. 

The twins were complaining about the school brooms. 

When Madam Hooch arrived Harry went to stand between Draco and Blaise next to a broom. 

“Fred and George said they start to vibrate if you go too high” Harry tells Draco. 

“Who?” Draco asks 

“Ron’s brothers” Harry points at the twins 

Draco nods “yes, well these brooms are cheap” 

Harry doesn’t say anything but Draco’s right, that and they’re probably old. 

Harry and Draco’s brooms flew into their hands immediately, Blaise managed on the second try. 

Ron’s broom flew up but hit him in the face instead of the hand. Harry laughed. 

“Shut up Harry” Ron said, but he was smiling. 

Harry said nothing as Neville was riding straight up into the sky, there was a few sniggers from the Slytherins, Draco, Blaise and Pansy included. 

Harry cringed when he heard the snap of Neville hitting the ground. 

Harry knew that Neville was in pain, he had broken his wrist once when he was younger. He had tried to ride his dads broom without permission and it was faster than he had expected, he slid right of the back and his wrist snapped. Luckily Regulus is good at healing so he was only in pain for a short time. He had gotten grounded from flying for a week after that though. 

“Did you see his face” Draco says with a laugh. 

Several Slytherins laughed, but not Harry, he hated how Draco was acting he was never like this back home. 

“Shut up, Malfoy” Ron snaps 

“Of course the blood traitor is defending Longbottom” Theodore Nott says. 

Harry had been proud to be in Slytherin, he had make friends and he was happy, but now he wasn’t so sure.

“Look” Draco says running forward “it’s his stupid Remembrall” he picks up the glass ball and jumps on a broom and flys into the air. 

Harry jumps on a broom and follows Draco into the sky. 

“Draco give it to me” the two boys look at each other for second before Harry adds “he’s been through enough” hoping that Draco will stop being such a jerk. 

“Catch it” Draco says before throwing it through the air. Harry has been training to be a seeker for years so of course he catches it and lands his broom. 

Once Draco lands he smiles at Harry as though he expects Harry to smile back. 

“HARRY POTTER” Professor  McGonagall yells.

Harry freezes, a few of the Gryffindors surprisingly try to defend Harry but the Professor silenced them.

“Potter, follow me, now” she says before walking back to the castle, Harry gives the Remembrall to Ron before walking to follow the Professor. It seems he would be going home sooner than expected. 

Draco grabs his shoulder “Harry I-“ he tries.

”Stop” Harry shrugs him off and keeps on walking. He doesn’t like this side of Draco.

They’ve been friends forever and Harry had never imagined them not being friends, but now Harry wasn’t sure, one thing he was sure of was that he didn’t want to be friends with someone who bullied people for no reason. 

Chapter Text

Harry POV: 

Harry continued to follow McGonagall, it looked as though she was leading him down into the dungeons. 

He realized his thought was correct when she led him into Snape’s office. 

Harry was pretty sure he was about to kicked out of Hogwarts. The thought itself didn’t bother him, but he didn’t want to disappoint his dads. 

Snape looked from McGonagall to Harry then back again. 

“Severus, I have found you a seeker” She said primly. 

“Him?” Snape questioned. 

Harrys heart was pounding, it didn’t sound like he was about to be expelled. 

McGonagall nods “he caught a Remembrall in his hand after a fifty-foot dive, didn’t even get a scratch” 

Snape examined Harry a moment before he says “ever played Quidditch before Potter, or even watched it” 

Harry nods “yes sir, me and Draco have played together” 

“Very well, I want to see you on the pitch at five o’clock tomorrow evening” Snape says 

“Professors? I thought first years weren’t aloud to play quidditch” Harry asks 

“I’ll speak to Dumbledore” Professor McGonagall says. 

“I must say I am surprised Minerva, that you are helping yourself get beat by Slytherin again” Snape drawls 

McGonagall stiffens slightly before saying “talent is talent”.

”Do you have a broom? Potter” Snape asks Harry. 

Harry hesitates for a moment before nodding, “I snuck one in”. 

“If you train hard you will not be punished for that, but if I hear you are slacking you will be off the team, and receive a punishment for breaking school rules, do you understand?” Snape says cooly 

“Yes sir” Harry responds 

Snape gestures to the door and Harry and McGonagall walk out. 

That whole meeting went so much better than he had expected, he’s still shocked Snape wasn’t completely rude to him. Harry still doesn’t understand why his mum was friends with him though. 

In the corridor McGonagall looks at Harry and smiles sadly “your father would be proud” she says “he was an excellent Quidditch player himself” 

Harry smiled back at her unsure what to say, he knew his father was good at Quidditch, after all he’s the one who taught Harry with a little help from Regulus, but his professor didn’t need to know that bit of information. 

McGonagall walked the rest of the way out of the dungeons but Harry stood there for a second unsure where to go, he couldn’t wait to write home and tell them what had just happened, but he also hadn’t eaten yet and he was starving. 

He didn’t feel like sitting with his house in the hall, he didn’t want to talk to his friends and hear excuses so he went to where James and Reg told him the kitchen entrance was. His dads had gone there to eat together back when they were secretly dating in school. 

The elves welcomed him, some of them recognized him because he looks so much like his father, they gave him way too much food, but on the bright side he wasn’t going to go hungry.

Harry hesitated a moment before leaving the kitchen, he didn’t exactly know where to go, he wasn’t in the mood to back to his common room yet. 

After a moment of thought he decided that he was going to go to the Gryffindor common room to hang out with Ron. 

Ron had given him the password over the weekend after he and Pansy argued. Ron told Harry he could anytime he wanted as long as he came alone. At first Harry hadn’t liked that Ron was excluding Harry’s other friends, but at the moment he was glad that he hadn’t told anyone that he had been there.

On his way to the common room he ran into none other than Theodore Nott flanked by Crabbe and Goyle in the corridor. 

“I didn’t see you at dinner have you been kicked out?” Crabbe and Goyle sniggered from behind him. 

“No, actually I made it on the Quidditch team, so unless you want Slytherin to lose you’re going to have to cheer for me” Harry says with a bit of a smirk. 

Nott narrows his eyes “You think you’re better than everyone because you’re ‘the famous Harry Potter’ but you’re just a boring half-blood” he snarls. 

“You’re right I’m not better than everyone, I’m just better than you” Harry says. 

He knows he shouldn’t be egging Nott on, but he’s still angry at his friends and be needs to blow off some steam. 

“If you’re so sure let’s duel tonight. Wands only - no contact.” 

“Deal, we’ll meet in the trophy room at midnight”  Harry replies.

Harry turns around to continue to the Gryffindor common room when Nott calls after him “Potter! Bring your friends, they can all watch you fail” 

Harry ignores him, he knows he’s not gonna fail. 

“Caput Draconis” Harry says to the portrait of the fat lady. 

He walks in hesitantly a few second years stare at him for a moment,

“what are you doing here Slytherin” one of them snaps at him. 

Before Harry can say anything the Weasley twins come over “Harry is welcome here” Fred says. 

“Yeah, back off” George adds. 

At this point they’ve gathered Ron’s attention and he has walked over to them. 

“How did he even get the password?” another second year says. 

“I gave it to him” Ron tells them. 

Fred and George pull out their wands. The second years look at Harry then at the twins wands before stalking off. 

“Good to see you Harry” Fred says patting Harry on the back. 

“You’re our favorite Slytherin” George says before the twins walk away. 

Harry looks at Ron and smiles “you won’t believe what just happened”. 

Harry dives into what happened after McGonagall took him inside. 

“No way!” Ron gasps “but your only a first year, you must be the youngest seeker in a-“ 

“Century” Harry finishes for him. 

Ron gaped at Harry for a moment before saying “you’ve got to come tell Dean and Seamus” before Running off to the corner he was sitting in with two other boys before Harry arrived.

Harry hesitated he hadn’t met Ron’s dorm mates yet, they were either going to hate him because he was Slytherin or be crazy about him because of his name. 

“This is Dean Thomas” Ron says pointing to a dark skinned boy once Harry joined them in the corner, the boy smiled at him and Harry returned it. 

“This is Seamus Finnigan” Ron says pointing to the other boy. 

“You’re kind of famous you know” Seamus tells him. 

“I know, I don’t like it though” Harry replies. 

Seamus studies him for a moment. 

“Harry tell them” Ron says. 

So Harry does, he tells them the story about he became the Slytherin seeker. 

That was just a conversation starter after that they kept a steady conversation. They talked about the quidditch teams they supported, Dean told them about muggle football, they even played a few games of exploding snap. 

“You’re not what I expected, being a Slytherin and all” Seamus says after a while. 

“Yeah well we’re not all the same, my house doesn’t define me” Harry says with a shrug. 

“It was cool what you did for Neville, Malfoys your friend isn’t he?” Deans asks

”It was the right thing to do, and yeah Draco and I have known each other for years, he’s not usually like that” Harry tells them. 

They seem to put it together why he came to their common room. 

“Sometimes being away from home can change people” Ron says “look at Fred and George, they’ve always been trouble makers but since coming to Hogwarts they’ve been worse” 

Harry hardly feels like that’s the same thing but he doesn’t say anything. 

“How is Neville” Harry asks

”Madam Pomfrey healed his arm, she’s making him stay the night just to be sure” Seamus tells him. 

“I gave him his Remembrall and told him what you did” Ron adds. 

Harry nods. 

The boys went back to their conversation of getting to know each other. 

Harry eventually gets annoyed at his bracelet going off so he takes it off for the first time since Draco gave it to him and puts it in his bag. 

~~

Draco POV: 

Draco was starting to get concerned he hadn’t seen Harry since Professor McGonagall took him inside. He hadn’t even come to dinner. 

He had been pressing and holding down the crystal on the bracelet that he had given Harry for his birthday, but had received nothing back. 

He wasn’t worried about Harry’s safety, he knew how to defend himself with magic and he had a protective snake, Draco was more worried that Harry had been expelled.

 He would hate himself if he was the reason that his best friend got expelled, he also knew that his parents and James and Regulus would not be happy with him. 

Harry is supposed to keep a low profile as a normal orphaned kid, getting kicked out of school during the second week does not meet that criteria. Also Reg is low key scary and Draco does not want to be on the wrong side of him. 

Draco hadn’t been trying to be a jerk, he hadn’t even been trying to break Longbottom’s Remembrall, he knew Harry would catch it, he never misses. 

He never expected Harry to react like that, he should have considering Harry seems to have a soft spot for the round faced boy. 

Draco had just thought it would be funny to joke around, but now he realizes the joke wasn’t worth losing his longest friend over, if he could just find Harry he would explain. 

Then as though a light bulb went off in Draco’s head he thought of something and was running off to their dorm, to the confusion of Pansy and Blaise who had been listening to Draco whine about Harry. 

Draco had thought that since Harry had been in class that he might not have had the Marauders map with him, luckily Draco was right. 

He activates the map and searches for Harry’s name. Draco finds it but is shocked when he sees that Harry is in the Gryffindor common room of all places. 

Just as quickly as he had went to the dorm he left it and went back to the common room. 

“Where are going?” Blaise asks as Draco was going to the entrance. 

“To apologize to Harry” he says quickly. 

“Are you actually sorry?” Pansy asks him. 

“well… not really” he says truthfully “but my ego is not worth loosing Harry as a friend” 

“We’ll come with you” Pansy says standing up from her chair, Blaise following suit. 

“You don’t have to” Draco tells them. 

“We may have slightly different opinions from Harry” Pansy starts 

“But you’re right, Harry’s too good of a friend to lose” Blaise finishes. 

The three of them leave the common room. 

“Where is he anyhow?” Blaise asks 

“Gryffindor common room” Draco replies 

“How do you know?” Pansy questions 

“We have our ways of knowing things” Draco says with a smirk. 

He’s sure they will tell them about their secrets eventually just not yet. 

His friends raise their eyebrows at him. 

He waits a few moments before he says “it means a lot to me that you guys have been so welcoming towards him” 

“At first I was just doing it for you, but somehow he made me actually like him” Pansy says the last part a bit grudgingly. 

“Yeah he has a way of doing that” Draco says with a laugh. 

“He was welcoming to us from the beginning, on the train when we intruded his compartment before we were sorted into the same house” Blaise says “not many wizards are like that, especially one who’s parents and their friends were killed by Slytherins”

Draco nods, it’s true that Harry has been very welcoming to them, but they don’t know that Harry was raised by a Slytherin and has been taught that most Slytherins aren’t what they seem. 

“How are we getting in exactly?” Pansy asks when they’ve almost reached the fat lady portrait. 

Draco pauses, he hadn’t thought about that. Blaise looks at Draco and groans. 

“Are you serious, I thought you had a plan to get Harry” he says exasperated.

”I said I knew where he was” Draco snaps “I didn’t really think about how to get him out”. 

After he had seen Harry’s name on the map his brain sort of stopped working and he was rushing to go get Harry. 

“We could find and threaten another first year” Pansy suggests with a shrug 

“Or we could just find one then Draco could use Occlumency” Blaise suggests instead. 

They end up having to do neither because the portrait opens, the three Slytherins back into the shadows so they’re not seen by whoever is coming out of the common room. The three of them silently agree to rush in behind the leaving Gryffindors. 

A boy steps out of the portrait and Draco thinks he looks familiar but he can’t see very well so he can’t be sure, but when the second boy steps out he is positive that he knows him. 

Draco reaches out and grabs Harry by the arm to pull him into the shadows. 

The moment his hand wraps around Harry’s arm he realizes with dread that he made a mistake and grabbed the arm that Ebony is hiding, he lets go quickly but it’s too late. 

The snake jumps out at him at the same time that Harry pulls out his wand, he hears Pansy gasp, both Harry and Ebony seem to register that it’s Draco at the same time. 

Harry puts his wand down and Ebony pulls back before hissing something to Harry. “She says if you ever grab her like that again she will actually bite you” Harry translates for Draco.

Everyone is quiet for a moment before Harry says “what are you doing here?” 

“I wanted to apologize for earlier” Draco says quietly, he’s not good at admitting he was wrong. 

“That’s not enough, you were really terrible” Harry tells him. 

“Harry you should know by now that Draco isn’t a nice person” Blaise says from behind Draco. 

Both Harry and Draco shoot him a look, Blaise puts his hands up and says “well it’s true”. 

Harry looks back at Draco “I know that, I’m not asking you to change who you are and be kind to everyone, that’s not you, but there is no excuse for going out of your way to bully someone and take their things, what it it had been broken” 

“I knew you would catch it, we’ve been flying together since we were like six you’ve never missed” Draco says even more quietly. 

Harry studies him for a moment "Ça n'a pas d'importance. Tu ne penses pas qu'il a assez enduré ?"

Draco is confused by this, what exactly has Longbottom been through, Harry must notice the confusion on Harry’s face because he says

"C'est l'autre, celui que Voldemort aurait pu choisir à ma place, ses parents ont été torturés par Bellatrix" 

Understanding dons on Draco, that’s why he’s so nervous around them when they sit him, not only were his parents tortured by Slytherins but Draco’s aunt. James and Reg had told them about the other boy, but he had no idea who it was. 

"Je ne savais pas, je ne lui dirai plus rien. Mais je ne peux pas promettre que je n'y penserai pas" Draco says the last part a little sheepishly 

Harry smiles at him “that’s good enough for me” 

The two of them hug briefly, when they break apart Draco notices that Pansy and Blaise have their mouths open, he has never once hugged them. 

“So are you two good now? we didn’t understand a word you just said” Pansy says. 

Draco doesn’t understand why Blaise and Pansy never learned French but he is glad for it, he and Harry can speak secretly in a crowded room. 

Harry and Draco nod which makes Blaise sigh in relief “thank Merlin“ he says 

“I was so tired of hearing Draco talk about how scared he was to lose you and how he missed you,  and it had only been a few hours” Blaise complains. Draco turns slightly red. 

Draco is just about to tell the group something embarrassing about Blaise when Weasley says “Harry we’ve got to go” from behind Harry. Draco had honestly forgotten he was there. 

“Where do you have to go this late?” Blaise asks 

Harry looks over his shoulder at Weasley then back at them, Draco knows he’s hesitating which makes him extremely curious but also nervous, because Harry has James blood in him and Weasley’s brothers are known as the Hogwarts trouble makers. 

“The trophy room” Harry tells them, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. 

“Why?” Draco, Pansy, and Blaise say at the same time. 

“Because I’m dueling Nott and that’s where we are meeting”

“What!” Draco yells outraged “are you crazy” 

all of them shush him but he doesn’t care right now, Harry has lost his mind. 

“You know I can win” Harry says to him. 

“Of course you can, but he doesn’t need to know that” Draco says, this time in a normal voice. 

Harry sighs “look I am doing this, you can come with us, but you’re not going to stop me” 

Draco runs a hand down his face, he’s half tempted to stun Harry, but he won’t one because Harry would probably block him and two because he won’t ever be pointing his wand at Harry unless their just practicing. 

“I want to see this, so count me in” Pansy says

”I am coming as well” Blaise agrees. 

Sometimes Draco thinks that he’s the only one out of his friends that has any sense. 

“Fine, but if you get hurt I’m telling R-“ he cuts himself off before he said Reg’s name. “Your family that you were being an idiot” he says instead. 

Blaise, who is a Slytherin through and through, narrows his eyes at Draco’s almost slip up but doesn’t say anything. 

The group had just started walking down the corridor when they hear a voice behind them. 

“Where are you going?! Granger asks

”Go back to bed” Weasley says furiously. 

 “I should tell your brother, how would he feel about you being out after curfew” she snaps at him. 

Harry walks towards her “Hermione it’s fine I agreed to a duel, but we’ll be careful we won’t get caught” 

This only seemed to make her more angry, “Do you only care about yourselves? Your going to loose all of your house points” she looks at Ron “I don’t want Gryffindor to lose” she looks at the Slytherins “It’s not fair to your housemates either” 

“Go away” Ron tells her 

“If you get expelled it’s all on you” she says as she turns away. 

Unfortunately the Fat Lady had left her portrait, meaning Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower, so she begrudgingly decided to go with  them to the trophy room. 

 “Do you have the map?” Harry asks Draco “I assume that’s how you knew where I was” 

Draco internally cringes, wishing her had brought the map with him. 

“I left it in the dorm” 

Harry sighs “that makes this slightly more difficult with there being so many of us” 

“I’m sorry” Pansy interrupts “but what in the world are you walking about. What does a map have to with anything” 

Harry and Draco smile at each other, they go into full detail about what the map does and how his father and his friends made it back when they were in school. 

“How’d you get it?” Weasley asks amazed 

“My cousins gave it to me, though I should have before I came to Hogwarts” Harry says with a shrug. 

Draco is very glad that Harry picked up his air of nonchalance from Regulus because James cannot lie and Harry really is lying a lot lately. 

“So that’s the secret you were talking about earlier” Blaise says finally putting the pieces together. 

“One of them” Draco says with a smirk 

“There’s more” Pansy says aghast, she looks at Blaise “who is he?” 

“I don’t know” Blaise says “but I like this Draco” 

“Can we move faster” Granger says “I am not going to get myself caught by Filch, and if he does find us I’ll tell him I was trying to stop you idiots”

Weasley replies rather loudly but Draco is more focused on looking down the corridor, her could have swore he heard something. 

He can tell by the way his friends are looking that they too heard it, Weasley and Granger are still arguing not noticing anything, honestly Gryffindors are so oblivious. 

“Can you two shut up!” the Slytherins all say together. They’ve definitely heard something. 

Their panic that they’ve been discovered by Filch is soon discarded when they see Longbottom curled against the wall. 

“Neville! How’s your arm” Harry asks immediately, his good heart overtaking his carefulness at the moment. 

“Fine, Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute” he says showing them his arm, Draco doesn’t think the proof was necessary. 

“Good” Harry says, he’s about to walk off when Longbottom stops him. 

So now they have an extra person with them, Longbottom also not being able to get back through the portrait hole. 

Weasley is glaring at both Longbottom and Granger, “if either of you get us caught, I will learn the Curse of the Bogies just to use it on you” he says

Draco snorts “don’t worry about learning it, I’ll do it immediately” 

Harry stops suddenly, Draco nearly runs into him. 

“We need to be more careful, we got lucky with Neville but he could have been Filch” He looks at Draco “we could go ahead to look out and if we see someone it would be easier for us to warn them without being seen” 

Draco understands immediately what he means. 

“How would it be harder for you to get caught, you-“ Granger starts but is cut off by Draco and Harry transforming into their Animagus forms. “Oh” she says shocked. 

“Another secret” Blaise whispers to Pansy 

“That’s so cool!” Weasley says and Longbottom nods. 

Harry goes in front because his form is black followed by Draco who is followed by the others who are in human form. 

The trophy room is empty when they arrive. 

“maybe he chickened out?” Weasley says once they’ve transformed back. 

Draco feels like something about this situation is off.

That is proven to be true when they hear Filch and his stupid cat.

They don’t waste a second before they take off running, Harry has to grab onto Longbottoms robes to keep him from falling, Draco would find it funny if he wasn’t so focused on running. 

It apparently didn’t do much good because as soon as Harry lets go of Neville he trips again this time falling down and taking Weasley with him. Draco groans at the sound the two of them made. 

Harry yelled at them to run and run they did, Draco cannot remember the last he has ran this fast. 

They’re all out of breathe, but that doesn’t stop Granger from scolding Harry. 

What she’s saying is accurate but that doesn’t mean it’s not annoying right now. 

They thought they were safe until they saw Peeves and he was apparently determined to get them in trouble. 

They were running for their lives again, they ran into a locked door, Granger was pulling out her wand to unlock it, but Harry who is high on adrenaline and not really thinking unlocks in wandlessly. 

They look at him briefly but they’re more focused on getting inside safely. 

They can still hear Filch and Peeves outside but they think the door is locked so they’re safe for the moment, which allows Draco to realize someone is holding onto his sleeve. 

“Remove your hand this instant” he somewhat growls. 

Neville snatches his hand back as though he’s been burned. 

There was a high pitched scream, the rest of them spun around to see Pansy staring at something looking extremely pale. 

It suddenly occurred to Draco that they were on the third floor corridor, which he now understood why they weren’t aloud to go there. 

They were looking into the eyes of a massive dog that had three heads, Draco noticed that the dog was on a trapdoor which means it was probably protecting something, before they were once again running. 

They all seemed to choose Filch over being eaten. 

Harry slammed the door shut and locked it again. When they finally stopped running Draco realized with some regret that they were in the Gryffindor common room, he doesn’t even remember going through the portrait. 

None of them said anything for a while, Pansy and Blaise were holding each others hand and Draco realized that he and Harry were doing the same. 

“Why on earth would they keep that thing in a school” Weasley says breaking the silence. 

Granger glares at him “isn’t it obvious” 

Weasley looks extremely confused 

“It was on a trapdoor” Draco adds

Weasley still looks confused so Harry also adds “it’s hiding something” 

“What?” This coming from Blaise 

“I don’t know” Harry says 

Grangers gets up and glares at Harry and Weasley “I hope you’re pleased, we could have been killed, or worse expelled, now I’m going to bed”

Weasley stared at her retreating figure “you’d think we drug her along” 

“Not to agree with her, but if you’d gotten me killed, I would have haunted you” Pansy says finally getting color back on her face. 

Harry and Draco smiles, they know Pansy isn’t actually mad. 

On their way back to the Slytherin dorms they discus what they think the dog could be hiding, they all seem to agree it’s probably whatever the person who tried to rob Gringotts wanted to steal. 

Chapter Text

James POV: 

Halloween came back around as it did every year, because that how holidays work. 

The pain that the day brings has lessened over the years, but with Harry not being home this year made it slightly worse. 

They typically spend Halloween talking about Lily and eating too many sweets while watching scary movies. 

They could still do that but it wouldn’t feel right without Harry and Draco. Actually most things don’t feel right without them, the house is way to quiet. 

At first James and Reg were using their alone time wisely, James has fucked Reg on nearly every flat surface in their house. 

But recently they’ve been a little lonely, so they’ve moved on from the intense sex to just talking, cuddling, or affection kisses. Regulus has managed to teach James how to be a little bit better at potions though. 

James has given up on trying to reach Remus and Sirius, he’s sent a few more letters but has never gotten anything back, he’s knows their alive, he’s confident that Narcissa would have told him if they weren’t, they either aren’t understanding his codes or they aren’t getting the letters at all. 

As much as it hurts James that he might never get to see or talk to his best mates again, he knows that he shouldn’t have waited so long to reach out their both our living their lives, they’ve accepted that he’s gone. 

James and Regulus have been taking weekly trips to the Malfoy’s to have tea with Narcissa. They have also been taking visits outside to muggle parts of France much more often than they should. 

They got a letter last night from Harry telling them that Harry and Draco had gotten into a fight because Draco had bullied someone and he was acting different at school, Harry didn’t mention who was bullied. 

James had been holding his breath the entire time reading the letter until he got to the part that Harry said they’d made up. 

At first James had been worried about bringing the Malfoy family into their lives and about the friendship between the two boys, but over the years their friendship grew and he could see how much they cared for each other. 

James understands how Harry felt acting that way towards other people, he remembers a fight between he and Regulus over something very similar. When you know someone who is so kind and caring towards you and is downright hateful to other people, it’s confusing and it hurts. 

He could tell Regulus was remembering that moment while reading the letter as well by the look on his face. 

James is waiting on Regulus to return from meeting with Lucius and Narcissa so they write back to Harry. 

Regulus insisted on meeting with them alone, which is a little odd, but it doesn’t worry James because he knows Regulus has a reason and he always tells James everything as soon as he can. 

~~

Harry POV: 

Harry is disappointed that he won’t get to have his usual Halloween night with his dads, but, he and Draco are going to try to make the best out of the situation. 

They obviously can’t watch a movie, or Harry can’t look at memories of his mum, and they can’t have their small quidditch game with James and Regulus. 

They can however enjoy the feast with their friends, eat candy,  sneak out to to fly their brooms which they still have not done, and maybe cause some pranks to scare fellow students. 

On the way to breakfast the Slytherins were talking about what they could do to scare people, but not make it obvious that it was then who did it.

When they were almost out of the dungeons Snape called behind them “Potter!” 

Harry froze, he didn’t know what he could have done that was causing Snape to seek him out, he looked at Draco out of the corner of his eye before turning around. 

His friends walked right behind him as he walked to meet Snape. 

“I was told Potter, to escort you to the headmaster’s office” he drawled

Harry looked at Draco once more who looked back, Harry did not want to go to Dumbledore’s office, but he also didn’t want to make his dislike towards the headmaster obvious. 

He sighs before saying “ok” then he turns to his friends and says “go on, I catch up with you later”.  

Just as Pansy, Blaise, and Draco turned to leave Snape apple again. 

“Draco, I was told you are invited as well if you would like to come” 

Harry,Draco, Pansy, and Blaise all looked at each other thoroughly confused, Harry shrugged and the latter two continued to the Great Hall while Draco and Harry followed Snape. 

Snape led them to the gargoyles which guarded the office then said the password “lemon drop” which Harry thinks is an odd choice for a password, but Dumbledore was an odd man so it made sense. 

Snape told them to go in, but did not follow them. Harry wonders why Snape seemed as though he wasn’t aloud to follow them. 

Harry’s question was soon answered when he saw Regulus leaning against the wall beside where Dumbledore was sitting at his desk. 

Harry paused for a moment to make sure he was seeing correctly and that this wasn’t a trick, but then quickly ran towards Regulus, slamming into him for a hug, nearly knocking Regulus over. 

Draco walked much more calmly towards Regulus, whom took one hand away from Harry and pulled Draco into a short, awkward side hug. 

Neither of them were huggers, they just accepted them from Harry and in Regulus’ case from James as well, because the Potter’s were very big fans of physical touch. 

“What are you doing here?” Harry asks as they pull apart. 

“Well I thought you might want to come home for the day, but if you don’t want to see me I can leave” Regulus says pointing to the fireplace. 

“But I thought” Harry looks from Regulus to Dumbledore then back to Regulus “I thought I couldn’t leave until Christmas break” 

The headmaster doesn’t look at them when he says “I can’t stop your legal guardian from taking you home”. 

Harry has a suspicion that Reg didn’t ask very nicely, he probably threatened the old man. Regulus can be scary when he wants to be, not because he raises his voice but because he says it so calmly that you know he means what he says and will go through with his threats. 

He’s never once been anything other than soft towards Harry and Draco, but Harry heard him talking to Lucius once when he was younger, because Lucius was wanting to tell someone else that they were alive. 

Harry was smiling, truly smiling at the thought of going home, he’d been terribly homesick. 

Regulus looked at Draco, who was standing awkwardly unsure what to do, and said “I have spoken with your mother, she has given you permission to join us as long as you have returned before the feast, and you don’t let this get you behind on school work”

Draco didn’t respond he just walked towards the fire. 

“We’re playing quidditch” he says as he grabs Dumbledore’s floo powder and steps into the fireplace. 

The headmaster seems to be watching Draco with an odd look in his eye. Harry thinks he’s hoping that Draco will go straight to Harry’s home or at least give a hint, but he of course doesn’t,  he floos to Diagon Alley where Regulus will use side-along apparition to get to their home. 

He’s followed by Harry who is then followed by Regulus, who doesn’t even acknowledge the old man as he leaves.

Not everyone is able to apparate two people along with themselves. It takes a lot concentration and magic, but Regulus is able to, he’s a lot more powerful than people used to give him credit for. 

As soon as they are in front of the home Harry’s known his entire life, Harry beelines to the door and burst through it. 

His dad is obviously not expecting him, he comes running out the kitchen, wand drawn.

As soon as he recognizes Harry he quickly puts his wand away and pulls Harry into a crushing hug. They stay that way for a few moments, neither wanting to be the first to pull away. 

Once they do separate James looks at Regulus, who is standing in the hallway next to Draco, they are both smiling. 

“How did you manage this” James asks Regulus. 

“I went to talk to Dumbledore” Regulus says with a shrug. 

James raises his eyebrows “he just let them go?” 

“I wouldn’t say he let them go, but he can’t deny a parent from taking their child, and as for Draco I had a note from his mother” Regulus says all of this calmly, but Harry still feels like he did more than simply talk to Dumbledore. 

James walks up to his boyfriend “thank you, I love you” then he kisses him. 

“Hey!” both Harry and Draco shout but Harry’s dads ignore them. 

Harry and Draco looked at each other then glared at James and Regulus, they silently and wandlessly cast a shield charm between the two men. 

James and Regulus were pushed back slightly because of the force. 
They both turned to look at Harry and Draco who had smug expressions on their faces. 

James started laughing and Regulus tried to glare at them but soon broke into a smile as well. 

“That was an impressive shield charm” Regulus praises them. They both beam, they’ve never managed to do it that efficiently without a wand before, maybe it was because they were working together. 

“Draco” Regulus says “if you would like to visit your mother you can use the floo” 

Draco nods and walks towards the living room, the others follow. 

Draco goes through the floo, James and Reg sit down. Harry is about to join them when Ebony moves slightly on his arm, reminding him that she’s there. 

“I’ll be right back” he says to his parents as he runs towards the back door. She’s told him that she enjoys her holders that he had gotten for his birthday. Most of the time she’s so still he forgets she’s there until he gets back to his dorm. 

He lets her down in the yard where she can get some fresh air and catch up with Slither. Harry isn’t really sure what the snakes do when they’re together, all he knows if they like to be around each other, they’ve told him as much. 

Harry feels bad that Ebony’s been cooped up so much lately, he’s tried to let her out on the grounds, but he doesn’t want someone to see her, and he can’t let out in the dorm much because of Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle. 

After losing sight of the snake he goes back into the house. Once reentering the living room he sees James and Regulus sitting on the couch beside each other, he walks over and squeezes himself between them. 

It might be slightly annoying, but he doesn’t care, he’s missed his dads over the last few weeks and he wants to talk to them and be around them as much as possible whiles he’s home. 

Which leads to him asking a question that he’d been wondering from the first week at Hogwarts. 

“Why are you not married” he asks simply. 

James seems to choke on air and starts coughing hysterically. Reg freezes and slowly turns to look at Harry wide eyed. 

Harry fears he’s made a mistake in asking this question, he thought it was a simple question with a simple answer, but after seeing their reactions he doesn’t think that’s the case. 

“What was the cause of this question” Regulus asks, pulling himself together. 

“I…well” Harry starts, but he stops himself. 

He looks between his parents, they’re not looking at him as though they’re angry, only like they’re genuinely wondering why he asked. 

This makes him feel a little better so he continues “It’s just that Cissy and Lucius are married, so are Ron and Hermione’s parents” 

Harry pauses for a moment but Reg nods with understanding so he continues “I know you love each other” he looks between them “so I was just curious.” 

Reg glances past Harry at James “we do love each other” he says still looking at Harry’s dad. 

“very much” James says from beside Harry, he’s probably looking back at Regulus. 

Regulus meets Harry’s eyes once more “we never got married for a couple reasons, one was because it never felt appropriate.You know we broke up before the war, then afterwards we had both lost so much and we were grieving, and then of course we had you and you have us enough joy a wedding wasn’t needed” Harry laughed as Regulus attempted to poke him in the stomach. 

Harry being distracted by Regulus had his guard down allowing James to poke him in the ribs. Harry turns to glare at him making James chuckle. 

“Another reason” James says getting serious again “was because we wanted our family to be there for it. Though through the years we’ve lost most of them, we still had a few, but now we don’t have even have contact with those few anymore”. 

Harry knows he’s talking about Sirius and Remus, his dad tried to act like he’s unaffected by not being able to reach them, but at time like this when he has the sad expression on his face and his voice breaks, Harry can tell how much it does affect him.

So Harry hugs him as tight as he can, his dad hugs him back with zero hesitation. It’s not long before Reg joins and hugs them loosely. It’s not fierce or tight, but from Regulus it’s everything. 

The sound of the floo causes them to break apart. Harry looks up and sees Draco awkwardly standing beside the fireplace, “did I interrupt something?” He says.

 James takes a deep breathe before saying “not at all”. 

“How about that quidditch game” Regulus says standing up and gesturing outside. 

James and Harry jump off the couch and go outside, followed by Draco and Regulus. 

“You’ll have to use your old brooms, because yours are at school” James says grabbing his own broom out of the shed. 

Harry and Draco meet each others  eye before grabbing their shrunken brooms out of their pocket. They had been planning to sneak out to fly at Hogwarts therefore carrying their brooms with them. 

Regulus rolls his eyes and says “I don’t even want to know why you were carrying them around” 

James on the other hand smiles and says “I knew you had some of me in you” while messing Harry’s hair up in the way that James likes to wear his own. Harry pushes it back down.

“Don’t encourage him” Reg says smacking James over the head while he grabs his own broomstick. James just smiles wider.

They play a mini version of quidditch with Harry and Draco on one team and James and Regulus on the other. Much to the dismay of the grown men Draco and Harry win both games. 

Even though his dads act cold about it, he knows that they are secretly proud of how good he and Draco are at quidditch. After all they were the ones who taught the boys how to play. 

The day went by much to quickly and it was now unfortunately time for them to go back to Hogwarts for the Halloween feast. 

Harry personally would have preferred to skip the feast and stay home and eat the dinner Kreacher fixes and stay up late watching movies. 

But Cissy wants Draco to be at the feast, he knows why, it would look suspicious if neither of them were at the feast, but that doesn’t mean he has to want to go. 

They are standing beside the fireplace so they can floo to the Malfoys and then go to Dumbledore’s office, when Kreacher comes bustling into the room. 

“Wait” he says “Kreacher has something for Harry and Draco” 

Harry just now notices that the elf is carrying to large packs. 

“Homemade candy” the elf says handing a pack to Harry and one to Draco “Kreachers been making it all day to give to you before you leave”

”Thank you Kreacher” Draco says from beside Harry. 

Before Harry can also thank the elf he starts lecturing them on what a good meal is, he keeps going on that the Hogwarts elves make their meals too healthy. 

He probably would have lectured them for an hour if Regulus hadn’t stopped him because they were running late. 

The boys go through the floo where Narcissa is waiting on the other side looking impatient. 

She quickly hugs Draco and kisses him on the cheek, before turning to Harry and doing the same. 

“You should hurry” she says pushing them back towards the floo.

They technically could floo to Dumbledore’s office straight from Harry’s home, but Regulus doesn’t want to risk Dumbledore being able to find out their location. 

When they reach the office it is empty, the old man apparently having already gone down for the feast. 

They rush out of the office wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. 

Once in the corridor they realize that they do not have time to go the dorms to change into their robes so they spell them on before continuing towards the Great Hall. 

They must have timed something right because they see Ron and Blaise standing against the wall outside of the Great Hall. 

“What happened” Blaise says noticing them first. 

Ron looks up at Blaise’s question then notices them as well, “where have you been?” he asks. 

“We went home for the day” Draco says simply. 

“Your parents let you skip classes?” Ron asks looking aghast. 

Harry nods. 

Harry looks around and notices that he doesn’t see the girls. 

“Where’s Pansy?” He asks Blaise

”She went to the toilet” Blaise replies. 

Then Harry looks at Ron “what about Hermione?” he asks 

Ron scoffs “Who cares, she’s so annoying” 

“Personally I think you’re the annoying one” Draco drawls looking at his hands. Harry ignored him and looks back at Ron with a questioning look.

“She kept mocking me in charms class today, telling me I was saying the incantation wrong” Ron says “it’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa” Ron says in a mocking voice that was supposed to be Hermione’s. 

Harry didn’t want to say it but Hermione was right, Harry knows that spell and the correct pronunciation is very important. 

Draco knows this as well and looks like he’s about to say as much to Ron but Harry stomps on his foot before he can, they do not need to make this worse. 

Ron was obviously in a bad temper “it’s no wonder no one can stand her” he says as he moves out of the way of people entering the hall “she’s a nightmare” 

Someone pushes their way between Harry and Draco. Harry looks up and realizes that it was Hermione, she had tears in her eyes. 

Harry felt bad, he actually quite likes Hermione. 

“I think she heard you” Blaise says stating the obvious. 

“So?” Ron says but he did look a tad awkward as he walked to the Gryffindor table. 

Draco, Harry, and Blaise started walking to their own table when Pansy ran up behind them. 

“What happened to Granger?” She asks. 

The three boys raise an eyebrow at her, how could she know that something had happened. 

“She ran into the bathroom crying” she explains at their expression “I tried to ask her but she yelled at me to leave her alone”.

They told Pansy what Ron had said as they sat down. 

“He’s one to talk, he’s almost completely intolerable” she scoffs. 

Draco and Blaise agree, Harry doesn’t say anything but even he will admit that it was hypocritical for Ron to say that. 

Harry was distracted from this thought as one of the bats flying over their table seemed to be launched in the other direction. It had apparently tried to mess up Draco’s hair so he silently banished it across the hall. Harry finds it funny. 

Harry was just about to dig into dinner when Professor Quirrell comes sprinting into the dungeon and is going on about a troll in the dungeon. 

After that there was uproar. The other houses had to return to their dormitories but the Slytherins had to stay in the great hall, as the troll was where their dorms were.

Harry is deep in thought for a moment before he says “a troll couldn’t have just gotten into the school” he says. 

“Someone had to let it in” Draco adds. 

“But who?” Blaise says, seemingly agreeing with them. 

“It’s a distraction” Draco tells them “we already know that their is something being guarded in the school, what if they put the troll in to distract us” 

Blaise says something but Harry doesn’t hear it, he’s just had a sudden realization. 

Chapter Text

Harry POV: 

Harrys face must portray what he is feeling because Pansy looks at him and says “What’s wrong, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost” 

This causes Blaise and Draco to also look at Harry. 

“Hermione doesn’t know about the troll” he tells them. 

Blaise’s eyes widen. 

“We have to help her” Harry says  determinedly 

His friends groan but otherwise don’t object, they seemed to be expecting this response from Harry. 

“How are we going to get out of the hall?” Draco asks

Harry smiles and pulls out his invisibility cloak. 

“So we’re actually doing this, saving a muggle born” Pansy says eyeing the cloak. 

Harry appreciates that she used muggle born instead of the other word. 

“You don’t have to, but I’m going to” he whispers. Understanding that they might not want to join him. 

“Shut up, we’re going” Draco says taking the cloak from Harry and putting it over them. Pansy and Blaise huddle over next to them and squeeze under the cloak. 

It’s a little tight with the four of them under it, but it’s good enough to get out of the hall. 

Thankfully no one notices the four of them disappearing, they’re all still to focused on gossiping about the troll. 

They are able to sneak out of the doors and get into the corridor without being noticed by the prefects. 

just as they think they are safe and can take off the cloak they see Snape going in the opposite direction of the dungeon. 

“What’s he doing?” Harry says 

“He’s probably come to the same conclusion as us, that this is a distraction” Draco says “he’s probably going to help protect whatever is being hidden” 

Draco is most likely right, after all he knows his god father better than they do. 

Once they can no longer hear the Professors foot steps they take the cloak off. 

“I think we’re near the it” Pansy tells them scrunching up her nose. 

Due to the foul stench Harry is smelling he has to agree. 

They can hear something grunting in the distance and hurry up their pace to find Hermione sooner. 

Turning the corner where the girls toilets are, they are surprised to see Ron standing outside of the door turning the lock. 

It’s then that Harry notices the grunting noises are coming from inside the bathroom. 

Where Hermione is. 

Ron turns to look at them with a smile, seemingly thinking he’s just had a grand victory. 

“Please tell me that you did not lock the troll in there” Blaise says looking pale. 

As soon as he finished his sentence a petrified scream comes out of the bathroom. 

Ron jumps. The three Slytherins rush forward. 

“That’s the girls toilets, you idiot” Pansy snaps as Draco alohomora’s the door. 

Harry is really starting to understand why he was sorted into Slytherin and not Gryffindor. How did Ron just not notice he was locking the troll in the room with their friend. 

“Hermione!” Harry and Ron say together as they all rush inside. 

Hermione was shrinking against the wall looking as though she was about to faint. The troll was completely destroying the bathroom as it was advancing on her. 

Ron tried throwing a metal pipe at it making it angry and turning towards them. Now Pansy was screaming along with Hermione. 

Harry knew what he had to do, but Hermione was going to have to move first. 

“Hermione run, run!” but she wouldn’t move, she was leaning against the wall with her mouth open. 

Next thing Harry knew Draco ran from his side and grabbed Hermione moving her out of the way. 

Harry took advantage of this and shouted “confringo”. 

He realized once they were all covered in troll juice that it probably wasn’t the best idea to blow up the troll, but he couldn’t think of any other spell to use. 

Looking at his friends he saw Pansy and Blaise holding onto each other shaking, Draco looked even paler than usual, Ron was staring at where the troll used to be, Hermione was staring at Harry. 

“How did you know how to do that spell” She asks, but her voice is weak and shaky. 

“We’ve been over this before, we practiced magic before Hogwarts” Draco answers for Harry, snapping out of his shock. 

“Harry” Pansy says recoiling from Blaise “if this troll bogies doesn’t wash out of my robes, you will be purchasing me new ones that are more expensive” 

Harry wants to laugh at the fact that she just said troll bogies, but he thinks she’ll hex him if he does. 

A slamming noise and loud footsteps makes them all flinch and look up. 

Harry is just now realizing how much of a ruckus they had made. 

Professor McGonagall came rushing into the room, followed closely by Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell. 

Quirrel took one look around the room before whimpering and sitting on a toilet clutching his heart. 

Harry thinks this reaction is hypocritical considering that they are the ones who fought the stupid troll. 

Also there isn’t even much left in the room, other than like Pansy said some “troll bogies” and its bay, and maybe a few small pieces of flesh. 

“What on earth were you thinking” Professor McGonagall said with fury in her voice. 

No one knew what to say for a moment, then a small voice came out of the shadows. 

“It’s my fault Professor-“ she starts but is cut off by Blaise. 

“No it’s not” he says “Pansy saw Hermione come into the bathroom before dinner, we realized she wouldn’t know about the troll and we came to warn her” 

Harry smiles to himself, that’s the first time Blaise has called her by her first name. 

Hermione speaks again “really professor they saved me, Draco was able to help me get away from the troll while Harry used confringo” 

The teachers stared at them for a moment unsure what to say then McGonagall looks at Hermione “if you are uninjured go on to Gryffindor tower, students are finishing the feast in their houses” 

Hermione leaves. 

The Professor then turns to look at the rest of them. 

“You each will receive ten points each, it’s impressive not many first years could take on a full grown mountain troll” 

They each let out a sign of relief. 

m

”Mr. Weasley I will escort you back to the common room so I know you didn’t go anywhere else” she says before leaving the room, Ron follows her. 

“You four will follow me” Snape says, then he too leaves the room. Quirrell is still sitting on the toilet. 

Snape leads them to the common room entrance. The other go in first but as Harry’s about to enter Snape says “that was an impressive bit of magic, Potter” 

Harry is surprised to see a look of approval on the Professors face. 

After that Hermione hung out with them everyday. Her and Ron didn’t argue nearly as much and neither she or the other Slytherins had any reservations towards one another. There are some things such as fighting a twelve-foot tall Mountain troll together that makes you friends. 

As November came around the weather became cold, every morning the grounds were covered in frost. 

The Quidditch season had started and Harry was surprised to find out that he really liked his team and worked well with them. 

He was worried about peoples reaction to playing with him as at the beginning of the term some of the Slytherin members were cold towards him, but the team had been nothing but welcoming towards him. 

Marcus Flint, the team captain and Chaser had decided that Harry was their secret weapon. Slytherins were quite sneaky so keeping this a secret wasn’t very difficult. 

Draco, Blaise, and Pansy came to watch all their practices, even when it was freezing cold or rainy. On these days they typically looked at Draco to provide some type of charm to help them stay dry and warm. 

Harry was extremely excited for Saturday, when the Slytherin team would play Gryffindor. 

He’s been dreaming of playing an actual Quidditch game since he was a child. He’s always loved playing with his dad and Reg, but he knows his dad wanted to go pro and he wants to be really good at quidditch in honor of him. 

He’s gotten close to the Gryffindors so for him it’s just a bit of fun competition, he can’t say the same for the rest of his team though. 

At least he doesn’t have to worry about them breaking the rules, they want to win too badly to let themselves get into trouble. 

He still had good grades in all of his classes. Regulus’s pre-Hogwarts classes for Harry and Draco seemed to be really helping them. Even if Reg hadn’t covered it, they were able to learn on quickly. 

Friday after dinner he was walking outside with Ron and Hermione, braving the cold to visit Hagrid, Hermione had conjured a bright blue fire which helped keep them warm a little bit when he saw Snape limping towards them. 

Ron had been carrying a Quidditch book and got it confiscated and lost five house points because Snape said he wasn’t aloud to have it outside. 

“Is that even a rule?” Ron asks obviously outraged. Harry just shrugged, he honestly had no clue. 

He was slightly suspicious of why Snape had been limping but couldn’t think of a logical explanation, besides Draco trusted and his mum had been his friend at one point. And Reg didn’t see him as a threat so why so he?

When they reached Hagrid’s cabin he welcomed them in, luckily it was very warm inside. 

Draco, Blaise, and Pansy didn’t come because they didn’t want to be in the cold, and honestly Harry couldn’t blame them, he was already dreading the walk back up to the castle. 

~~ 

Draco POV: 

It was Saturday morning, the first Quidditch game was today. 

Draco could Harry was nervous from the moment he opened his bed curtains, he was pale and utterly too quiet. 

Honestly he can’t understand why Harry is so nervous, he’s a prodigy. James was one of the best Chasers Hogwarts had ever had, and Reg was one of the best Seekers. 

Harry had been training with them for as long as he could walk. 

But Draco also knows that Harry has a tendency to overthink things so on the way to breakfast he tries to distract Harry with random conversations, such as the paintings on the walls to the differences between muggle hair gel and hair potion. 

It seemed to be working, Harry was talking and looking slightly less pale. 

They were almost to the Great Hall when Ron came out of nowhere. 

Yes, he’s calling him Ron now, after two near death experiences, one by a three headed dog, and another by a troll, they’ve decided they all should at least be on first name basis. 

“Harry” he yelled, nearing them. 

Draco rolled his eyes. He respected Harry’s friendships with the Gryffindors to an extinct, Draco himself even liked Hermione, but every time Ron was around he and Harry got into something they shouldn’t, therefore dragging the rest of them along. 

Harry has a temper and doesn’t know how to say no to people and when combined with Ron it doesn’t go well. 

“I went to the staff room last night to get my book back from Snape” he tells Harry. 

“Ok?” Harry asks, sounding questioning. 

Draco is also wondering the point of this conversation. 

“No one answered when I knocked, so peeked inside it was just Snape and Filch inside”

Harry nodded, probably to let Ron know he was listening. 

“Harry his leg was disgusting, it was mangled, they were talking about the three headed dog” 

“How do know that” Blaise interjects. 

“He asked Filch how to watch all three eyes at once” he looks back Harry “I think he’s trying to steal whatever it’s guarding” 

Aw there it is, he’s always trying to blame Severus for something. 

“Severus is not stealing from the school, if the stupid creature hurt him it’s because he was trying to help and it’s uncontrollable” Draco snaps at Ron. 

“I’m going to breakfast” he turns and leaves, his friends follow him. 

When the morning post comes in Draco doesn’t get any mail, but Harry gets two 

He opens the first one and Draco looks over his shoulder to read it with him. 

Dear Harry, 

Good luck at the Quidditch game today, I know you’re going to win. That’s one thing you got from me.You are an even better seeker than Reg (don’t tell him I said that). Todays game is no different than the game we played on Halloween and you beat us. This game might be easier, me and Reg trained and played during our time at Hogwarts, the kids you are playing probably did not train before Hogwarts and if they did they didn’t train with us (I’m making a winking face) 

Right back the results of the game, even if you don’t win I am still proud of you. 

I love you.

                From your dad

Harry holds the letter in his hand for a moment and then smiles and folds the letter putting it in his pocket. 

He then opened the second letter. 

Harry, I know you’re nervous, don’t be it’s just a game that’s played to have fun, if you won’t enjoy there is no point playing. Winning or losing isn’t the end of the world, we’ll all still love you the same. 

Remember eat breakfast, you need your strength. 

See you soon on Christmas break 

                             Love Reg

Draco grabs a piece of toast and sets it in front of Harry. “Eat” he says before eating his own breakfast.

Harry only ate a few bites but that’s better than nothing. 

On the way to the pitch the Weasley twins came up from behind Harry, one on each side put an arm around his shoulders. 

“See you on the pitch, Harry” one of them says. 

“Don’t hate us too much when we beat you” the other one says, then they continue on their way. 

They were smiling so Draco knows they said it with a kind heart. 

Harry smiled back at the twins as they left, most people would think it was genuine but Draco knows Harry well enough to know it was fake. 

As a surprise Pansy and Blaise  had made a banner that said Potter for President. Draco had drawn a Slytherin snake under the writing. Even Hermione had performed a charm to make the writing change color. 

Speaking of Draco and snakes, he currently has Ebony on his arm. Harry didn’t want to play quidditch with her on him, but he doesn’t like to go anywhere without her so Draco ended up holding her. 

Obviously he is a Slytherin and doesn’t have a problem with snakes, as a matter of fact he and Harry grew up playing with the snake named Slither in Harry’s backyard, but having Ebony on his arm makes his slightly nervous. 

She seems to like Draco, and she won’t hurt Harry’s friends, but the fact that she is extremely venomous and could bite him is a little nerve racking. 

Especially because Reg has made it so her bite cannot be easily healed by magic. 

The games is going well so far, Slytherin is in the lead but the snitch hasn’t been spotted yet. 

Draco could see Hagrid’s giant form squeezing himself between Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in the Gryffindor section. 

When the snitch was spotted Harry and the Gryffindor seeker were racing towards it.

The chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing, they were frozen in mid air to watch the seekers. 

Harry was almost to the snitch when his broom gave a sudden lurch knocking him into the other seeker, now the snitch was out of sight. 

It looked like Harry was about to fall off his broom, the three Slytherins gasp. 

Not long after the broom did it again. It was almost like the broom was a bronc trying to buck off its rider, but brooms weren’t like horses, they didn’t randomly decide to buck their riders off. 

Harry was zooming around the pitch. 

“What’s he doing” asks Blaise 

“It’s not on purpose, he’s lost control” Draco responds, never taking his eyes off Harry. 

“I can’t look” Pansy whines closing her eyes. 

Harry’s broom was rolling over and over, he looked like he was barely hanging on.

Draco was terrified for his best friend, if he fell from that height he would be very badly injured. 

Harry was now dangling from his broom, Draco felt sick to his stomach. 

“Is someone doing something to it” Blaise asks looking as scared as Draco probably does. 

“It would take a lot of dark magic to do that to a broom, I don’t think most students could do it” 

“Could you?” 

This question shocks Draco into looking away from Harry, surely Blaise doesn’t he’s responsible for this, he would never. 

Blaise must see the look on his face because he clarifies himself “I know you’re not doing this I was just trying to see how difficult you thought it was, so can you” 

“I- Maybe, I’ve never tried” Draco sighs 

“Ok, so pretty difficult” Blaise starts looking around the stands as if looking for whoever is. 

When Draco looks back at Harry he sees the Weasley twins and all of the Slytherin team trying to get Harry onto one of their brooms, but every time one of them got near Harry the broom would go higher. 

If the situation was different Draco would laugh at the Gryffindors and Slytherins attempting to work together. 

But Draco is as far away from laughing as he’s ever been in his life. 

“Draco! Look” Blaise says pointing somewhere in the crowd. 

Draco sees Blaise pointing at Quirrell who is staring at Harry and saying something. Draco knows this is a jinx. 

Right below Quirrell is Severus who is also keeping eye contact and muttering something. 

Draco is about to jump up when Quirrell is knocked over by something and suddenly Harry’s broom becomes still. 

But then Severus’ robes catch on fire, blue fire. 

So Hermione had also noticed the jinx, just the wrong person who was doing it. Either way she managed to take the correct one as well. 

Harry climbed back on his broom. 

”Pansy you can look” Draco says relief obviously in his voice. 

Pansy, who had kept her eyes covered the entire time, takes her hands down and opens her eyes, also looking relieved. 

Harry was zooming towards the ground, his hand flew to his mouth and Draco was scared that he was injured when he hit the ground on all fours. 

Then he coughed the snitch up and just like that the game ended.

Draco and his friends zoomed down to the pitch, they pulled Harry away from the cheering team and hugged him. 

“I thought you were going to die” Draco says when the group pulls away, almost immediately he pulls Harry into another hug. 

“Harry If your games are going to go like that I can’t watch them again” Pansy says still wiping tears from where she was crying during the game. 

“You didn’t even watch this one” Blaise says. Then their in a group hug again. 

“I want to be in on this” says a voice from behind them, and suddenly Ron and Hermione have joined the hug. 

They pull apart again and the twins walk up to him. 

“Good game Harry” The one that Draco thinks is Fred says. 

“Next time don’t try to fall off your broom” the one that’s probably George says. 

They both shake Harry’s hand and walk off to join their team again. 

Once Harry goes to the changing rooms to get out of his uniform Draco turns to Blaise “I’m going to talk to Severus, I won’t be long” 

Blaise nods then he’s off. 

He sees his godfather walking away from the pitch. 

“Severus!” He called. 

His godfather turned and looked at him. 

“Can I ask you something” Draco asks slightly hesitant. 

Severus nods his head In invitation “when Harry’s broom was acting up, we saw Quirrell jinxing his broom, but I also saw you staring at him muttering something” 

Severus looks at him for a moment before replying “How do you know it wasn’t I who was jinxing Potter” 

Draco is stunned by the question for a moment, but he is confident in his answer “when Quirrell fell the broom stopped, also I just don’t think you’d do something like that” 

“I was attempting to perform a counter jinx to help Potter” Severus says finally. 

He turns to leave but Draco stops him by saying “thank you” then they’re both going in opposite directions. 

Draco meets back up with his friends right before they are going down to Hagrid’s. 

Once there Ron starts by saying “It was Snape” but Draco cuts him off

”It wasn’t him” Draco says shortly

Hermione looks at him “Look Draco I know he’s your godfather, but we saw him, I stopped him” 

“It was Quirrell, you knocked him over on your way to Snape, it stopped when he fell” Blaise replies 

“Then why was Snape staring at Harry and muttering” Ron retorts

Draco rolls his eyes, getting annoyed with Ron “he was performing a counter jinx” 

Ron finally stopped talking after this. 

“Really?” Harry asks Draco looking surprised 

“I don’t think he hates you quite as much as he pretends to” Draco says. 

“I agree wit’ Draco” Hagrid says “Snape wouldn’t do somethin’ like that” 

“But he tried to get past the three headed dog” Ron is still protesting. 

Everyone else groans, Hagrid drops the teapot. 

“How do you know about Fluffy” he says 

“Fluffy?!” They all say. 

“Yeah, he’s mine-“ 

“Hold on” Pansy says cutting him off “you own the vicious creature that tried to eat us” 

“He’s not vicious” Hagrid says 

Pansy looks furious. 

“That’s not the point!” Ron says rather loudly “Snape’s trying to steal what it’s hiding” 

“That’s rubbish, stop meddling in things that don’t concern yeh, it’s dangerous” Hagrid says “That’s between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel” 

“Who’s Nicolas Flamel?” Harry asks intrigued. 

Hagrid looks furious with himself. 

Draco notices something light in Blaise’s gaze. 

Chapter Text

Draco’s POV: 

“What do you know” Draco asks Blaise once they’re outside of Hagrid’s hut. 

“What?” Blaise asks, confused. The others look at them also confused by Draco’s question. 

“You made a face when Nicolas Flamel was mentioned, do you know who he is?” Draco explains. 

“Oh” Blaise says finally understanding. “I’ve read that name somewhere, but I can’t remember who he is” 

“Can you find out?” Harry asks. 

“Probably, if I do some research” Blaise responds to him. 

“I’ll look as well” Hermione says before the Gryffindors and the Slytherins go their separate ways. 

~~

Harry POV: 

Christmas was coming around, the grounds were covered in several feet of snow. 

While hanging out in the Gryffindor common room one evening he found out that Fred and George had bewitched snow balls so they followed Quirrell around and bounced off his back.

Harry also might have bewitched a few. He didn’t know how to explain it but Quirrell have him an off feeling and he didn’t trust the professor. 

He hadn’t expressed his concerns to Draco, but he knew his best friend understood and was feeling close to the same way towards the weird man. 

Harry couldn’t wait for the holidays to start, he missed home terribly. 

He hadn’t been able to write home much with the bad weather. He had seen so many owls come back injured that he wasn’t willing to send Hedwig out.

He also missed the warmth that was within his home. Even though there were fires throughout Hogwarts the corridors had become icy. Even the warming charms he had been casting on his clothes and on his blankets weren’t quite enough. 

Thankfully today was the last day of classes and they were about to enter their last period which was potions. 

Tomorrow they would board the Hogwarts express which would take them back to London. 

Due to the fact Harry hadn’t been able to write he’s not sure if his dads will be picking him up with a disguise or if he will be leaving with the Malfoy’s. 

Either way he was excited to see familiar faces. 

Potions was a joined class that the Slytherins had with the Gryffindors so while waiting for Snape to open the door Harry’s entire friend group were conversing in front of the door. Including Neville who was expressing his dislike of potions. 

Draco and Harry could not relate, they both enjoyed the class and were quite good at it. They had after all helped Regulus make the potions he sent to St. Mungos. 

The conversation was going great, no one had argued yet, until a Slytherin who was in Fred and George’s year came up to Ron insulting his family. 

He shouldn’t have even been in the dungeons, he was probably skipping class and didn’t have the nerve to insult the twins so they moved to the youngest. 
 

Ron turned red and before anyone could react he dived at the other boy. 

The timing was terrible as Snape  decided to show up right at that moment. 

“WEASLEY!” the professor yelled. 

Ron let go of the Slytherins robes and turned to the professor. His face was full of fear. 

Harry was about to defend his friend when a very unexpected voice spoke from the crowd. 

“He was provoked, sir” Said Theodore Nott “Williams was insulting him” he said gesturing to the boy Ron had dived on. 

Harry and his Slytherin friends met each others eyes with a look of equal confusion on their faces. Nott had been acting as though they were invisible ever since he tried to get Harry caught by offering to duel him. 

Even Snape seemed to hesitate for a moment before he surprisingly let Ron off with a warning, but threatened him with a weeks worth of detentions if it happens again. 

After that they all followed Snape into the classroom. 

Even though Harry enjoyed potions he was glad when the class was over so he could go to the dorms and pack his trunk. 

Which considering he knew how to do it with magic didn’t take very long. 

He and Draco were about walk to the common room when Blaise crashed through the door, holding and old book.

He looked around as though to make sure there was no one other than themselves on the dorm. Once he realized there wasn’t he looked back at Harry and Draco, who were staring at him confused. 

“I know who Nicolas Flamel is” he says “I got this old book last summer and I’d looked through it a few times, which is probably where I read the name the first time, but I hadn’t actually started reading it until now I-“ 

“Blaise!” Draco says to stop his rambling “who is the Flamel guy” 

“He’s the maker of the Philosophers stone, which is-“ 

“The elixir of life” Harry finishes for him. 

“He’s also a good friend of Dumbledore’s” Blaise tells them. 

“That’s what Fluffy is hiding” Harry speaks aloud what he’s just decided in his head. 

“Why would the elixir of life be in Hogwarts” Draco questions. 

“Think about, someone obviously wants it, they tried to take it from Gringotts and if they managed to get in there they’ve got to have some impressive secrets up their sleeve. Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the world, and it’s unexpected it would be hidden here so it’s a perfect hiding spot” 

His friends considered this for a moment before Blaise spoke.

”Even if Hogwarts is a good hiding spot for it, why would they put it somewhere that there is a lot of children, especially if the person who wants it is powerful” 

“No one ever said the old man was smart” Harry mumbles. The other two couldn’t help but agree with him. 

A knock sounded on the door before Pansy spoke “I’m going to dinner would you three like to join me or would you prefer to stay locked in your room” 

Blaise walks to the door and opens it to find Pansy on the other side looking impatient. 

“We’ll join you” he says with a smile. 

On the way to The Great Hall they filled Pansy in their recent discovery, well Blaise did most of the talking but Draco and Harry said a few things. 

They had almost reached the hall, still talking quietly” when they bumped into Hagrid. Draco groaned but otherwise didn’t say anything. 

Their faces must convey their thoughts about their conversation because once Hagrid gets a good look at them he asks “what are you lot makin’ faces about”

“Oh, we found out who Flamel is, and what the dog is hiding” Harry says nonchalantly. 

Hagrid looks shocked “what?” he says, “I told ya it wasn’t none ya business” 

“It’s not our fault” Draco starts in the voice that Harry knows he uses when he’s trying to get his way “Blaise was reading and found it” he says with a shrug. 

Hagrid looked angry for a moment but seemed to realize he can’t fault a student for reading. 

Accepting defeat he says “go on to the Great Hall it looks amazin” 

Hagrid was right. Sometime between when they were there for lunch and now the hall has turned into a winter wonderland.

Holly and mistletoe hung around and there was more than twelve Christmas tree around the room. There was what looked like tiny icicles hanging from the trees and the ceiling. Along with hundreds of candles. 

Harry smiled at Pansy’s face of awe. He noticed that she loved beautiful things. 

Once they were sat down at the table, Draco beside Harry, and across from hem Blaise and Pansy, Harry sent Ron and Hermione a note to meet him in the library so he could catch them up. 

Harry met with them directly after dinner, the other Slytherins not joining so not to draw attention as to why they were all meeting so close to curfew. 

Ron was disappointed when Harry filled him in, he had apparently figured out who Flamel was by a chocolate frog card and wanted to be the one to tell his friends.

Hermione quickly shot down his pettiness while trying to get as much information out of Harry as possible. 

Hermione thought that they should mind their business and focus on their school work unless someone tries to steal the stone. Even then she would prefer to leave it to the teachers. 

Harry agrees that they shouldn’t try to get it unless someone is trying to steel it, that would only bring trouble and get him and his friends into trouble and most importantly he doesn’t want to disappoint his parents. 

He will not however leave it to the teachers. They are all loyal to Dumbledore and he doesn’t trust the old man as far as he could flipendo him. 

By the time they were leaving the Library it was close to curfew, Harry gave Ron and Hermione his cloak trusting that they would return it in the morning. Harry used the map to make sure he didn’t run into anyone. 

He fairing well for a while, not running into a soul, until out of nowhere the map showed Snape coming up behind him and Filch walking towards him from the front. 

He felt a surge of panic before he slipped into a disused classroom. 

There was a large, magnificent, mirror in the middle of the room that looked very out of place in the dusty classroom. 

He stepped in front of the mirror and was shocked by what he saw. 

He and Draco were standing side by side in quidditch robes holding up the Quidditch cup, their friends were surrounding them, cheering. standing behind Harry with a hand on his shoulder was his dad holding Regulus’ hand, both looking proud. 

Standing beside James was Harry’s mum smiling down at him. Lily was holding hands with a girl who Harry had seen pictures of, he knew her name was Mary and she had been his mums girlfriend. 

On Reg’s side we’re his friends, Barty and Evan who were also holding hands. 

There was a black dog sitting in front of the group that he was Sirius and Remus was standing be hind the group, his height allowing him to look over their heads smiling at Harry. 

Harry stared at the mirror for a while trying to understand what it was. 

After making sure the coast was clear he continued on his way back to the Slytherin common room, that was when he understood what the mirror was, it showed peoples greatest desire, it had to be. 

His friends were a highlight of his life, and he wants nothing more than to make his dads proud, and he wishes his mum was still here and if she was he would want her to be happy with Mary. And he wishes Reg still had his friends, Harry feels bad telling him about his new friends at school because Reg doesn’t have any left. 

He wishes Remus and Sirius were around for his dads sake, but also for his own, he’s heard so many stories about them and really wishes he could meet them, but despite their efforts they have yet been able to reach them. None of them voice it aloud but they are all starting to think something happened to them. 

Harry was so lost in thought that he was at the common room entrance before he knew it. 

He went straight to the dorms wanting to tell Draco about it. Though he would not be going back to that mirror, he couldn’t explain it but it felt dangerous, someone could get lost in it. No matter how badly he wanted it to be true, it wasn’t and he shouldn’t dwell on it. 

When he entered the dorm he wasn’t surprised to find that both Draco and Blaise were awake and waiting for him on Draco’s bed.

Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle’s bed curtains were closed and no noise was coming from them. Harry was still confused about their behavior, he had tried to befriend Harry at first then became a bully, then he gave them the silent treatment, he defended Ron and although he doesn’t still doesn’t speak to them he hasn’t so much as given them a mean look.  

He closed the map and put it in his trunk before joining the other two boys on the bed. Draco had casts silencing charm on the bed so he was able to talk freely.  

He told them all about the mirror and what he saw in it. 

“I’ve read about that” Blaise says, which doesn’t shock Harry as he seems to have read about everything when it comes to history or artifacts. “You’re right we should avoid it, it’s caused witches and wizards to go mad” 

“Yep, let’s definitely avoid the strange mirror” Draco says so quickly it makes Harry grin. 

“I still want to know why someone put it in a classroom where anyone could find it” Harry says voicing the question that had been brewing in his mind since seeing the mirror. 

“What if Dumbledore wanted it to be found” Draco sated looking deep in thought. 

Harry looked up at him with a raised brow, “come on Harry, you know he’s been known to use his students for his own plans” Draco says meeting his gaze. 

Blaise looks confused but Harry doesn’t pay him much attention as he remembers what his parents told him about Dumbledore using them and their friends during the war. 

Harry nods at Draco but then changes the subject by asking them what they plan to do over break. 

The next morning Harry woke early, too excited about going home to sleep any longer. 

He dressed and then left the Slytherin dorms to go to Gryffindor tower to get his cloak back from Ron.

He gave the password to the Fat Lady and entered. The common room was almost empty except for a few early risers that gave him a nasty look. 

He was about to go up stairs to Ron’s dorm to get the cloak, he knew the red head would be asleep as he was staying at Hogwarts for the break, but Harry was hoping he could find the cloak without waking anyone. 

He heard a creak on the stairs towards the girls dormitory and looked over to see Hermione walking down them, also dressed for the day. 

“Hey Harry” she said when she noticed him standing there. She did not look surprised to see him there so early.

She handed him his cloak folded neatly before she smiled and said “I knew he would sleep late today so I took kept it last night to give this morning” 

“Thanks Mione” he said returning her smile. 

Now he only had more thing he needed to do in Gryffindor tower. 

“Do you know where the twins room is?” He asks, hoping Hermione would help him. 

She looked at him skeptically “why?” she asks. 

“I have an early Christmas present for them” he said not wanting to tell her what he was actually doing because she wouldn’t approve. 

She hesitated but did tell Harry which room was theirs. 

“Happy Christmas, Hermione” he said as he went up the stairs 

“Harry Christmas, Harry” she returned. 

Harry knocked on the room Hermione told him and waited until he heard voices telling him to come in. 

When he entered he saw Lee Jordan, Fred and George Weasley standing in the middle of the room looking like they were scheming something. 

Whatever they were doing Harry hoped this could help make it better. 

Harry enjoyed their pranks, no one ever got seriously injured and they were usually pointed at someone who deserved it. 

“Oh Hi Harry” Fred says when Harry walked in. 

“We’re planning our next prank” George added. 

“I may have something to help you with that” Harry said and all three boys looked intrigued. 

Harry pulled out the map and showed them how to open and close it. 

“You can use it over break to get some good pranks in” Harry told them. 

“Are you sure” Fred asks, still looking amazed. 

“Yeah” Harry answered “you just have to give it back after” 

“Thanks Harry, this is amazing” Lee says speaking for the first time. 

“It’s fine, I’m going home for break and it doesn’t do me any good there” he turns to leave, stopping at the door “don’t tell Ron I gave it to you” he says over his shoulder, “never” the twins say in unison. 

He goes back to the Slytherin dormitory meeting with his friends before going to the Hall for breakfast. 

Draco waits until Harry takes a bite of a sausage to tell him the change in how they’re getting home. 

“We’re not taking the train home today Harry, we are going to floo from Severus’ office to my house” Draco says nonchalantly. 

Harry nearly chokes out of surprise, he starts coughing and has to take a drink of pumpkin juice to soothe his throat before he nods. 

When Harry looks up he finds the headmaster staring straight at him. Harry met his gaze and stared right back. He could feel Dumbledore trying to get into his head so Harry put up his shield blocking the man out. 

His friends noticed the exchange and were looking back and forth between Harry and the headmaster. 

The old man gave up and looked away, Harry looked down at his plate thinking. 

Regulus had warned him to be cautious because Dumbledore was overly interested in him and would probably try to use him, he hadn’t done really done anything toward Harry so he thought Regulus was just being a protective parent, but now he wasn’t sure. 

Had Dumbledore put that mirror there for him to find, and was now trying to get in his head to see if he had found it. 

“Harry” Pansy said breaking him from his thoughts “what was that” 

He silently and wordlessly cast a silencing charm so not to be over heard and told them where his thoughts had been. 

Blaise and Pansy, though they didn’t like the man, doubted that Dumbledore put the mirror only for Harry. 

Draco, who like Harry knew what Dumbledore had done in the past, agreed with him. 

After breakfast they went back to their room and shrunk their belongings, Harry made sure Ebony was secure and comfortable on his arm, said goodbye to Blaise and Pansy who were riding the train, and headed towards Snape’s office. 

“Draco, are you ready?” Snape asks as they walked in the door. 

He hesitated when he saw Harry behind Draco “Potter? What are you doing here” he questioned, not exactly rudely, but not nicely either. 

Draco looked at him confused “he’s going with us” he said simply. 

Snape looked at him “You mother merely said that she was unable to make it to the station and was wondering if my fireplace was available”  

“My mother was picking up Harry from the station as well” Draco responded. 

“Why could his own family not father him” Snape questioned. 

“They were unable to” Draco said leaving it at that. 

Snape examined Harry for a moment before giving in “very well” he said gesturing to the fireplace and handing them a jar of floo powder. 

They flooed to Malfoy Manor stepping out of the fireplace to be greeted by Naricissa, and unexpectedly James and Regulus. 

Harry ran to them instantly, pulling them into an awkward three way hug. He sighed, happy to be in their embrace again. 

Chapter Text

Severus POV: 

When Narcissa owled Severus, telling him that she would be unable to make it to the station, and asks if they could use his floo, he immediately wrote back his permission. 

He had always liked Narcissa and Lucius, at least more than the other Death Eaters. Severus wasn’t loyal to The Dark Lord, which is probably why he couldn’t stand most of the Death Eaters, but the Malfoys were always more quiet in their support. 

Since the fall of The Dark Lord the Malfoys have been suspiciously quiet, Lucius hasn’t said anything about bringing their lord back, not even to Severus who as far as the blond knows is a fellow Death Eater. 

When Narcissa had used the word ‘they’ in her letter, Severus had thought she meant Draco using the floo was helping her so that’s why she said that. 

What he had not expected was for Harry Potter to show up and for Draco to inform him that Harry was originally supposed to be picked up by Narcissa as well. 

Once again Severus has questions about the Potter boy. 

It’s been obvious since the first day that the kid knew some things before coming to Hogwarts, but Severus hadn’t realized just how much until recently. 

Potter brewed potions and knew recipes as though he had been brewing for years. He also knew a lot of magic and had good control, this was proved when he took out the troll. 

Severus is also pretty certain he saw the boy doing wandless magic in the great hall. 

The there’s the fact that he has shown to be a great quidditch player for the Slytherin team, it’s obvious not just beginners luck, he’s played before, proved by the fact he had a broom which he snuck into school. 

At first Severus could not fathom how he was a Slytherin. Potter is so alike his father in so many ways he couldn’t help but hate him. 

But being his head of house has aloud Severus to see a bit of Lily in him, along with a lot of Slytherin qualities. 

Whoever raised the boy was a wizard, that much was obvious, but not just any wizard, a Slytherin who is powerful and influential enough to convince Dumbledore to not give away their identity.

Whoever it is also seems to be close to the Malfoys of Narcissa was going to pick the boy up from the train station. 

It appears that Draco and Potter grew up knowing each other and Severus is wondering if perhaps Draco has had the same training as the green eyed boy. He has noticed lately that his godson knows a lot more than Severus thought he did. 

These thoughts are bringing way too many questions to his mind. 

Why can’t Potter’s guardian pick him themselves? Why is their identity such a secret? 

Why is Lucius Malfoy of all people allowing his son and wife to be around the half-blood that defeated his lord? 

Is it a family member? No, Lucius’ family is all dead and Narcissa’s is either dead or a blood traitor. 

Whatever was going it was suspicious and Severus was going to figure it out. 

~~ 

Regulus POV: 

Lily loved being a witch, but she was also proud of her muggle heritage and how she grew up. 

She wanted Harry to grow up experiencing the holidays like she did growing up. 

Because of this Regulus and James made sure Harry understood both the muggle and magic side of every holiday. 

James loved Christmas, their house always had a huge tree with way too many ornaments in the living room. The outside was decorated with lights and a reef on the door, even though no one could see it. 

The bedrooms had mini trees and lights wrapped around the bed frame. James had tiny decorations placed in random places, Regulus isn’t even sure where he got most of them. 

There are is a stocking for each of them hanging on the fireplace, including one for Draco and Cissy. 

They always make sure that Draco knows he’s welcome in their home and to join any of their activities, but overall let Narcissa decide if she wants her son around all the muggle stuff. 

Surprisingly she has let Draco stay with them Christmas Eve night every year. 

James puts on jingle bells and goes on the roof and stomps around pretending to be Santa. The boys figured out it was James a couple years ago but he still does it just because it makes them laugh. 

Regulus watched the whole ordeal with a smile, occasionally having to cast a cushioning charm when James falls, then help his boyfriend back up because James refuses to give up. 

Then when morning comes around they open presents and Draco will go home and they play in the snow, sometimes Draco comes back to join them. 

If it doesn’t snow, Regulus makes snow because he’s not going to let Mother Nature take that fun away from them. 

They were in the middle of the decorating the house so they could surprise Harry, when Narcissa came through the floo. 

It wasn’t necessarily uncommon for his cousin to visit, they had tea occasionally, but considering she was to be picking the boys up from the train station later, it was unexpected. 

What was even more unexpected was when she told them that she had arranged for the boys to use Severus’ floo, and wanted to borrow some of their decorations so she could do something small in their home for Draco. 

Even more surprising Lucius had agreed. 

James stayed and finished decorating their home. Regulus, who took polyjuice, went with his cousin to find a small tree. 

the Black’s didn’t have good memories with Christmas, Regulus and Sirius’ parents were harsher than Cissy’s, but even she knew to avoid the tree that Walburga and Orion had in their living room, if you got to close to it, you would get some kind of hex. 

That’s why Regulus tries so hard to make Harry’s Christmas enjoyable. It’s why Cissy always lets Draco join them, and probably why she’s doing something small of her own this year. 

They spoiler their children because they did not have a chance to be spoiled. Because of this they didn’t know how to spoil a child, that’s where James came in, he was a heavily spoiled child and had no problems giving other children his childhood. 

While raising Harry and Draco together, James and Narcissa formed a sort of friend ship, Regulus isn’t really sure what you would call it, but they respect each other. 

Once they find a small tree they head back to manor and Regulus goes through the floo to get James, who has somehow already decorated their house and is ready to help Narcissa with hers. 

Reg gives James instructions that he cannot go all out with decorations there, before giving him and kiss and taking them through. 

After they decorate the small tree in the corner of the sitting room, it is almost time for the boys to be getting there. 

When the brunette and the blond come through the floo the first thing they do is run to their parents. 

Draco to Narcissa and Harry to James and Regulus. 

Because there are three of them the hug is a little awkward, but when Harry sighs against them, Regulus can’t help but sigh as well. 

He had really missed his son. 

They don’t stay at the Malfoy manor for very long, Draco needs time to get settled back in and Harry can’t wait to get back in his own home as well. 

The first thing Harry does when they get home is take off his cloak and let Ebony off his arm. 

He’s gotten so good at hiding her that even Regulus has momentarily forgot he had her. 

Harry goes up to his room and Regulus follows to help him get settled back in. 

Harry looks up as Reg walks in and hesitantly looks behind him out of the door. 

Regulus chuckles “He’s still downstairs” he says as he closes the door. 

“Good” Harry smiles. 

As much as Regulus loves James there are just some stuff around the house that he simply doesn’t let his boyfriend do. 

Organizing is one of them. Harry learnt that from a young age, he, like Regulus likes his room in a particular order, it’s not as neat as Regulus would like, but it’s still an order of some kind. 

If James had come up he would have grabbed stuff out of Harry’s trunk and put it in random places.

Regulus returns Harry’s trunk to its normal size and hands Harry his things so he can put them away. 

Harry was putting his last piece of clothing in his wardrobe when James’ voice came from downstairs. 

“Harry come here” his voice sounded nervous which worried Regulus for a second but he realized that if something was actually wrong he would be telling Harry to stay upstairs and for Regulus to come down. 

The scene that met them downstairs was comical, Regulus had to fight a smile, Harry didn’t bother to hide his. 

James was standing frozen in the middle of the sitting room and Ebony was wrapped around his neck. The snake knew James didn’t like her and loved to mess with him, Harry and Regulus found it entertaining. 

Harry said something to the snake in parseltongue and she must have replied because Harry’s smile grew. 

"J'ai en quelque sorte envie de la laisser sur lui un peu plus longtemps." Harry says still grinning at his dad’s suffering. 

Regulus shakes his head at the boy while smiling"Aussi amusant que cela puisse être, ne tourmente pas ton père"

“Can you two stop making fun of me and get. Her. Off.” James says from where he’s still frozen in place. 

Harry rolls his eyes playfully before grabbing the snake off his dad. 

He says something to her and then puts her down. 

James walks over to Regulus and whispers in his ear “Tonight I’m gonna show you how sexy I think it is when you speak French” 

“Even when I’m making fun of you” Reg whispers back. 

“Even then” James says then nips his ear. Regulus is ashamed that he enjoyed that as much as he did. 

Harry clears his throat and when Regulus looks up the boy is looking at them very unamused. 

“I can hear you, you know” 

Now Regulus can feel the heat coming to his cheeks. 

James, forever a unbothered flirt, walks over to Harry and messes up his hair like their son didn’t just hear them having a conversation about sex. 

~~ 

This December was very cold in France. Much to Harry’s disappointment he hadn’t been able to fly. 

He had talked Regulus into playing wizard chess with him a few times but after he kept losing he started asking James to play because the odds were much more fair. 

He had asks Regulus to work with him some more on potions and of course Regulus had been happy to do so. 

Draco had come over and they worked some more on dueling and having control when doing wandless and wordless magic. 

The boys still amazed Regulus by how much magic they had at such a young age, he tried to do some research but couldn’t find anything. 

Most nights they stayed up late while Harry told them stories about his friends at school and their adventures. Though Regulus is pretty sure that there are some things that were left out. 

It makes Regulus very happy that Harry was able to get a large group of friends. Especially because it’s a mix of both Gryffindor and Slytherin. 

It’s like there’s a part of both him and James in his friendships. And it’s nice to know that Harry and his friends are changing the rivalry between the two houses. 

When he and Sirius were first starting Hogwarts it was so hard for them to talk because the two houses hates each other. It’s something that Regulus has always found stupid. 

On Christmas Eve Draco came over like he does every year and much to Regulus’ dismay they watched Christmas movies until late. 

The boys practically drug them kid of the bed in the morning, racing to get downstairs and open presents. 

Draco opened first because he had to get home to open his gifts from the rest of his family. 

Regulus and James have him a new hair potion that Reg had been working on, it should be easier to use and last longer. 

Harry Gave Draco a giant thing of sugar quills, honestly Regulus doesn’t think anyone needs that much sugar especially not an eleven year old boy. 

Regulus got Harry some more sweaters and warm pajamas because he had been complaining about how cold Hogwarts was lately. 

James got Harry a quidditch book that taught some seeker tricks. Regulus had no idea James was getting him that, or he would have prevented it because Harry is probably going to hurt himself. 

They also got him some other small things he had asked for. 

He received a sweater and fudge from Mrs. Weasley and Regulus thinks that was very kind of her. 

Hermione got him a large box of chocolate frogs. 

Blaise gave him an old book, Regulus thinks it was a history book that added some type of fictional story on the side. That was actually a good idea, Harry hates history but he loves reading fiction, it was probably the one way for him to enjoy that subject. 

Pansy got him some hair control lotion, but they all know he isn’t going to use it, he’s just like his father in that aspect. 

Christmas dinner was amazing, the Malfoy’s couldn’t join because they were having a Christmas ball which Harry really wanted to attend but thankfully understood why he couldn’t. 

The small number of people didn’t stop Kreacher from making a mass amount of food, they all stuffed themselves and still had s lot left over. 

New Years came around and Draco and Narcissa came over and they did the countdown and the boys were able to show off the spell they had been working on to send sparks into the air. 

It was a fun night, the adults had Champaign while the boys played games and ran around the yard, and played in the snow. 

The only bad part about having fun is that it always has to end. It was a little emotional the morning they had to return to school, but they stood and watched as Narcissa took the boys to the train station. 

Chapter Text

Draco POV: 

After Christmas break it felt like the rest of the school year was flying by. 

There was ten weeks until finals. Draco, Harry, Blaise, and Hermione had started making their notes a little neater and doing a little studying. 

Much to Ron and Pansy’s displeasure. They felt that it was far too soon to start revision. 

Harry and Draco knew the material fairly well but wanted to make sure that they knew the key words that would be on exams. 

They had noticed that Quirrell was looking more unhealthy every day. But they checked the map every night to make sure Fluffy was still there and moving around. 

Everything was going great until Hagrid revealed a dragon egg to them while they were questioning him about who else was helping protect the stone. 

Even worse was that the giant seemed to find it cute that the stupid creature kept catching things on fire. 

Everyday Harry and the Gryffindors insist on going to the hut to help Hagrid, Pansy started staying behind after the first visit when her robes almost caught on fire, and Blaise stays with her. 

Draco doesn’t blame them for staying behind, if Harry wasn’t his best friend he would stay behind with them. The creature, Norbert they call him, is getting bigger everyday. 

Yesterday he caught a chair on fire, it took all of them to put the fire out. 

Thankfully after that they were able to convince the half-giant that the dragon was going to grow to big and that he lived in wooden hut, a dragon wouldn’t be happy there. 

They told Hagrid he would be happier at a dragon reserve. 

Harry is in the Gryffindor common room with Hermione and Ron writing a letter to Ron’s older brother who apparently works at a dragon reserve. 

Blaise went to bed early and Pansy is hanging out with the other girls on their year. Draco is sitting in front of the fire in the common room, waiting for Harry.

When Harry returned Draco jumped up from his chair.

“So?” He asks.

Harry shrugs “we sent a letter to Charlie, we just have to wait for him to write back”.  

The next week dragged by, they were waiting for the older Weasley’s reply, which was taking for ever. 

Draco had stayed behind to work on on homework one day when Harry went to the hut with Ron to help feed the dragon, when he returned he informed them that the dragon had bit Ron. 

Draco had immediately told Harry that he should stop going to Hagrid’s until the dragon was gone. 

“No, it’s not even that big of a deal, I gave Ron some potion that I brought from home and he’ll be fine in the morning” Harry told him. 

“I wasn’t asking how Ron was, I’m more worried about the fact that I don’t want to have to explain to my parents and yours how you’ve lost a hand” Draco snaps back at him. 

Harry rolls his eyes and is about to respond, when they hear a tapping on the window. 

Draco looks over and sees Hedwig. 

“She’ll have Charlie’s answer” he said as he hurried to let her in. 

He untied the letter from her leg and gave her a treat before she flew back out the window. 

“I need to go to the Gryffindor common room” Harry says grabbing the cloak and the map  from where he had just set them down. 

“Now?” Draco questioned, he didn’t know exactly what time it was, but he knew it was late. 

“Yes, the letter is for Ron, I need to bring it to him, he should still be awake. Do you want to go?” 

Draco shook his head, “no, I don’t want to be seen in that common room” he knew there was disgust on his features. 

Once again Harry rolls his eyes at Draco “come on, you and I both know you want to hear his response”. 

“You can tell me when you get back”, he crosses his arms. 

“For Merlin’s sake, you can stay under the cloak the entire time if you want” Harry says sounding exasperated.

”Fine” Draco says 

“Thank you” Harry says throwing the cloak over the both of them. 

Draco was impressed by how quickly Harry was able to remember the Gryffindor password. He realizes that he underestimated how many time his friend had visited their common room. 

When they entered the common room there was someone going up the stairs to the girls dorms and someone going to the boys. When they heard the portrait open they both turned around. 

Draco heard Harry release a sigh of relief at seeing Ron and Hermione. 

“I have Charlie’s response” Harry said as he got out from under the cloak. 

The others came back down the stairs and huddled together to read the letter. 

Draco stood behind Harry reading over his shoulder. The Gryffindors still not knowing of his presence. 

Draco thought the task would be pretty simple, they just had to tell Hagrid to bring the dragon up to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday so he could be flown to Romania. 

Until Harry says “It shouldn’t be too difficult with the cloak and the map” 

Draco had to fight back a groan, of course he would volunteer himself for this task. 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other for a moment and it was a clear sign of how bad the last week had been because they both agreed to help Harry. 

Draco couldn’t blame them, anything to get rid of Norbert. 

Harry was walking back to the portrait whole and Draco was following when Hermione spoke again. 

“What if we get caught, we’ll for sure get detention, or even worse expelled” 

Draco rolled his eyes. 

“It’s either we do this, or we have risk that dragon setting us all on fire, personally I’ll take my chances with detention” he said as he pulled the cloak off of himself. 

He hated the idea of detention, but not more than he hated the idea of being roasted. 

Hermione didn’t look surprised to see him, Ron on the other hand looked absolutely appalled. 

“Have you been there the entire time, mate?” Ron said still staring. Honestly the youngest Weasley son was so much harder in the head than the twins, he didn’t understand how they were related. 

“Don’t call me mate” Draco says rudely “and yes, I have been there the whole time” 

He throws the cloak over he and Harry and all but drags the Brunette out of the room, more than ready to be away from all of the red. 

The next day Ron had shown up to the breakfast with his hand swollen twice the size it should be. 

By the end of the day Hermione had to rush him to Madam Pomfrey. Draco just hoped she didn’t recognize a dragon bite. 

Draco went with Harry and Hermione to visit Ron in the hospital wing, he looked really bad, he had a green tint to him. 

Draco listened while Harry and  Hermione told calmed down Ron and told him that they could do the plan without him.  

Honestly Draco was glad he wasn’t going to join them, Ron was always far to loud and would probably get them caught. 

They walked down to the hut to tell Hagrid about Charlie’s response. 

“What’s the plan?” Draco asks Harry just loud enough so only the three of them can hear. 

“I think cloak is big enough for all three of us and Norbert. If we use the map too we should be able to get to the tower and back unseen” Harry whispered back. 

Draco and Hermione just nodded. 

Draco felt worse for Fang, who had a bandaged tail because of the dragon, than he did for Hagrid, what was he thinking bringing a dragon to Hogwarts anyhow. 

On Saturday night Harry and Draco were about to leave the common room when they heard Blaise’s voice behind them. 

They spun around to see their friend running up the stairs from the dorms. 

“I want to go with you, I want to see that Dragon leave, we’ve barely spent time together because of it” Blaise says once he reaches them. 

Draco is shocked for a moment, Blaise doesn’t usually say nice things like that.

Instead of acknowledging what he said Draco says “all four of us can’t fit under the cloak” 

“Once we get Hermione, I can transform into my cat form and follow behind you all” Harry suggest. 

But Draco has a better idea. 

“Or we can shrink the dragon and crouch under the cloak, Hermione is short it shouldn’t be too hard” 

“Is it safe to shrink an animal” Harry asks. 

Draco shrugs, he has no idea, but he doesn’t want Harry to get caught as an animaigus and he doesn’t want to make Blaise mad by leaving him behind, so this is their best option. Having friends is hard. 

“I’m sure it’s fine” Harry says, probably trying to convince himself. 

They turn to leave again, but Blaise interrupts them. 

“Wait, she crawled up my leg and refused to get off, when I tried to grab her she hissed at me and acted like she might bite me” 

They turn around and see Blaise holding out his leg that Ebony is wrapped around. 

Harry walks over and grabs her, she goes willingly. 

He hisses something to her and she hisses back. She makes a sound that sounds suspiciously like a scoff before she slithers back down the stairs. Draco can hear her hiss something faintly and reply. 

They get Hermione from her dorm and head down to Hagrid’s hut. 

Draco couldn’t help but snort when he saw that Hagrid had packed Norbert a teddy bear. He could see Blaise fighting a smile out of the corner of his eye. 

Hermione sent them a glare, but even Harry was struggling to keep a look of sympathy on his face.

Draco just can’t comprehend how Hagrid is going to miss the creature that almost caught his house on fire. 

They covered Norbert with the invisibility cloak, before they stepped outside. 

The last thing they heard was Hagrid saying “Mummy will never forget you” and that did it for Draco and Blaise. 

They burst out laughing the moment the door was closed. 

Harry quickly shrunk the cage and after checking the dragon was still ok, smiled in amusement. 

Hermione smacked Draco and Blaise over the head as soon as they were all covered in the cloak. 

“He is grieving the loss of his pet” she said harshly. 

“Hermione” Blaise started “a pet is a puppy or a cat, not a fucking dragon” 

His language proved how much he hated the creature. 

Hermione looked like she wanted to retort but Harry spoke first. 

“Blaise you take the map, you insisted on coming so you can make yourself useful” he said handing over the map. 

Blaise rolled his eyes jokingly while taking it. 

Draco held his wand up and cast lumos 

Draco was quite proud of his idea to shrink the cage, it made this walk a lot easier. 

Well until Norbert started thrashing around in his cage and making screeching noises. 

Harry started speaking parseltongue to him and surprisingly the dragon quieted down. 

Draco looked at Harry and grinned, Harry grinned back, obviously proud of himself. 

“I didn’t know that worked on dragons” Hermione said. 

“Me either, before we left the common room Ebony told me to try it. I can’t understand him, but evidently he can understand me” Harry told her. 

They made it to the tower without anymore problems. Harry returned Norbert to his normal size and they waited. 

Charlies friends were a cheery lot which annoyed Draco because he just wanted to get back to his dorm and go to bed. 

When they finally left with the dragon the four of them went down the spiral staircase with light hearts, no more Dragon. 

Blaise elbowed Draco and Harry who were on either side of him and Harry elbowed Hermione and they all looked at the map to see Filch’s name right in front of theirs. 

It was at this moment they realized they left the invisibility cloak upstairs. 

“Shit” Harry whispered and Draco couldn’t help but agree. 

Filch led them to a room where both Severus and McGonagall were waiting. 

Hermione was trembling and Draco and Harry kept looking at each other. 

They knew they were in trouble, their parents had explicitly told them to not get into any trouble, plus they lost James’ invisibility cloak. 

Luckily Blaise had been fast enough to put the map away before Filch saw it, but Draco thinks they’ll still be grounded for life. 

When McGonagall took fifty points from each of them, Hermione looked like she wanted to cry, she hated being in trouble.  

Harry looked absolutely defeated, they had just lost the lead that he’d won at the quidditch match. 

“Anything to add Professor Snape” McGonagall asks before she dismisses them. 

“Don’t do something like this ever again” He looked Draco and Blaise in the eye, when he met Harry’s eye he added “or you’re off the quidditch team” 

Harry went from having won the Quidditch team over to everyone hating him, except for Marcus Fling who refused to let Harry resign. 

Gryffindors kept whistling at him and mocking him, but Draco, Blaise, and Pansy stood by him. Draco felt appreciation towards the twins when they stood up for Harry, not even Ron and Hermione would go against their house. 

Hermione was still suffering too though, her house was still mad about the points she lost. 

They were walking to class one day and heard Quirrel in a room, sounding like he was being threatened, Harry tried to stop, but Draco drug him forward. He did not need to be in anymore trouble. 

The school had sent letters home and and both Draco and Harry received letters back telling them they would have a talk when they got home. 

Draco didn’t understand why they were making such a big deal about being out after curfew, but Filch had found the cloak and given it to Severus to decide what to do with it. 

Surprisingly his godfather gave it back to them but once again told them they had better not get caught using it like that again. 

The next morning they received a note telling them when their detention would be. 

They groaned that it was with Filch. 

“Well if you didn’t leave the cloak in the tower, you wouldn’t have to go” Pansy says as if that wasn’t the most obvious thing in the world. 

“We know” all three of them snapped together. 

Pansy looked offended that they snapped at her, before turning and talking to one of her dorm mates. 

At eleven they said goodbye to Pansy and went to the entrance hall where Hermione already was with Filch. 

They followed him outside and all of their spirits rose when they saw Hagrid waiting on them. 

Filch must have noticed this because he quickly told them they were going into the Forbidden Forest. 

Blaise moaned and Draco froze. 

“The Forest” he repeated “we can’t go in there, there are all sorts of things in there” 

He knew that neither his parents or James and Regulus would be happy about them being sent into the forest. 

“Should’ve thought of that before you got in trouble” Filch says with a voice crack. 

Hagrid asks them “you all all right?” 

Filch tells Hagrid he shouldn’t be too nice to them and Hagrid responds with something about snot, but Draco isn’t really listening, he more concerned with what he’s about to have to do. 

“I’ll come back at dawn, for what’s left of them” Filch says before he leaves. 

“I’m not going in that forest” Draco says to Hagrid with panic in his voice. 

“Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts” Hagrid replies. 

Draco gestures to Harry “If our parents knew we were being put in danger like this-“ 

“Dray they can’t know” Harry cuts him off. 

Draco looks at Harry “why not” 

Harry gives him a look “they just can’t, you know what would happen if they knew” 

Harry is still staring at him, then suddenly it hits him, if they told their parents, Lucius and Reg would storm onto the grounds and probably fight Dumbledore, which would put Reg at risk of more people finding out he’s alive. 

Draco nods in understanding “they can’t know”. 

He can feel everyone else staring at them, wanting to understand, but he doesn’t care, Harry’s family is one secret they can’t tell their friends. 

Hagrid explains what they are doing and Draco can’t help but be more terrified. 

“What if whatever is hurting the unicorn finds us first” he can’t help but ask. 

Hagrid tells him nothing in the forest will hurt them if they’re with with him or fang, but Draco doesn’t believe that. Whatever it is is killing unicorns for Merlin’s sake. 

“Me and Harry want Fang” Draco says looking at fangs large teeth. Plus the dog seems to like Harry so maybe he’ll protect them. 

Draco and Harry entered the forest with their wands lit. 

Everything was silent until they heard what sounded like like a cloak trailing along the ground. 

Fang growled and Harry and Draco grabbed ahold of each others hands, holding their wands out to shoot a spell if needed. 

But after a few seconds the noise stopped, they didn’t let go of each others hands though. 

“look” Harry said after they’d been walking for a while. 

Draco looked down to where something bright white was on the ground. 

He gasped when he realized what it was, it was the unicorn, and it was dead. 

Draco was about to send green sparks up when, they heard the slithering sound from earlier again. 

Something with a long cloak came out of the bushes, bent down over the unicorn and started to drink its blood. 

Draco screamed and took off running he tried to pull Harry behind him but Harry was frozen in fear. Fang had already left them. 

Whatever it was started to come towards them and Harry finally came to his senses and started to move but before he got anywhere he gasped in pain and fell to the ground. 

Draco tried to shoot a spell at the creature but due to his panicking his aim was off and he missed, but the creature got distracted for a minute in which Draco heard hooves. 

A centaur jumped over them and charged at the figure. Draco dropped down next to Harry trying to figure out what’s wrong, when he looked back up the creature was gone. 

A young centaur with a palomino body was standing over them. 

“Are you all right” he asks as he pulled them to their feet. 

“Yes, thank you” Harry replies. 

“What was that” Draco asks feeling that this is an important question. 

The centaur didn’t answer “You are the Potter boy” he asks instead. 

Draco doesn’t know how he could possibly know that but he doesn’t really care he just wants out of the forest. 

The centaur asks if they can ride and then he’s kneeling down so they can climb on. He tells them his name is Firenze. 

The other centaurs don’t like that Firenze is helping them, but he doesn’t seem to care. 

Firenze tells them what unicorn blood does, which they both know already but they are still too worked up to have a conversation. 

Hagrid broke through the woods and immediately asks is they are ok. 

Hermione and Blaise were right behind him and ran to hug them as soon as they slid off Firenze’s back. 

Firenze left talking about the planets, Draco thinks they are an interesting species. 

“Harry what happened?” 

“It was Voldemort” was all he said. 

Chapter Text

Harry POV: 

Hermione was staring at him as though she had just seen a ghost, which kind of made since considering what he had just said. 

He had put it together when Firenze was saving him and Draco.

Between everything the centaur was saying and the fact that he knew Voldemort wasn’t truly dead and that he could return at any time. 

Besides who else would be that desperate to escape death that they would drink unicorn blood. 

“Harry he’s dead” Hermione said as they were walking back to the school. 

Harry shook his head “Hermione I’ve known for most of my life that he isn’t, we’ve been preparing. Even the centaurs were talking about planets and what they say are going to happen. It’s written in the stars that he’s supposed to kill me” 

He hears Draco suck in a breath beside him, the blond always hated when their parents would talk about the dangers that revolve around Voldemort, especially towards Harry. 

Hermione looked very frightened but she tried to give Harry some comfort. 

“Everyone says Dumbledore is the only one You-Know-Who has ever been afraid of. As long as he’s headmaster You-Know-Who won’t touch you. 

“Also it’s likely the centaurs aren’t even right, fortune telling is very imprecise” Blaise adds. 

“What happened in the forest, when you fell on the ground” Draco asks him when they are back in the dormitory. 

“My scar was on fire, it’s stung before, but never like that, it was weird” 

“You scared me” Draco says so quietly that Harry almost missed it. 

“I’m still alive” he says with a shrug. 

“For now” Draco says meeting is gaze “Haz you have to be careful” 

By the use of the nickname Harry knows he means it, they’ve barely used nicknames since they were children. 

~~ 

Harry didn’t let the fact that Voldemort might be returning soon affect his daily life or exams.

He didn’t tell his dads about it in his letters to them, firstly because that would mean he would have to tell them he was sent to the forest for detention and because they would worry and probably take him home and hide him away from the world again. 

He had been told from a young age that it was going to happen, it’s part of the reason why Reg and James made sure that Harry had so much control over his magic. So he felt confident he would be okay. 

When exams came around he was focused and felt confident, his only distraction was how hot the classroom was. 

When practical exams came he was able to ignore the stabbing pain in his forehead that head yet to go away since his visit to the forest and execute the spells flawlessly. 

He had been being awoken by nightmares on the middle of the night. 

Draco was the only one who knew Harry was having them and Harry could tell he was worried. 

Harry hid it from the rest of his friends, which wasn’t too hard because they were revising, but Draco knew his too well and knows Harry has struggled with nightmares before, he knew after the first night. 

After they finished their final exam the three Slytherins go outside to meet their Gryffindor friends. 

He’s not in a very good mood, his head is killing him and he’s been taking exams all day so when the first thing Ron says to him is 

“You could look more cheerful, Harry, we have a week before we find out how badly we’ve done” 

Harry snaps. 

“I don’t need to worry about how badly I’ve done, because I’ve actually studied, I know I passed” he says angrily. 

“What I care about is the fact that my fucking scar won’t stop hurting, it’s not normal”. He doesn’t know how to explain it but it feels like a surge of magic rushes through his body, as though all he has to do is think and it will rush out of him. 

Draco, who has also been taught how to sense powerful magic, looks at Harry in slight shock. 

Harry takes a deep breath to calm himself and thankfully it works. 

“I’m sorry” he says meeting Ron’s gaze “I just wish I knew what it meant” 

“If your scar is bothering you so much why don’t you go to Madam Pomfrey” Hermione suggests. 

“Don’t do that” Pansy says quickly. 

Hermione looks at her surprised “why?” she questions. 

“He’s not ill” Blaise says “whatever is causing his scar to hurt is magic, considering we’re talking about You-Know-Who it’s probably dark magic” 

“I think it’s some type of warning, telling me danger is coming” Harry adds. 

“Harry relax, Hermione’s right, as long as Dumbledore is here the stone is safe and so are we at Hogwarts” 

Harry sighs “I don’t want the stone to end up in the wrong hands, but that’s not what i’m most concerned about. If Voldemort returns it puts people that I care about that don’t go to this school in danger” 

Ron flinches at the name but doesn’t say anything, he too seems to realize how his family could be affected. 

Harry felt some comfort though that Voldemort probably couldn’t return without the stone and Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore by telling someone how to get past Fluffy… wait… oh no. 

Harry jumps to his feet. Without hesitation Draco jumps up with him. “What’s wrong” he asks. 

“We’ve got to go see Hagrid” then he was almost sprinting to the hut, his friends struggling to keep up. 

After hearing about how Hagrid won the dragon egg from a hooded figure and drunkenly told the man how to get past fluffy Harry’s heart sank. 

But the good news is that Hagrid also accidentally told them how to get past the dog. 

The group of them didn’t speak to each other until they got to the entrance hall. 

St which point Harry took out the map and saw that Fluffy was suspiciously still, which probably meant he had been put to sleep by music.  

“Snape’s probably already half way to the stone” Ron says 

the Slytherins turn to him and give him a glare. 

“It’s not Severus” Draco says, probably tired of telling Ron this.

”He’s your godfather of course you’re going to defend him” Ron replies. 

“Ron it’s not him” Harry says with a voice that isn’t going to tolerate any more. 

Snape may not be his favorite professor, but he has helped them a couple of times this year and of course Harry knows how the man went behind his lords back to try to save his mother which ended up saving him. 

He just can’t see that man trying to bring Voldemort back. 

“We have to get the stone before someone else does” then Harry takes off down the corridor. 

Draco runs up behind him and pulls him back “Harry” he groans “they gave one rule this year, don’t do anything reckless, and yet you keep doing reckless things” 

“Harry let Dumbledore handle this” Hermione says from behind him. 

Harry looks at her “look Hermione, I know you don’t understand it but I do not trust that old man, I have my reasons. I have to do this” 

Draco sighs, but Harry knows that the blond realizes he isn’t going to win this argument. 

“Then we’re coming with you”  Hermione says and the rest of his friends nod. 

“No, I won’t let you risk yourselves-“ 

“Don’t argue” Blaise says cutting him off. 

Harry really wants to argue but he knows that will just take up more time and they really don’t have time to waste. 

On their way to the third floor corridor they run into Snape. 

“What are you all doing inside on a day like this” he said with a twisted smile. 

Harry only has a few seconds to come up with an excuse, it’s not very good, but it’s better than nothing. 

“I’ve been having stomach issues and I really needed to use the toilet, I asked Ron to come in the school with me so I wouldn’t be walking around alone, and when it took a while the rest of them came to make sure I was ok” 

Snape stared at him with an expression of surprise and shock before shaking his head and saying “I did not need that detail Potter” before continuing on his way. 

When the professor was out of ear shot his friends snorted and laughed at him. 

“Shut up” he said elbowing Draco “I had to think of something, none of you had anything to say” 

“Stomach issues?” Ron questioned with a laugh. 

“He believed it didn’t he?” Harry defended. 

“Also that was our proof that Snape isn’t stealing the stone because whoever is, is already there and he was out here” Harry says  trying to change the subject. 

“Told you” Draco says to Ron with sarcasm. 
 
Ron doesn’t say anything back to him. 

To avoid running into anyone Draco and Harry transformed into their animaigus forms and Harry was carried by Hermione and Draco by Pansy. Blaise held the map. 

All of them shoved under the cloak, luckily the girls were fairly short so it wasn’t too difficult. 

They didn’t meet anyone else until they reached the staircase that leads up to the third floor. 

Peeves was there trying to get people to trip over carpet. 

Somehow Peeves knew they were there and was asking who was there. 

Harry tensed and looked at Draco who at the moment was a white fox. 

Hermione sucked in a breath and Harry realizes he had accidentally sunk his claws into her arm, he quickly released. 

Thankfully Blaise was able to think of a brilliant quick response. 

He pretends to be the Bloody Baron which is the only person or ghost Peeves will listen too. 

“That was brilliant” Ron whispers. 

When they reached the third floor corridor they saw that the door was already open. 

“They’ve already got past Fluffy” Draco says after they transformed back. 

Harry turns to his friends “I won’t blame you if you want to go back, you can take the cloak and the map I don’t need them anymore”

All of his friends burst out responses. 

“Don’t be stupid” said Ron 

“Absolutely not” said Draco

”We’re coming” said Hermione 

“You need us” said Blaise

”I’ll feel bad if you die if I don’t go” Pansy adds a little later than the rest, like she had to think about it. 

Harry is about to push the door open when he hears a voice. 

“Potter! Wait” Theodore Nott calls followed by Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. 

“Now is not the time Nott” Harry says hoping he’ll leave. 

“Here me out” Nott says. 

“You need to leave right now” Draco says pulling out his wand. 

Nott still doesn’t go anywhere. 

So Blaise says “We are about to do something and you need to leave for your own safety” 

“I know, you’re about to steal the Philosophers Stone, and we want to help” Nott says. 

This shocks everyone, they just stare at him. 

“We don’t want You-Know-Who to come back” He clarifies. 

“How did you know what we were doing” Hermione says what they were all thinking. 

“We heard you in the entrance hall, you weren’t being quiet” he gestures towards the door “are we gonna go or…” 

“If you get hurt, is your dad going to come after us” Harry questioned. 

Nott practically scoffed when he said “no”. 

Harry opened the door and low grumbling noises met their ears. 

Harry, Draco, and Hermione peaked around the door first. 

“Is that a harp at its feet” Draco says “it must have been left by whoever already went through” 

Harry was really wishing he had brought the flute Hagrid had given him. None of them knew how to play a harp, or so he thought. 

“I can play it” Nott says before shoving past them and starting to play the instrument. 

From the first note Fluffy’s eyes began to droop, the growls stopped and it slumped to the ground asleep. 

“Don’t stop” Draco threatened as the group started moving towards the trapdoor. 

“I’ll go first” Harry said after they opened they opened the door. 

All they could see was black, they had no idea what was down there. 

Once he lowered himself down and was hanging on by his fingertips he looked up and met Draco’s gaze.

“If anything happens to me write a letter to Prongs and Reg” He wouldn’t usually use their names but no one other than the two of them know who they are and this is a serious matter. 

“Harry nothing is going to happen to you” Draco replies. 

“But if it does you have to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid” Harry emphasizes the he because although James is protective and it wouldn’t be good off him to be revealed Reg would be lucky to not be thrown into Azkaban now, after he finds out what’s happened to Harry he would have no chance of freedom. 

Draco nodded but didn’t say anything. 

“I’ll see you all in a minute, I hope” Harry said and his friends all sent him a glare at the last part.

He landed on something soft which ended up being some type of plant. He quickly climbs off. He’s smart enough to know that everything down here is probably some kind of trap. 

“It’s ok” he calls up “you land on some type of plant, just move quickly in case it’s a trap”. 

Draco jumped first followed by Hermione. They quickly moved off the plant and joined Harry. 

Pansy jumped down and then Blaise. 

Nott jumped, then Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle. 

Nott jumped off but the other three didn’t. 

“It’s lucky this plant thing’s here” Ron said. 

“lucky!” shrieked Hermione “look at you both!” 

Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle had been bound by the plant without them noticing. 

“Stop moving!” Hermione ordered “I know what this is, it’s -“ 

“Devils Snare” Blaise finished. 

“Oh, I’m so glad we know what it’s called, that’s great help” Ron snarled. 

“Shut up, I’m trying to remember how to kill it” Hermione said. 

They are all silent for a moment, the only sound the groans of Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle. 

All of a sudden Harry remembers what Professor Sprout told them. 

“We need fire!” he says suddenly. 

“There’s no wood” Hermione cries 

Draco pulls out and his wand and sends a jet of blue flame towards the plant. 

Harry didn’t know he knew that spell, Hermione must have taught it to him. 

“Are you a witch or not?” Draco says to Hermione. 

“right” she says looking embarrassed. 

Harry was really glad that no one said anything farther about her mistake, especially Nott and his friends. 

The group moved down the passageway, Harry and Draco in the front. 

When they came across the flying keys Harry was extremely thankful that he was the youngest Seeker in a century. 

Draco tried to keep the key as close to Harry as possible on the sides  while Ron kept it from going down. 

After using the key to open the door they’re in a large room with a massive, life sized chess board. 

Harry definitely isn’t the best at chess, he loses every time he plays, but Draco and Ron are very good, Nott says he is. Blaise, although he is very smart, is on the same level as Harry. 

Draco, Ron, and Nott were working surprisingly well together, at the end they all agreed that the only way to keep most of their friends safe was if Ron sacrificed himself. 

Harry and Hermione tried to argue with him but he insisted it was the only way. 

Crabbe and Goyle, who were worse at chess than Harry thought that after Ron gave the command the game was over. They ended up walking right between Ron and the white queen. When she pounced all three of them were taken out. 

Nott ran straight to Crabbe and Goyle while the others ran to Ron, after making sure that he did indeed have a pulse they checked made sure the other two also had one. 

Harry turned to Blaise and Pansy. 

Blaise who is aware of the look Harry is giving him says “Don’t even think about telling me to leave” 

Harry sighs “these three” he gestures to unconscious forms “need to go to Madam Pomfrey, and Pansy can’t take all three of them alone” 

“Why don’t we all just move on and get them on the way back?” Blaise asks. 

“Because she is ready to leave. Harry gestures to Pansy who is indeed shaking in fear, that’s why he suggested she be one to leave. 

Blaise wants to argue but ends up picking up Ron because he’s the lightest and levitating Goyle while Pansy gets Crabbe. 

They practically ran through the room that had the unconscious troll, more than ready to be away from the smell. 

“I’m glad we didn’t have to fight that one” Harry whispered and Hermione and Draco nodded their agreement. 

“Wait, what do you mean ‘that one’” Nott asks clearly confused. 

“Oh we found the one that got into Hogwarts and fought it” Harry answers nonchalantly. 

“How did you not get expelled?” Nott says clearly confused. 

“I’ve been wondering the same thing” Draco mumbles. 

When they reach the table with the bottles Hermione picks up the paper and begins reading. Nott stands right behind her also reading, she doesn’t seem to care though. 

They seem to read the paper several times before starting a quiet conversation. 

Harry and Draco simply give each other a look. 

Harry is still surprised how this situation has somehow brought them together. 

After Hermione tells them which bottle will get them through the black fire and to the stone and through the purple fire back the way they came, Harry and Draco wave their hands and now there is two of each bottle. 

Nott’s mouth falls open “did they just do wandless and wordless magic” he asks Hermione appalled. 

“You get used to it” she replies with a shrug. 

Harry turns towards them “You two take the one back through the purple flames” 

“No, listen” he starts again when Hermione tries to argue “When you get out go to the owlery and get Hedwig, write a letter saying what happened and tell her take it to Reg, she’ll know where to go” 

He turns to Nott and studies his face for a second, other than he and Draco Nott is most likely to know who Reg is, but he only seems confused. 

“Blaise and Pansy will have taken the brooms so you’ll have to help each other out of the trap door” 

“No, I told you I’d help you get the stone” Nott tries. 

“Theodore” Harry uses his first name for the first time “you have helped us, thank you” 

The other boy nods. 

“Harry be safe” Hermione’s lip trembles as she says it before she dashed towards him  and hugs him. 

“Harry you’re such a good friend, and brave, and oh please be careful” she tells him as they pull a part. 

Harry and Draco pick up their cups “you are sure which is which, aren’t you?” Draco asks before drinking. 

“Positive” both Hermione and Theodore say. 

After they’ve drunken Harry throws the invisibility cloak over Draco and walks through the flames. 

Harry wasn’t sure who he expected to find, but it sure as hell wasn’t Quirrell. 

He could hear Draco gasp behind him. 

Even more surprising was finding out that all the times Hermione and Ron were convinced Snape was trying to kill him, the professor was actually trying to save him. He knew his mum liked the man for a reason. He knew Snape hated him, but he couldn’t accept that he wanted him dead. 

Harry was disappointed in himself, he had spent all year trying to figure out who was trying to get in and get the stone when all along it had been someone right in front of him. 

The good news was that Quirrell didn’t know how to use the mirror, whereas Harry did, and so did Draco. He may not have ever seen the mirror but Harry explained it to him. So right now while Harry was distracting Quirrell the blond was getting the stone from under the cloak. 

Harry was shocked when he heard another voice coming from Quirrell himself. 

Harry is a very good lier which came in handy when Quirrell started questioning him. 

Harry really thought about trying to use magic  to escape but he hadn’t had enough practice in real situations yet and he was scared he wouldn’t be able to focus or whatever dark magic Quirrell had with him would go against Harry. 

When Quirrell revealed Voldemort in the back of his head, Harry’s first thought was that he was the ugliest man Harry’s ever seen. 

Voldemort started trying to convince Harry to join his side or he’ll kill him just like he killed Harrys parents. 

Harry is actually very proud of how well he kept his temper and how calm and lethal he sounded when he said 

“I’ll never join you. I’m going to be the one to kill you, however long it takes” 

The next second Quirrell is on him. The pain Harry felt when they touched was terrible but Harry refused to let go because he knew that whatever he was feeling Quirrell was also feeling so it was worth it. 

They went on like that for what felt like forever, Harry’s entire body felt like it was on fire. 

Harry briefly registered Draco coming out of the cloak, pulling out his wand and saying an incantation before everything goes black. 

Chapter Text

Regulus POV: 

Regulus has hated Dumbledore since he was a teenager which is why the order never knew he wasn’t a loyal Death Eater. 

But after what Draco has just told him Regulus’ hatred for the old man has multiplied. 

He purposely put an object in the school that he knew would attract Voldemort and his supporters. 

He didn’t notice anything suspicious even when teenagers were able to. 

He somehow didn’t notice that one of his professors had fucking Voldemorts face in the back of his head. 

And to just top this all off after Harry sent two friends to write and letter to his parents so that they could come and help him Dumbledore sent McGonagall to stop them insisting it would take to long for a letter to get to us. 

Draco told James and Regulus that after Dumbledore had gotten them out and taken Harry to Madam Pomfrey that he insisted to use a floo to let then know what happened. 

Dumbledore told him that Harry would be fine and that wasn’t necessary. 

Surprisingly Severus showed and up said he’d take care of Draco and then let Draco use his floo. 

The poor child may have walked in on James and Regulus in a compromising position, but thankfully Regulus is a quick thinker and was able to get them both clothes before the boy saw too much. 

They knew something was wrong almost immediately. The first clue was that Draco was alone, he and Harry are almost always together.

The other clue was that Draco didn’t have any snarky remark towards them, he just walked straight into their room pushed them so they were sitting on their bed and started talking. 

He told them about how they found the three headed dog in the first place and everything that had happened since then. 

Including how Harry had sent the rest of his friends to safety before getting to the last part. Regulus isn’t sure if he should be proud of him or  not. 

Draco said that when Harry was fighting Quirrell/Voldemort he was screaming in pain, Draco was panicking and tried to hit Quirrell with a spell to defend his best friend but because of his panic his aim was off and he hit Harry. 

Regulus was ready to go to Hogwarts immediately James right behind him. 

He had tried to stop James from coming with him, worried about his boyfriends safety if he was revealed alive. 

James had reminded him that James really wasn’t in any danger at all if he was revealed, the only reason he had stayed hidden all these years was to keep Harry and Regulus safe, and since Dumbledore knew about Regulus but not James if something happened James could take Harry into hiding again. 

Regulus thought the last part was reason enough for James not to go but James insisted his son was hurt and he would be by his side and when Draco revealed the cloak Regulus gave up on his argument knowing he wasn’t going to win. 

Now three days later Harry hadn’t woken up. Regulus, Draco, and James, who was under the cloak, hadn’t left his side. Ebony had been either curled around his neck or somewhere else on his bed, only moving when she was hiding from someone. 


Although no one had said anything Regulus was pretty sure Madam Pomfrey knew James was there based on the fact that there was enough of whatever she brought them for James as well. 

Dumbledore had tried to stop by and check on Harry multiple times but Regulus had insisted that as Harry’s legal guardian he could decide who saw him. 

Even Narcissa had come to check on Harry but she couldn’t stay. 

Draco was blaming himself for the fact that Harry hadn’t woke up yet, but Regulus and James assured him that it wasn’t his fault, he was only eleven and the two of them were very close and anyone could have messed up their aim in that situation. 

Regulus knows that Draco has great aim and is quietly yelling at himself for not preparing them better. Sure he taught them how to do spells and control their magic, but he didn’t prepare them for what it would be like to fight an actual enemy. 

They’re only eleven they shouldn’t have to learn that yet, if it wasn’t for Dumbledore they wouldn’t have had to. 

He wants to kill the old man, but he would rather not be thrown into Azkaban and miss watching his son grow up. 

Regulus is in a corner talking to Madam Pomfrey about why Harry hasn’t woken yet, James is beside him when he hears Draco’s chair move and his voice say “Harry!”

Naturally Regulus spins around and sees Draco hugging a disoriented looking Harry. 

Regulus lets out a sigh of relief that he was finally awake. 

“Let him breathe Draco” Regulus says as he approaches Harry’s bed. 

Draco lets go of his friend and looks at Regulus sheepishly. 

When Harry sees him a look of panic crosses his face “the stone! Quirrell tried to get it, I-“ 

Regulus rushes to him and silences him with a hug “Quirrell doesn’t have the stone, it has been destroyed” 

Madam Pomfrey excuses herself, probably so James will be comfortable coming out.

Honestly Regulus was so thankful for her, she had provided them with everything they needed for their time there, and said nothing about James even though she knew he was there. 

And didn’t even bat an eye when Regulus came storming through the doors even though she like everyone else thought he had drowned. 

“What about Nicolas Flamel-“ Harry tries. 

“Harry, please calm down” James says as he takes the cloak off rushing to join Regulus by Harry’s side. 

“Everything’s been taken care of, trust me” Regulus assures. 

Finally Harry nods and then throws his arms around both of them. 

Regulus isn’t much of a hugger, but he will always accept hugs from the two Potters and the pale boy standing beside the bed, especially now after he thought Harry might not wake up. 

“Come on Draco” James says over his shoulder and the other boys climbs on the already over full bed and joins the embrace. 

After they are back in their chairs and Harry has his bed to himself once again he looks at the massive pile of sweets that his friends had brought him. 

If Regulus had to find one good thing out of this it would be how many friends Harry had been able to make. 

He knew not everyone that had brought a gift for Harry was a close friend but they were still people who cared for him nonetheless. 

Though he could tell that there was a good amount of people who were good friends just based on the fact that they were the ones Draco didn’t chase away. 

Two of these kids, a girl with wild hair and a boy with dark skin, looked at Regulus suspiciously but cared more about Harry than asking questions. 

Another boy, one who Draco was much less kinder toward but let stay anyhow looked at Regulus almost with recognition. That made Regulus nervous he was a Slytherin and could have easily seen a picture of Regulus if his parents were death eaters at the same time. 

“Gifts from friends” Regulus told Harry explaining the pile.

”And admirers” James says wiggling his eyebrows making Harry roll his eyes. 

If James was beside Regulus he would elbow him but he settles for giving his boyfriend a look instead. 

Which James ignores. 

“The Weasley twins tried to bring you a lavatory seat, they said they wanted to make you laugh when you woke up, but Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t let them” Draco tells Harry with amusement on his pale features. 

The twins being Weasley’s actually explains a lot. 

Harry smiled back at Draco before asking

“How long have I been in here?” Harry asks looking around the Hospital Wing. 

“Three days” James replies. 

“We thought you weren’t going to wake up” Regulus says, voice full of emotion. 

Harry meets his gaze “when I was fighting Quirrell I thought that I was going to die, I was so scared I was never goin to see you again” tears well up in his eyes as he looks back and forth between James and Regulus. 

“And I was scared about how it would affect you and that you’d blame yourself because you were there” Harry looks at Draco and this time a tear does fall. 

Regulus reaches out and wipes the tear away and kisses Harry on the forehead, James grabs Harry’s hand. 

Knowing that they are all on the verge of tears Regulus changes the subject “your friends will be glad to see you’re awake, I’m pretty sure they’re waiting at the door refusing to leave” 

This makes Harry smile but then he looks at James and Regulus and his smile fades. 

Knowing what he’s thinking “it’s up to you, we trust you and if you trust them so do we” 

Harry thinks for a moment before he says “they can see you” he says pointing at Regulus before looking at James “dad can you go under the cloak?” 

James is about to protest but Harry cuts him off “You guys said he was our back up and something went wrong and I had to leave again, I think it should stay that way for a while” 

Regulus doesn’t know if he should be proud that Harry made such a mature decision or angry that his eleven year old son feels like he might be in enough danger to go into hiding.

After James is securely under his cloak Draco opens the door. 

They all rush in the two girls go straight to Harry and give him a hug, he looks surprised for a moment then returns the favor. 

The curly haired one who Regulus is pretty sure her name is Hermione, based off his descriptions says “Harry we were so worried” 

The tall red head, probably Ron says “The whole school’s talking about it” 

Regulus cringes, remembering the rumor mill at Hogwarts. 

Harry turns and looks at the thin brunette and his sticky friends who are lingering at the door. Regulus is fairly certain he’s never heard of them from Harry. 

“You can come in” Harry says to them, Draco sends him a look, but Harry ignores it. 

“Why did you help us?” Harry asks “and don’t say just because you don’t want Voldemort to come back, give me more, your father is a death eater so why do you care?” 

The boy looks around as though debating what he should say before his face settles back on Harry. 

“You’re right, my father is a death eater, I’ve seen how cruel he can be, if he’s that cruel then the rest of them have to also be cruel, and their leader has got to be even worse. I don’t want the world to be taken over by them” 

Harry looks shocked “Theodore…” Harry starts. 

Suddenly something clicks on Regulus’ mind, he was a death eater at the same time as the boys father. 

“And I saw how you defended your friend on the first day, at first I was angry but I gradually realized that was a virtue you don’t see many people have these days, so I wanted to help you because of that” the boy who’s name is Theodore continues. 

Everyone looks as though they don’t really know what to say. Regulus feels for the kid, he remembers being the kid of people who didn’t truly care about his wellbeing. 

He remembers wishing he was more like Sirius, rebellious, and had people he could talk to. 

He had his friends but they had the same struggles as him. 

That’s how he and James eventually connected. It was nice having someone who actually wanted to be around him and would just listen. 

James already knew a lot about Regulus’ and Sirius’ childhood so he didn’t ask questions he would just sit and listen occasionally putting a hand somewhere on Regulus for comfort. 

To this day Regulus still isn’t sure what James saw in him that made him want to reach out to him and stick around even after Regulus continuously pushed him away, but Regulus is really glad James was persistent until he opened up. 

And stayed after he heard all of Regulus’ trauma. 

After all these years James still looks at him the same as he did when they were teenagers even though Regulus has the mark of the man who killed the mother of James’ child. 

Regulus is snapped out of his thoughts by Hermione who is looking between him and Harry. 

Harry seems to notice he has yet to introduce them all. 

He points at Regulus and says “This is my dad, Reggie”. 

Regulus cringes at that nickname being used out loud, he doesn’t mind for Harry to call him that, just preferably not in front of his friends. 

His friends all look at him, surprised by the term ‘dad’. 

“He adopted me” Harry clarifies. 

Regulus politely shakes hands with each of the children as they tell him their names. 

Hermione is last and she looks deep in thought. 

“Reggie…Regulus” she says under her breath. Regulus sees Harry and Draco look at each other warily. 

She looks him in the eye and says “you’re Regulus Black?” It’s a question. 

“How the fuck did you know that” Draco says astonished. 

Regulus looks at him briefly “don’t say that” 

“You do” Draco retorts. 

“Yes, I’m not eleven” Regulus says making Draco cross his arms. 

Regulus surveys the girl, he only knows what Harry and Draco have said in their letters and things that were spoken during their few, brief meetings. 

Hermione turns to Harry, he’s still staring at her waiting for her to explain how she figured everything out. 

It wouldn’t be too hard, considering that the house of Black was at one time a well known family, all it would take was a picture of him to put it together. 

But a person would also have to ignore the fact that according to society Regulus was dead, same as James and until recently Harry.

But considering Hermione is a muggle born, she shouldn’t be as familiar with the pure blood families. 

The girl looks at Harry almost guiltily. 

“You were so mysterious about your childhood and who raised you, never saying names always just saying your family, which automatically made me curious but when you add the fact that no one knew whether you were alive or not until you came to Hogwarts that made me even more curious” She rushes out before pausing. 

“So I did some research, I knew you were raised by wizards because of how much you knew already, and you said that you and Draco had been trained since you were young” 

Regulus doesn’t say anything as she continues to talk, he’s quite curious about how she put everything together. 

“And based off of your clothes and your belongings I guessed you had money, and that with the fact you obviously knew the Malfoy’s and grew up around them I was assuming your family were pure blood”.

“I started researching the pure blood families, trying to find one that met everything that you’d let slip, I knew you were raised in France as well knew the language,  I believe you once very vaguely mentioned an estate in a warmer location, and one in London that was used at the beginning of the school year because it was closer”. 

Still no one said anything. James was still under the cloak and the boys looked to stunned to speak. As for Regulus he was still extremely impressed. 

She was right about all of that, she probably thought the estate Harry had mentioned in London was Number Twelve Grimmuald Place, but they actually stayed in Potter Manor, which is good if she doesn’t know, it will raise more questions. 

“The family that met that description the closest was the Black’s. Though I didn’t hardly believe it, I thought I’d been too eager and looked too much into things, I knew whoever raised you had an R name and Regulus Black was dead… or so I thought” she finishes, looking at Regulus. 

Regulus briefly wonders why she wouldn’t think his brother had raised Harry, he was Harry’s godfather after all. 

But he hasn’t spoken to Sirius in years he might not even live in this country anymore. 

Regulus doesn’t get a chance to respond because a big man by the name of Hagrid comes through the doors. 

Harry’s friends step away so he can reach Harry. 

Hagrid grabbed Harry’s hand and immediately started crying. It was loud and snotty and overall just gross. 

Regulus shared a look of disgust with Draco before looking back toward Harry who looked a little surprised. 

When Hagrid mentioned that he was the one who told them about how to get past Fluffy he would have been angry if he hadn’t already gotten that information from Draco. 

“VOLDEMORT!” Harry tells after Hagrid told him not to say the name. 

“I’ve met him and I’m calling him by his name, please cheer up Hagrid” he hands the half giant a chocolate frog. 

A rush of pride goes through Regulus that even after Everything that happened Harry is still confident in defying Voldemort. 

Hagrid and Harry talk for a bit after he calms down before Hagrid pulls out a leather-covered book. 

Harry opens it and is greeted by a lot of pictures of James and Lily along with some of their friends, Regulus is even in a few of them.

There are pictures  that Regulus is pretty sure were taken during the war at the Potter manor. 

Some that were taken at parties and in the room of requirement during their Hogwarts days. 

One photo causes Harry and his friends to pause for a second. James has his arm around Regulus and Lily is standing next to James holding hands with Mary. 

“You knew Harry’s parents?” Pansy asks. 

“Yeah, we dated back in school” Regulus replies a bit awkwardly. He feels James reach for his hand. When his boyfriend moved beside him he doesn’t know.  

“I was an accident” Harry says “cause by a stressful night during war” 

Regulus feels James stiffen beside him, whether that’s to fight a laugh or because he doesn’t want Harry to think of himself as an accident, Regulus isn’t sure. 

“You didn’t tell us” Ron says to Harry. 

Harry shrugs “you didn’t ask” 

“This actually explains a lot” Blaise says causing everyone to look at him, waiting for him to elaborate. 

“About how Harry ended up being raised with a Black” he explains.

Hagrid looks at Regulus “you been raisin’ him?”

Regulus nods

“You did a good job, he’s a good boy” Hagrid says in his rough voice. 

“He is” Regulus says smiling at Harry who had been listening to their conversation. 

“I hope I didn’t over step” Hagrid says gesturing to the book. 

Regulus shakes his head “no, they will always be his parents” 

Regulus looks at Harry hoping to portray what he means, that Lily loved him and will always be his mother. 

Hours later everyone else has left and they are waiting for Draco to return with Harry’s luggage so they can take him home. 

“Are you sure I can’t stay for the feast” Harry says in a whiny voice. 

“I’m sorry Harry, but no there are so many rumors going around right now and you need rest, it’s safer for you to come home. Draco can tell you about the feast” he says trying to fix Harry’s messy hair. 

“The end of year feast is boring anyway” James says putting a hand on Harry’s shoulder. 

Regulus knows James is just trying to make Harry feel better, his boyfriend had actually quite enjoyed the end of year feasts. 

Draco comes back with Harry’s luggage packed and shrunk. 

“Are you sure I can’t come with you” Draco pleads 

“I tried, but Albus wouldn’t let me take you, he said you didn’t have a valuable enough excuse when there is only one day left” Regulus tells him. 

Draco groans and rolls his eyes before hugging Harry and leaving. 

They walk off of the ground so they can apparate. Harry does side-along with Regulus. 

Kreacher greets Harry with a hug and a feast with all of his favorite foods. 

After they eat they grab a bunch of pillows and blankets and watch a comedy movie that James picked out in the living room. 

That night Harry sleeps in James and Regulus’ room, not wanting to leave their sides yet. 

It feels like when Harry was little and Regulus loves it. 

Chapter Text

Harry’s POV: 

Summer holidays had been amazing so far. He wrote to Ron and Hermione all the time, but they never wrote back. He even got to see Blaise and Pansy a few times. The Malfoys knew their families quite well so when Draco would go over for a visit Harry tagged along. 

He got to see Draco almost everyday, not always for the longest period of time, but they got to see each other nonetheless.

The only time they didn’t see each other was when James and Regulus surprised Harry with a Caribbean cruise.

It was a very fun, but also extremely weird experience. Harry still doesn’t understand how muggles get a boat that large to float. Being around that much technically was also quite strange.

James and Regulus have always made sure to include muggle technically into Harry’s life for the sake of his mother. He grew up having television in the house, they had electricity, and a telephone on the wall, they barely used it though.

The stuff on the boat was on an entirely different level, Harry spent way too much time playing arcade games, while his dads were probably doing things he doesn’t wish to say out loud.

The entire trip was refreshing. No one knew them there, witches and wizards don’t usually do things so muggle.

They were able to spend a whole two weeks as a family without any disguises whatsoever.

The only downsides were of course not seeing Draco but also that he couldn’t send letters to his friends, Hedwig hadn’t even been aloud to go because his parents said a owl flying to and from the ship would be too suspicious to the muggles, so she stayed with the Malfoys. 

Ebony had gone, but she had to stay in their room the whole time. They wouldn’t have brought her, but she threatened to bite whoever looked after her if they didn’t. 

The cruise was over and the ship had just docked. Tomorrow was Harry’s birthday and he was eager to get home and see if Ron or Hermione had written to him yet. 

He was beginning to think that they had forgotten about him. Maybe they had finally realized they didn’t want to be friends with Slytherins. 

It was the only excuse he could think of, he received letter from Pansy, Blaise and even Theo, whom he was actually starting to like. They knew he saw Draco daily so they sent their letters together. 

He didn’t receive letters from Crabbe or Goyle, but that wasn’t surprising, even after they had helped him last year he hadn’t spoken to them much, he has a suspicion that they didn’t actually want to help him but only did it because Theo told them to. 

It was midnight and Harry was extremely tired, all he wanted to do when he walked in his house was go to his room and sleep, but when they walked through the door Kreacher instantly ushered them into the dining room. 

On the table was a massive birthday cake and three cups of milk. 

That instantly woke Harry up, he sat down at the table and Kreacher served him a slice. James put a candle on the slice and Regulus lit it. 

Together, Kreacher included, they sang happy birthday to Harry. The song was very off tune, but it made Harry smile nonetheless. 

After they were done Reggie gave Harry a brief hug and James kissed him on the cheek. Harry instantly wiped it off and glared at his dad who only grinned at him.

The cake  was delicious, he finished his slice quickly then gave Kreacher and his dads a hug before going upstairs to his room.

Despite the sugar that was now in his system Harry fell into a deep sleep. 

He didn’t wake again until he heard the same very off tune version of Happy Birthday that he heard the night before, except this time one was missing and a new one was added. 

Harry groaned and slowly opened his eyes. James and Draco were dancing around his room singing. 

Kreacher was holding a large tray of various breakfasts foods, also singing. 

Regulus was standing against the door frame with a smile on his face as he watched the scene taking place. 

Draco flopped on the bed beside Harry as Kreacher set down the tray. 

“Happy birthday!” He says “We already ate downstairs, but you got to sleep in because it’s your birthday and every thing” 

While at Hogwarts Harry had almost forgotten how fast Draco could talk. 

When they were at school Draco had been a little different, more closed off. At one point it had put a bit of a strain on their friendship because Harry didn’t know how to act around him, but ever since school  ended it had been how it was when they were kids. 

They joked and laughed while Harry ate and once he was finished Harry thanked Kreacher as he took the tray back. 

Draco practically drug Harry out of his bed, waving his hand so his bed was made, and drug Harry his closet.

”You need to get changed so we can go downstairs” Draco told him. 

Harry was a little confused by this because he typically hung out in his pajamas all day unless they were going somewhere. 

Regulus and Draco hated it, but Harry and James didn’t see the point in dirtying more clothes. 

Draco threw an outfit at him and Harry went to the bathroom that was connected to his room to change. He let Ebony rest herself around his neck before moving to follow Draco out of the room.

He looked back and noticed that his dads weren’t following them, he stopped.

Regulus waved him on “We’ll be down shortly” he said. So Harry went downstairs. 

Harry noticed that they had put up some green and silver decorations. He laughed at the thought of Reg and Draco scheming while James wasn’t listening. 

Draco was still determinedly pulling Harry forward into the living room. 

When Harry first entered the room it was dark and he didn’t see anything. 

Then all of a sudden the lights turned on and Pansy, Blaise, and Theo were jumping out from behind furniture. 

Ron and Hermione seem to come out of nowhere, he thinks they were under his cloak. 

Narcissa walks through the floo carrying what looks like a lot of sweet treats.

Harry thinks they had to have rehearsed this because everything is timed perfectly.

“Surprise!” They all yell in unison. 

Harry feels a moment of joy at seeing all of his friends in his house, but that feeling turns to dread as it sinks in. 

He quickly turns around to where he thought Reggie and his dad had followed them. If his friends were in his house that probably means they saw his dad, and that goes against literally every protection rule that they talked about at the start of summer. 

He feels a tug on his arm and turns to see Draco looking at him. 

“It’s ok, he went upstairs before anyone got here, and he said he has a disguise so no one can recognize him” 

Harry nods, thankful that his best friend knows him so well. 

His other friends make their way towards him and he start hugging them. 

“Are you surprised?” Reggie’s voice says from behind him. 

He looks over his shoulder and sees Reggie standing next to his dad, whose appearance has been changed just like it was when they went to Diagon Alley for the first time. 

“Yeah” he says smiling at his parents before turning back to his friends. 

"What are you guys doing here? You never answered any of my letters, I was beginning to think you were having second thoughts about our friendship" Harry says looking at Ron and Hermione.

Both of their gazes become sympathetic before Ron says "we were beginning to say the same thing about you, mate".

"What?" Harry asks, he's genuinely confused on how they could have thought that when he wrote them both letters every couple of days.

"We've sent you a ton of letters as well. At first we were scared that something had happened to you, but then we started to think that now that you have Slytherin friends you wouldn't want to be friends with us Gryffindor's anymore. Hermione tells him.

"That's ridiculous" Harry says. Hermione and Ron just shrug.

He's told all of friends multiple times that he doesn't care about different houses, they don't completely define a person.

He points at James "My-" he cuts himself off before he says 'dad'. "He's a Gryffindor" he says instead.

"Really" Ron asks, looking intrigued.

"Yep" his dad says, popping the p.

Hermione looks at him at with a raised brow, Harry holds his breath, he knows that look.

"Who are you?" she questions

Harry and Draco look at each other warily. He see's Regulus' eyes widen slightly.

James on the other hand stays perfectly composed, as though he was expecting this question. 

He sticks out his hand for Hermione to shake. “My names Jared, I’m Reggie’s boyfriend”. 

Draco and Harry have to avoid each others eyes because if they make contact they’re both going to burst out laughing at the name his dad chose. 

Reg is glaring at his boyfriend, probably because he called him Reggie in front of all of Harry’s friend and Narcissa, who looks as though she finds this entire scene quite entertaining. 

Hermione shakes James’ hand and looks as though she believes his explanation. 

Harry is mentally patting himself on the back for mentioning to his friends once that he lived with a family member his boyfriend. 

At the time he had meant that his dad was the family member and Reg was the boyfriend, but nonetheless it’s helping them out now. 

“Anyhow” Harry says eager to switch the topic of this conversation “If you thought that about me, then why and how are you here?” 

Hermione looks at Regulus as Ron starts explaining. 

“He showed up at my house this morning, apparently he and my mum had met when they were younger, and he started questioning me about why I was ignoring you” 

Harry looks at Regulus who is nodding along with Ron’s explanation before looking back at Ron. 

“I was just as confused as he was when I said I hadn’t gotten any letters from you, I then told him I sent you letters and you didn’t reply, he looked me in the eye for a moment before he seemed to believe me and invited me to your house for your birthday” 

Harry and Draco know this means that Regulus used legilimency on him, and judging my the look that Narcissa is giving Reg she knows this too. 

"He somehow managed to convince my mum to let me go, and then we went to the muggle world to get Hermione" Ron finishes.

"We don't know how he knew where we lived" Hermione says looking at Regulus once again.

Hermione probably doesn't want to know how Reg knew where they lived. There are certain things that he knows that Harry and Draco just kind of ignore and don't ask questions.

"It was a lot more simple for us" Blaise says "we were just sent letters and then flooed to Malfoy manor then we brought here by one of the adults"

"No one actually told us where we were though, its a little unnerving" Pansy says.

"It's under a Fidelius Pansy, you're not supposed to know the location" Draco responds

"Well do you know it" she responds quickly.

"Yes" Draco says smugly.

"We're in France" Harrys says interrupting their banter, knowing it could go on for a while.

"We're where!?" Hermione says looking shocked at being that far away from home, Harry can't blame her.

"Cool" Ron says.

"It's not that you aren't trusted" Regulus speaks for the first time since entering the room. "their are five people who know the location, and they are all in this room, it's for both our and Harry's safety" he gestures between himself and James then to Harry.

"I was surprised when I got an invite" Theo says quietly.

Draco rolls his eyes "you shouldn't be, Harry has a habit of adopting people like lost puppies. You helped him so now you're stuck with him"

Theo doesn't look like that bothers him at all, he actually sort of looks... relieved?

Harry lightly elbows his friend and Reg snorts and shoots a pointed look at Harry's dad.

Harry has been told by Reggie that his dad used to constantly take in his friends to the point that their was barely any room in Potter manor.

Apparently his grandparents were super cool about it and made room and just bought more food to feed them all. He wishes he could have met them.

"We invited Neville Longbottom as well" James says "but his grandmother wouldn't allow him to come, our families are not on the best terms at the moment"

What he means is that Regulus isn't on good terms with her.

James used to be quite good friends with Neville's parents, she hate Regulus because he was a Death Eater and one of his best friends was part of the group that was caught torturing Neville's parents. Whether Barty was actually doing the torturing or not Harry doesn't know, It's not something Reg talks about.

Harry and his friends sit on the floor of the sitting room and Narcissa gives them the sweet treats that she brought and Kreacher brings them way too much snack food. The house elf smiles everytime one of them thanks him.

Pansy gave Harry some hair potion, she's always complaining about how crazy it is. Blaise gives Harry his own copy of a couple of books that he kept borrowing from him the year prior. Theo gets Harry a Slytherin ring.

Harry looks at him in question, the other boy shrugs a little shyly "last year I kept telling you that you didn't belong in Slytherin, I realize now that I was wrong so I got you that to remind you that you are a Slytherin"

Harry smiles at him "Thank you"

Draco gets Harry a quill and notebook that is charmed so that if Harry uses that quill on the notebook that whatever he writes transfers to Draco's matching notebook.

"So we can communicate in class" Draco smiles and Harry smirks.

"Sneaky" James says "I love it!"

Regulus rolls his eyes.

Narcissa gets Harry some school robes that are custom fitted to him.

"I knew that when you go to Diagon Alley you would skip getting robes thinking you would wear the same ones from last year" she tells him.

Harry gives her a light hug "thank you Cissy"

She gives him in a kiss on the forehead. he would shy away from most people if they did that but if Narcissa Malfoy shows you affection you accept.

Ron looks slightly horrified that Harry is so comfortable around her but Harry ignores him.

Harry hadn't expected any gifts from his parents because they just took him on a cruise, but of course he forgot who his parents were. Regulus who loves to spoil Harry and James who also loves to spoil Harry and who's favorite thing is gift giving.

Reg gives Harry a lot of charmed clothing, things to keep Harry cool in the spring and summer and things to keep him warm in the freezing times of winter.

James gives Harry a picture book of all of the pictures they took on the cruise, some are muggle and some wizard.

Ron clears his throat, "we uh weren't able to get you anything, this was very last minute"

"We're very sorry Harry" Hermione adds.

Harry moves to give them a both a light hug, that doesn't matter to me, you being here is enough".

"So what exactly does one do in France, French person?" Blaise asks.

Harry rolls his eyes playfully at him before turning to look at his parents hopefully.

Reg sighs "I suppose we can go out, if you all promise to listen if I tell you to do something"

"We promise" they all say at the same time.

"I'll accompany you" Narccisa says clearly not trusting that Harry and his friends wont get cause trouble, and not trusting that his dads will stop them.

Realistically she's probably on to something, Harry and Draco have always thought it was fun to pull pranks on the public, and James also finds it entertaining and sometimes even helps them. Reg is also a major simp for his dad so unless their at a risk of death he doesn't fight too much.

Harry and Draco lead their group of friends through the streets of France, Narcissa, James and Regulus follow a little bit behind them.

They point out places that they've gotten into trouble at or just merely hung out at. Their friends stare at them deeply intrigued when Harry or Draco would talk with someone in French.

They end up stopping at a café and Regulus offers to buy each of them a beverage and a pastry.

By the end of the day Harry and his friends end of convincing the adults the buy them way too many sweet treats and after walking all around they are exhausted.

When they get back to Harry's house Narcissa tells him happy birthday again before heading back to Malfoy Manor.

Harry shows all of his friends to their guest rooms and where the bathrooms are. Regulus and James transfigured all of the rooms from having one bed to two.

Pansy and Hermione are sharing a room, Theo and Blaise, Draco gave his usual room in the house to Ron as they knew if he was put with the other Slytherins no one would be getting any sleep that night. Draco usually shares a room with Harry anyhow so it's not a big deal.

All of Harry's friends go to change into their night clothes before going back downstairs to watch one of Harry's favorite movies.

All of them but himself, Hermione, and Draco are absolutely shocked and confused by the TV.

Regulus and James went upstairs before the movie started to let Harry have time with his friends, he's not sure if they are asleep or not, but when Ebony asks him to take her upstairs he goes quietly just in case.

What he didn't expect was for a house elf to be on his bed and to say his name very loudly when he enters.

He flinches back surprised and Ebony lunges at the elf and hisses clearly not liking the strange creature in her space.

"What's your name, and how did you get in here"

"Dobby sir" the elf, Dobby, completely ignores the last question.

Harry raises his eyebrow, that name sounds familiar but he can't quite remember from where he heard it.

Harry often forgets that many house elves aren't treated as well as they treat Kreacher, but he didn't expect the elf to start bawling because he offered it a seat.

harry tries desperately to quiet him, but it's not working. Ebony uncurls herself from Harry's arm and slithers toward the elf, Harry is briefly worried that she's going to bite him. All she does is shock into into silence by wrapping herself around him, showing her large fangs.

After he stops wailing he starts trying to convince Harry to not go back to Hogwarts because it's dangerous. Harry thinks that's ridiculous, not the fact that Hogwarts is dangerous because any place ran by Albus Dumbledore is automatically dangerous, but because Harry can take care of himself.

Harry tried to explain this to the elf, but he wouldn't listen so Harry wasn't really listening to what he was saying, until he mentioned his friends letters.

"How do you know that I haven't been getting my friend's letters" Harry says sounding slightly angry.

The elf shuffles on his feet "Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby, Dobby did it for the best"

"Have you been stopping my letters" Harry says now sounding furious.

The elf steps away from where Harry was about to grab him.

He pulls out a thick pile letters that were written from Harry to Ron and Hermione and ones they wrote to Harry.

The elf says something about trying to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts, but Harry isn't listening very well.

He tries to send a spell at the elf, but he disappears before it can reach him making the spell hit a picture on the wall, it falls to the ground with a crash.

Harry mentally curses himself.

"Harry?" he hears Reg says in the hallway.

"Are you ok?" that one was from his dad.

Before Harry can respond his door is being opened and his dads enter with their wands out, followed by Draco and the rest of his friends.

"What happened" Reggie questions as he and James rush toward Harry.

"I'm fine" Harry says.

He looks at Ron and Hermione "I know what happened to our letters"

Everyone looks at him waiting for him to explain.

"A house elf stole them" he says blandly.

"A house elf?" Blaise echoes.

"Yeah, his name was like Dober, or something" Harry says with a sigh, still trying to understand that entire interaction.

Chapter Text

HarryPOV:

"How did it even get in your house?" Theo asks "I've seen the security on this house, no way someone could get in without an invite"

Harry notices that his dads look rather proud that Theo thinks the security is good.

"House Elf magic works differently than ours, they aren't technically people so there is another spell to keep them out, which we didn't do because they don't typically leave their masters and I never thought one would try to break into our home" Regulus tells them, looking annoyed at himself for not thinking about it sooner.

"We will be adding that spell within the next couple of days" his dad says, probably to both reassure his boyfriend, but also himself.

Harry knows his dads worry about him, probably more so now.  he tries to tell him that he's fine, but their both too over protective to listen.

Draco clears his throat "why did a House Elf steal your letters to begin with, what's in it for him".

Regulus nods at Draco, agreeing that it is a good question.

Based off the look that is on Reg's face Harry thinks if he ever meets the elf that broke in here he'll probably kill him.

Harry shuffles on his feet “he said he thought if he took my letters I wouldn’t want to go back to Hogwarts because I wouldn’t have any friends. He said I’d be in mortal danger if I went back” 

Harry noticed that Regulus’ jaw was clenched and James had a protective look on his face. 

“Obviously we know Dumbledore is stupid, but how would you be in ‘mortal danger’” Draco says with finger quotes around the last part.

“Unless…” Blaise says looking at Regulus “the death eaters” he whispers. 

Regulus cut his gaze to Theo before answering Blaise. 

Blaise, realizing Regulus isn’t answering the question, looks at Draco to see if his father has told him anything even though it’s not likely. 

Draco shakes his head and they all look back at Regulus who seems to be evaluating Theo. 

“Do you know Occlumency?” Regulus asks Theo. 

Theo shakes his head, looking ashamed “my dad never wanted me to learn, he was scared I’d use it to hide things from him”. 

James walks over to Theo and puts a hand on his shoulder “don’t feel ashamed, I’ve never learned it either”.

Theo smiled at him, but Harry could tell that James words didn’t comfort him very much. 

Harry’s dad was different than all of them except for maybe Ron. He grew up with two parents who loved and spoiled him. He didn’t need to learn how to protect his mind because there wasn’t anyone who would try to get inside it or anything he needed to hide from his parents because he told them everything. 

Even though he struggled in he fought in the war and held his own very well he wasn’t raised as a child to prepare for war, he didn’t spend his entire childhood preparing for something. 

His dad suffered just as much as the rest of them, he lost people he cared about and saw things no one should, but where the others all had similar struggles his were different and no one completely understood just as he couldn’t completely understand them. 

Regulus grew up with parents who weren’t really parents, they only cared about creating heirs and eventually making them death eaters for their dark lord. Harry doesn’t know much about Reg’s childhood, but he knows he wasn’t treated well, he knows he had spells used on him, and didn’t get eat dinner some nights all because he tried to defend his brother. 

Harry’s Slytherin friends grew up with death eaters as parents, or on Blaise’s case a mother who didn’t choose either side. They’ve been raised knowing there would eventually be a war. 

Pansy and Blaise’s parents have prepared them, they both know Occlumency and practice some spell, though not as much as Harry and Draco. They also haven’t been taught Legilimency, their parents only want them to be able to protect their minds, not into someone else’s. 

Theo’s childhood was very similar to Reg’s, parents who don’t care and want their son to become death eaters just like them. Harry doesn’t know if they treat him how Regulus’s parents did, but that’s something that Theo will have to be the one to talk about. 

Harry and Draco are slightly different, they grew up in a house with two parents who loved them more than anything. Harry isn’t ashamed to say that he is spoiled. His dads tried really hard for Harry to have a normal childhood, Draco’s did the same, letting the two of them celebrate holidays and have constant sleepovers. 

But they also were raised in the same world as the rest of them. They had to be trained with magic from a very young age just so their parents felt that they could defend themselves and each other. His dads tried to keep his deviating past from him for as long as possible, but eventually his dreams got too bad and they had to tell him. 

He’s known for years that Voldemort would one day be back, and as much as his parents hate it he would have to fight him. 

“Do you want to learn?” Reg asks Theo, breaking the silence they had all been in. 

Theo looked at him surprised “you mean you’ll teach me?” 

“If you want, though if you don’t learn you won’t be aloud back here.” Regulus tells him. 

Harry and Draco wince, both knowing how direct and rude Regulus can sound sometimes, he doesn’t sugar coat things. 

Harry’s dad clears his throat “he just means that if you don’t know how to protect your mind it’s dangerous for you to be at our house and around us, we have too many secrets for that” James says with a smile “but seriously if you don’t want to do it that’s fine, we wont prohibit Harry from talking to you” 

“I want to learn” Theo says and Regulus gives a curt nod. leads him out of the room. 

~~

Theo POV: 

Regulus led him into a library. It wasn’t like the library at his manor, it wasn’t stuffy and full of old pure blood books. 

There were some wizard books, but there were also quite a few muggle books. Some were basic information books and others were the weird fictional books muggles seemed to be obsessed with. 

There was also a couch and a couple weird but also cozy looking chairs that had blankets on them. 

“Sorry about that, Harry and Draco like to read in here, they never take the blankets with them when they leave” Regulus says gesturing to the chairs. 

Theo doesn’t mind, in fact the thought the thought of Harry and Draco in this cozy doing whatever they want, makes him smile. And a little jealous. 

He doesn’t have friends, well until now,  anyone he’s ever hung out with was because his father wanted him to make alliances or whatever. They never really got along all that well and they most definitely weren’t aloud to just hang out wherever they wanted in the house. 

He doesn’t understand Harry and his friends, they are all so different and it seems as though the only thing they really have in common is that they like Harry, but yet when he was being terrible to them they all jumped in to defend each other. 

Theo doesn’t know why he was so cruel towards Harry, jealousy maybe? It could have been because Harry already had friends on the first day, or because someone who wasn’t even his own blood spoiled Harry when Theo’s own father hated him. 

Whatever the reason was, even though he apologized he felt wrong that he was welcomed into Harry’s group and his house for his birthday. Even more so that his… dad? Was offering him lessons, but he needed them so he was still going to accept the offer.

Regulus clears his throat, bringing Theo out of his thoughts "Occlumency is not easy to learn, you will have to put in effort every day until you master it" 

Theo nods, not sure what an appropriate response would be. 

Regulus continues "that being said are you sure you want to commit to this, I will not waste my time trying to teach you if you won't take this seriously and practice." 

"I am sure, I will practice, I promise" Theo says feeling very sure of himself. 

Regulus nods and gives him a slight smile, which helps Theo not feel quite so intimidated.

Even though he has heard Harry constantly talking highly of his adoptive father and has obviously been taken well care of, it doesn't take away from the fact that Regulus Black is a very powerful and intimidating wizard. 

"I know that it will be difficult for you to get away from home, but if you can manage to get away I can help you a couple times before you return to Hogwarts, but if you can not get away Harry and Draco are quite good at it and could help you practice at school, and you could write to me about any questions you may have" Regulus tells him. 

"In order for me to practice someone has to Ligilimency to get in my head don't they?" Theo asks, he doesn't know much about Occlumency, but he is pretty certain of this. 

"Yes" Regulus replies. 

Theo was a little confused because he didn't know of anyone at Hogwarts who knew Legilimency other than the Professors, and he really didn't want to involve them.

Regulus must have noticed his confused expression because he says "Harry knows the basics of Legilimency, he's not the strongest at it, but he is improving all of the time, and it will be enough for you to practice on, and once you get good at blocking him out, you can try to block me out" 

Theo just nodded again, feeling overwhelmed that he finally had people trying to help him learn. 

"Unless you tell him yourself, your father won't know about this, I promise" 

Whatever is said about Regulus Black and whatever Theo thinks about him, he can't deny that he understands. He was raised just how Theo was he understood being scared to do something for yourself because you were worried about what your parents would do if they found out. 

Regulus knew the pain of crucio, and having to skip a meal to learn a lesson. As imitated as he was by Regulus he felt safer with him than he did at home. 

Regulus explained each step of learning Occlumency to him. 

He can’t let emotions take over his head, he has to clear it of all thoughts and emotions. 

This is difficult for Theo, he doesn’t speak out a lot so he always has things running around in his mind, and he’s almost always angry, especially at home. 

Regulus understands and is patient with him. After having a decent attempt at clearing his mind they leave the library to join the others. 

Jared smiles at him when they reenter the living room and helps Regulus get them set up to the finish the movie they had started before they went back to their room. 

They were spread out over the couch and chairs with blankets and snacks while looking at the muggle device. The whole day was different than Theo had ever experienced, but not in a bad way. 

They ended up not using the guest rooms because they had all fallen asleep on the couch and not woken up until it was time for breakfast. 

After they ate Theo, Draco, Pansy, and Blaise all flooed to Malfoy Manor where he would be picked up to go home. Ron and Hermione stayed behind because Regulus had to take them back home.

~~

Harry POV: 

The rest of the break went by really quickly, his dads had added extra security to their home and no more letters have gone missing. He had written to Ron and Hermione a lot. 

Theo had come over a couple more times to practice with Regulus and had hung out with Harry a little as well. Harry was really starting to like him. 

And of course Draco had come over a lot and surprisingly his parents had let him go to Draco’s house once. 

He had met up with Ron and Hermione in Diagon Alley to get their new supplies and they spent the whole day together. 

Draco had hung out with them a little, but Lucius was with him, so they couldn’t be too close. 

They had fun shopping and getting ice cream until it was time to get their books. 

There was a huge line to meet Gilderoy Lockhart, who Regulus made it very clear he didn’t like. 

But Hermione wanted to meet him so they waited in line with her. 

Then Harry got pulled in for a picture with the old fluke, Regulus looked like he wanted to burn the man alive which is probably why he let go of Harry as fast as he did. 

But it drew unwanted attention Harry’s way, and he was practically hiding behind Regulus, who glared at anyone who looked at Harry. 

He didn’t think it could get any worse but then they ran into Theo and his father, who apparently has a massive hatred towards the Weasley’s. 

When Mr. Weasley and Mr. Nott finally were separated from fighting Theo looked at Harry and Ron apologetically. Harry tried to make his expression show Theo that he didn’t blame him. 

No one could help who their parents were. 

the last couple of days they had been in the process of moving into the Potter Manor because his dads liked to be closer to Hogwarts while Harry was there.

They had finally gotten everything moved so Harry could relax while his parents were checking the security and adding a few things. 

It shouldn’t take very long because the Manor is fully furnished and James and Harry keep clothes in both places, but Reg brings all of his belongings from one house to the other.

He takes over-packing to another level. 

Harry had told Ron and Hermione that he was going to the manor but he hadn’t been expecting a letter yet, so he was confused when an owl was pecking at the window. 

He got the letter and gave the owl a treat before reading it. 

It was from Ron asking him to spend the night before they leave for Hogwarts at his house and go to the station with his family. 

Harry smiled before jumping up and looking for his dad. 

He found James easily and threw the letter in his hands. 

Based on the look on his dads face he was feeling hopeful until his dad handed the letter to Reg. 

He loved Reg, he really did, but between his two parents Reggie was least likely to let him go somewhere. 

Reg looked at him and Harry shuffled lm his feet, holding his breath. 

“I don’t know Kitten, there’s a lot of people in their house” 

“I’ve met all of Ron’s siblings that live in their house except for his sister, but we probably won’t even be around her” Harry responds, trying to talk Reg into it. 

“I don’t like you going to the station without us, what if someone tries something or people surround you” Regulus tries again. 

“You’ve let me go with Cissy” Harry says, remembering how he went with them at the end of Christmas break last year. 

“Yes, but Narcissa is close to our family and understands your situation”. 

“The Weasley’s know that I’ll attract attention, and besides you taught me how to protect myself and I’ll have Ebony” Harry hopes that worked because that’s his last defense. 

Regulus goes to say something but James cuts him off “Reg, it’s one night and the station is in the open around a bunch of people, no one’s going to try anything” 

Reg lets out a sigh and Harry knows that he’s given in “fine, but you have to listen to what Molly and Arthur say and if anything happens or you are uncomfortable send a petronas and I’ll come get you” 

Harry rushes to give him a hug “thank you! I love you” 

Regulus hugs him back “I love you too, just be careful” 

Harry felt his other dad join the hug. 

~~

Harry was packing and Draco was sitting on his bed making sure he didn’t forget anything. 

Draco had already packed because he, unlike Harry, was not a procrastinator. 

They went back to Hogwarts tomorrow and Harry went to Ron’s tonight, and he hadn’t started packing until this morning. 

He kept thinking he was finished until Draco would hand him something.

Finally when he actually was finished he closed and shrunk his trunk and put it in his pocket. 

“I can’t believe Regulus trusts the Weasley’s enough to let you stay with them” Draco says 

“Yeah, me either, it took convincing from my dad” Harry responds. 

“He barely lets you stay with me, and we grew up together” Draco says, looking sad now. 

“That has nothing to do with you or your family and you know it, it’s because the world is supposed to think that your dad secretly hates me and is plotting against me, or something like that” Harry says trying to reassure his best-friend” 

Draco looked like he was about to respond when they heard a car horn, except it sounded really close.

They looked over and saw a car flying right outside his window, Fred and George were in the front seat and Ron was on the back. 

Harry just stared at them for a moment before the they honked the horn again. 

He went and opened the window “what in the world are you guys going!” 

“How’s it going Harry” George said. 

“We were bored and figured you wouldn’t mind coming to ours a bit early” Fred says from the drivers seat. 

Harry shrugged “sure just let me go tell Reg.”

Harry walked into his parents room “I’m going to the Weasley’s” 

“What?” James said turning away from where he was kissing Regulus to look at him confused, both of them were on their underpants.

“Fred, George, and Ron are here in a flying car to pick me up” then he left there room. 

“Harry wait!” He heard Reg call after him, he heard a noise and thought they were probably scrambling to put their pants on. 

He made it back to his room and hugged Draco “I’ll see you tomorrow” 

“Just be careful Haz” Draco told him. 

His dads ran into his room right as he was climbing from his window into the car. 

“Holy shit!” He heard Regulus say, he thinks he heard James laugh. 

Once he was in the car he turned and looked at his parents, Regulus was pale and looked like he wanted to jump out the window after him and James was laughing while holding his boyfriend back. 

“I love you, I’ll write to you when I get to Hogwarts” he yelled back to them as Fred drove off. 

Hedwig flew out of the house and into the back seat with Ebony wrapped around her. 

He can’t believe he almost forgot them, Hedwig pecked at his hand and Ebony said something nasty to him in Parseltongue. 

“Where did you get this car?” Harry asks the Weasley’s. 

“It’s our dads, we borrowed it” Ron tells him.

When they parked the car in front of their house, Harry noticed Ron looked ashamed, Harry didn’t understand why, their house was cool. 

“it’s not much, not nearly as big as yours” Ron muttered. 

“It’s brilliant” Harry said. 

Harry saw the Weasley’s go pale and noticed Mrs. Weasley looking very angry. 

She immediately started yelling at them, Harry didn’t know how to react, his parents weren’t ones to yell. 

After her rant she turned to Harry and smiled “I’m very pleased to see you, Harry, dear, come in and have some lunch” 

A man who must be Mr. Weasley was sitting at a table with Percy and Ron’s little sister. 

Percy have him a nod and the girl was staring at him. 

“That’s Ginny, my little sister, she’s been talking about you all summer, she’ll probably want your autograph” Ron told him. 

That made Harry uncomfortable he knew he had a reputation, but he didn’t like it. 

Harry sat down at the table and Mr. Weasley looked at him “Harry Potter, very pleased to meet you, Ron’s told us so much about-“ he was cut off by Mrs. Weasley ranting again. 

Harry feels a little bad for getting them into trouble, but he didn’t tell them to drive the car, if they’d have been more patient Reg would have brought Harry down later, so really it’s not his fault. 

Ron showed Harry his room and then they received a letter from Hermione addressed to the both of them, telling them she was excited to see them on the train. 

That night he, Fred, George, and Ron took turns tossing apples into the air and catching them on Harry’s broom. 

It was really fun and Harry was very glad his parents let him come. 

The next morning made Harry very grateful that he had no siblings. 

All of them trying to get into the magically expanded car was the most chaotic moment of his life that he can remember. 

They kept having to go back because someone forgot something, and Ebony kept hissing to him about the noise. 

At the end they were extremely late. 

After rushing to the station they barely made it and Ron and Harry were the last ones to go through, but when they went to run through they ran straight into the wall, the gateway was sealed. 

After trying again to no success they looked at the clock and realized the train was gone. 

They looked at each other panicked. 

“It’s gone” Ron said “what is my mum and dad can’t get back through, do you have any muggle money?” 

Harry shook his head “no, I don’t bring that to Hogwarts” 

“Harry! The car!” Ron said excitedly 

“what about it” Harry asked. 

“We can drive it” Ron said. 

“What! No, I know how to send a petronas, I’ll just send one to Regulus and he can help us get there” Harry said, because that seemed much more reasonable than stealing a flying car from Ron’s dad. 

“No! I don’t want to get in trouble” Ron said quickly 

“Reg won’t be mad, we didn’t do anything wrong” Harry said trying to reassure him. 

“My mum will be mad, she’ll think it was my fault, Harry I was already in trouble yesterday. Please Harry we’ll get there when the train does and they won’t even know” Ron pleaded. 

Harry let out a sigh “fine”. 

He really didn’t think this was a good idea, and realized they probably would realize they weren’t on the train, but Ron looked genuinely terrified and Harry couldn’t say no. 

“Can you drive it?” Harry asks when they were sitting on the car. 

“Yeah, it’s no problem, but like haven’t you driven a car before or at least been in one, you spend a lot of time in the muggle world” 

That did not make Harry feel better at all. 

“I’m twelve so no I have not driven one before and I’ve only been in one once or twice because we don’t own one and Reg typically just apparates” Harry says “Are you sure you can drive it” 

“Yeah, I’ve got this” Ron said, and Harry really hoped that was true. 

Chapter Text

Harry POV: 

Harry held his breath and closed his eyes as Ron did something with his wand and hit a button. 

"Ok, we're good," Ron said, and Harry opened his eyes and looked out the window at the ground getting further away. That didn't bother Harry; he was a quidditch player after all. However, it did bother him when the car made a loud popping noise. 

"Uh oh" Ron said, hitting the button that makes them invisible. 

"What do you mean 'uh oh'" Harry said looking at Ron with wide eyes. 

"The invisibility booster, it's faulty." Then both of them started hitting the button. The car vanished but quickly reappeared. 

Ron pressed the gas pedal and Harry was pushed against the back of the seat. Ebony was wrapped tightly around his arm, and he was stroking her, trying to reassure the both of them. 

They went into the clouds and back down when they finally saw the Hogwarts Express. 

They followed the train until they could see the silhouette of the castle. 

Harry was filled with relief, but it didn't last long because the car engine died, and they were falling. 

Luckily Harry was a quick thinker and performed a spell that made their landing graceful. 

The two boys looked at each other and smiled at the fact that they had survived. Considering Ron was distracted, he didn't have his foot on the brake, and the car rolled into the Whomping Willow. 

The car barely touched the tree, but Harry had heard enough about this tree to know that it was about to become violent, luckily Harry knew where the knot to freeze the tree was. 

He quickly explained to Ebony in Parseltongue where the knot was, and she slithered away to press it. 

As soon as his snake left the car, there was a loud crash. One of the branches hit the front of the car and cracked the windshield. 

The tree raised another branch, getting ready to hit them again, but Ebony must have hit the knot because the tree froze. 

They opened the door and ran for it. Harry waved his wand and their stuff zoomed after them. 

He thought it was a stupid spell when his dad wanted to teach it to him over the summer, but at this moment, he is really glad he agreed to learn it. 

They didn't stop running until they reached Hogwarts, they were running late because everyone was already in the Great Hall, but not too late because the doors were still open. 

Harry set their stuff down against the wall so they could get it later, and he and Ron were about to walk through the doors when a throat cleared behind them. 

They turned around slowly and were met with a glowering Professor Snape. 

"I am anxious to hear why you two did not board the Hogwarts Express with the rest of the students" Snape said in a cold voice. 

Snape told them to follow him. He leads them into the dungeons and then into his office. 

"So, is the train not good enough for the two of you" Snape said looking between them. 

Ron cleared his throat "No, sir, the barrier at-" 

"Silence!" Snape said coldly "Where's the car?"

"Under the Whomping Willow, sir" Ron muttered. 

Snape turned around an issue of the Evening Prophet, "you were seen" he hissed. 

Snape was staring at Ron, Harry thought he was trying to perform Legilimency, but Ron was so nervous he couldn't hold eye contact.

Looking impatient Snape turned to Harry, he didn't try to enter Harry's mind because he knew Occlumency, and Snape knew it, he had tried to enter his mind in the past.

"Explain yourself, Potter" 

 It took Harry a moment to answer because he was surprised that Snape was giving him a chance to explain, but he did always show favoritism to the Slytherins.

Harry explained to the professor how Ron's family went through, but when it was his and Ron's turn the barrier was solid.  

"You have an owl, did you not think to simply write a letter?" Snape questioned 

Harry sent a sideways glance at Ron who gave a slight nod to tell Harry he could answer in truth. 

"I did sir, but Ron was scared he would get into trouble with his mum since we missed the train, we thought we could get here at the same time as everyone else and there wouldn't be any trouble". 

Snape stared at him obviously not believing his story. 

Harry met the Professor's gaze “if you don’t believe me, you can look in my mind at my memories of tonight” 

Snape looked shocked for half a second before his face returned to neutral. 

Honestly, Harry surprised himself by saying that, there are many memories that Snape shouldn’t see, but Harry was confident in his Occlumency skills and knew he could bring the memories of tonight to the front of his mind for Snape to find and protect the others. 

Harry allowed Snape into his mind; after finding the memories he was looking for Harry could feel Snape trying to snoop so Harry pushed him out. 

Snape gave Harry a look, that seemed like one of approval "that was an impressive charm you cast during the crash" 

"Thank you, sir." Harry responded with a nod. 

"You may return to your common room, Potter" Snape said "However you will have detention with me Monday and Tuesday after dinner, unless you have quidditch practice, then come after, simply for not standing your ground against something you knew you should not do". 

On his way out of Snape's office, he heard the professor say to Ron "Weasley, I am not your head of house, I have no authority over your punishment, I shall go and fetch the people who do" 

~~

Draco POV:

He had waited for Harry at the station. He saw the Weasley family board the train and thought Harry might have already boarded so he went to look for him. 

He found the compartment full of his friends, but Harry and Ron were not among them, and no one had seen them. 

He did not like hearing that so he went to search for two people who very well should have seen Harry. 

He found Fred and George sitting in a compartment with Lee Jordan. 

"Where's Harry?" he asks them harshly. 

"Beats me" George said with a shrug. 

"We were all together on the other side of the barrier, Harry and Ron were supposed to come through last, but they never did" Fred said, looking serious. 

"Mum went back through but they were already gone, and we think they took our dad's car because it was gone from the car park" this is from George. the twins looked more serious than Draco had ever seen them. 

"She's worried sick" they said together. 

"You think they are going to drive a car to Hogwarts" Draco questioned because that sounded ridiculous. 

"It's a flying car" Fred said scratching the back of his neck. 

"Shit" Draco said, because honestly, he didn't have anything else to say, a car that flies is exactly something that Harry would enjoy. 

Though doing it under these circumstances was out of character for Harry, using it without permission... definitely, but when he was supposed to be somewhere else, and when he promised Reg he would behave is

odd. 

Draco returned to the compartment with his friends and told them what he had learned from the twins. 

Crabbe and Goyle, who had joined the compartment while Draco was gone, looked amused. 

The rest of them looked confused and surprised. 

"But Harry takes schoolwork seriously" Hermione squeaked. 

"Even though he already knows most of it" Neville added. 

"He's an idiot" Theo says, and Draco has to agree. He can only imagine the trouble Harry is going to be in. 

"He's not" Blaise starts "But Ron is, and Harry doesn't know how to say no"

Draco nods her head because that is also true. 

Hermione looks like she is about to defend her housemate, but apparently can't think of anything to say.

"Am I the only one who isn't surprised by any of this?" Pansy asks.

No one responds, because they are surprised, but this is Harry and Ron they're talking about, so they shouldn't be. 

~~

The sorting has happened, and Dumbledore has finished his speech, food has appeared all over the Slytherin table, but Draco doesn't put any on his plate. 

He's too busy thinking about Harry. How much trouble is he in? Has he even made it to Hogwarts? Is he ok?

He's snapped out of his thoughts by Blaise lightly smacking the table in front of him. 

"Stop," he says, smirking at Draco knowingly. 

Draco rolls his eyes at his friend before putting some food on his plate. 

After dinner, they are all in the Slytherin boys' dormitories, except for Hermione who is in the Gryffindor common room waiting for Ron. 

The boys are sitting in their own beds, Pansy is sitting in Draco's because he's pacing. 

He can feel their eyes on him as he walks from one side of the room to the other. 

"He's giving me a headache" Theo groans.

"Better get used to it" Blaise responds. 

"Is this normal?" Theo asks. 

"When it comes to Harry" Blaise says "yes" he and Pansy say at the same time. 

He freezes when he hears the door to the dormitory open. He spins around to see Harry walking through the door like he hasn't been missing the last few hours. 

They all rush toward him and Harry looks a little confused as to why. 

Draco can hear his friends bombard Harry with questions, but he isn't listening well enough to know what they said to him. 

After Harry answers their questions, Draco shoves him, and he hears Pansy gasp. "You're an idiot" he says to him. 

"What is your problem" Harry asks him after regaining his balance. 

"Draco" Blaise warns. 

"No! You left from your bedroom window yesterday into a flying car with Fred Weasley driving, even though your dads didn't want you to" he pauses to catch his breath "and then you don't get on the train this morning, I learned from Fred and George that you got into the flying car again, wit Ronald fucking Weasley driving this time. You could have died!"

Draco went towards Harry again and Theo moved to try to stop him, but Blaise pulled Theo back. 

Harry looked unsure about what Draco was going to do, but when Draco hugged him, he quickly returned the favor.

Draco pulled back from the hug and met Harry's gaze "You're smart, start using your head for your safety and not just for spells and potions" Draco told him, tapping on Harry's temple. 

Harry smirked "no promises" they all laughed and Draco playfully shoved Harry. 

“Dray are you good now, you’re not going to kill Harry out of love” Blaise says looking between them. 

“I’m not going to kill Harry, but if you don’t stop calling me ‘Dray’ I will kill you, and it will not be out of love” Draco responds glaring at Blaise. 

~~
James POV:

Kreacher was pouring coffee into their cups, they typically had tea in the morning, but they were both tired and sore this morning. 

They took advantage of a child-free house by fucking each other senseless all night long. 

They would have preferred to sleep in this morning, but they were waiting for Harry's letter and wanted to be awake when it arrived. 

What they didn't expect was for a Hogwarts owl to bring them a letter. 

"How is he in trouble already?" Regulus groaned untying the letter from the owl "he just got there."

Well, he does have Marauder blood, James thinks to himself. 

"I blame you" Regulus tells James while he unfolds the letter. 

"Me?" James asks, confused "Yes you" Regulus snaps back "you passed on your Marauder genes" Regulus repeats James' thought. 

"Hey! You are the one who chose to date my Marauder self, you knew what you were getting into" James tells his boyfriend, crossing his arms. 

"Actually, I didn't know what I was getting myself into, not completely," Regulus tells him with a smirk that shouldn't give James goosebumps but does.

 Putting the goosebumps aside James gives Regulus an offended look "you know you liked it when we pranked Snivellus". 

Regulus even helped them sometimes. 

"Yeah, because he was a complete git" Regulus says then moves his mouth to James' ear "and you know that I love every part of you" running his hand down James' thigh he continues "I just wish you didn't pass the troublemaker gene onto Harry" 

James is about to give in and kiss him when Reg pulls away "speaking of him getting in trouble we should probably read and find out what our son actually did". 

Reg opened the letter and James read over his shoulder. 

Dear Mr. Black 

In this letter, I would like to inform you that Mr. Potter has earned himself a week's worth of detention with Professor Snape. He and Ronald Weasley missed the Hogwarts Express and then proceeded to steal Arthur Weasley's car and fly to the school, almost hitting the Whomping Willow. We consider this an attempt to harm school property and rule breaking, both of which are permitted at this school and will not be allowed again. 

Sincerely Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. 

"What the hell was he thinking?" Regulus says with a sigh 

"Arthur has a flying car" James says at the same time. 

Regulus glares at him "not the time."

Just then another owl brings another letter. 

James recognizes the owl as the Weasley's. 

This time James holds it and Reg reads over his shoulder. 

I am sure you have received a letter from Hogwarts letting you know what the boys did, I am extremely disappointed in both of them. I wanted to apologize to you, you trusted Harry in my care and he got lost, I feel terrible. I don't know what happened they were right behind and then never came through the barrier, I thought maybe we had missed them, and they had already boarded the train, but when we got to the car park and realized the car was gone it gave me quite a fright. I have sent Ron a howler letting him know just how angry I am, I hope you send one to Harry. 

My deepest apologies, Molly Weasley.

"You know I'm not even mad about him stealing the car" Reg says meeting James eyes. "I'm just disappointed and confused as to why he didn't contact us, if they didn't board the train then I know something must have happened, and he promised he would send a patronus if something happened". 

James pulls Reg into him "I just want him to trust us enough to want to tell us stuff". James knows why, it's because Regulus hated his parents because all they ever did was discipline him and Sirius and Regulus doesn't want Harry to think of them like that. 

"He does, and I'm sure he has a reason for what he did" James running his hand up and down Reg's arm. 

"Y'know," James says after a couple of moments of silence "I'm kind of proud of him, I know that's messed up, but what he just did is totally something I would have and still would do" 

Regulus shoves him away with a light laugh "I hate you" 

"You love me" James says before pulling him back and kissing him. 

Regulus breaks the kiss "yeah I do" and then he kisses James again. 

Chapter Text

Harry POV:

It was only the day after they had flown Mr. Weasley's car to Hogwarts, and already the entire school knew about it. Some people thought it was funny, some thought it was reckless. Everyone had thoughts, and everyone knew Harry hated it. He had enough attention on him already; people just didn't know how to stay out of his business. It wasn't fair. 

It was breakfast now and Harry had his head in his arms on the table, which was the same position he'd been in since Draco and Blaise had practically drug him down there. 

Draco had tried to get Harry to eat something, but Harry preferred to keep his head down because if he couldn't see the people whispering about him, he could pretend it wasn't happening. 

Draco knew Harry hated the attention and said he'd bring Harry some toast to their first class. 

Theo seems more nervous about Harry getting into trouble than Harry does, it's starting to make Harry understand how bad Theo's dad is. 

Blaise seems to be eagerly awaiting a letter from James and Regulus, whereas Harry is dreading it. 

He knows his dad is going to think it's funny, but he also knows he betrayed Reg's trust, and that Reg will probably be disappointed, and he hates himself for that. 

Pansy just keeps telling him that his misery is his karma for being stupid and honestly, Harry can't argue with her. 

Harry feels someone shove between him and Draco which makes him finally look up from his misery and see that it was Neville who was now sitting beside him. 

"Uh what are you doing Neville" Harry asked. It was uncommon for him to come to the Slytherin table, especially by himself. 

Neville looks over Harry's shoulder where Theo is sitting before going to Harry's face again. 

Harry realizes that Neville probably doesn't know that Theo has become their friend over the summer. 

"Oh, Theo's cool, he's one of us now," Harry tells him. 

"Oh" 

"Look Neville I'm sorry for the things that I did and said last year, I was jealous of you guys because you were all friends, and that isn't an excuse but I just wanted to let you know I am sorry". Theo tells Neville then gives him a sad smile. 

Blaise clears his throat "so why are you here" 

Harry gives him a smile for changing the subject. 

"Ron got sent a howler," Neville says "I didn't want to hear what it said". 

"But it's for Ron, you're not in trouble" Blaise questions obviously confused. 

"It's giving me flashbacks to when my Gran sent me one once" Neville said timidly "it was terrible"

"Well if it's a howler we're all going to hear it anyway" Draco said 

"You're right" Neville practically whined, then stuffed his fingers in his ears. 

Almost immediately after the yelling started from the Gryffindor table.

Mrs. Weasley's voice boomed clearly throughout the Great Hall. 

After the letter burnt up, the Hall was filled with whispers, most of the Slytherin table was snickering, and even Pansy had a hint of a smirk on her face. 

Harry on the other hand felt guilty. Throughout the entire letter his name had not been brought up once, but he had been in the car with Ron. 

Even worse Mr. Weasley was in trouble at work. The only thing that made Harry feel worse at the moment was that he hadn't received a letter from his parents during the morning post. 

Throughout Harry's entire childhood anytime he did anything that he wasn't supposed to, that upset his dads they always talked about it immediately, no matter what everyone was feeling. 

He had been expecting Reg to show up in his dorm in the middle of the night, the fact that he hadn't even received a letter made him feel like he really messed up this time. 

~~ 

A few hours it was lunch and Harry was using it to help Theo with his Occlumency. Considering they wanted to get him good with it before he had to go home again, it was never too early to start. 

Harry was setting things up when Theo broke the silence "it'll be ok". 

Harry looked up at him slightly startled "huh?" 

"With you and your dads, it'll be ok" 

"Oh... yeah, I guess" Harry clapped his hands together lightly "but let's not think about that, we have to clear our minds remember?" 

Theo nods his head "right clear head" 

Harry can tell that Theo definitely practiced like Reg told him to. 

Harry is not the best teacher but he can help him in between his visits with Reggie. 

A knock on the door interrupts their train of thought, and for a second, he worries that it could be a teacher, considering they're in an old classroom. He doesn't want a teacher to know what they're doing. 

"It's me" and he knows Draco's voice anywhere. 

"Come in" Harry replies. 

"There's a letter for you" Draco says eying Theo slightly. 

"I can give you a minute" Theo says, also noticing how Draco was eying him. 

"No, you don't have to, I can read it later, we're busy right now" Harry says. 

Draco raises an eyebrow at him and even Theo looks at him as though he's stupid. 

"I'll step out for a few minutes, grab something small from the Great Hall while you read what Regulus said, and then I'll be back" Theo tells him

Harry tries to tell him he can stay because he feels bad about kicking him out when they were in the middle of something but Theo cuts him off before he can start. 

"We all know you're dying to read that letter, you've been stressing all day, and I also know you guys have secrets, it's fine I get it"

With that, he leaves the room. 

Harry turns to Draco, with a bit of a scowl "you could stop constantly looking at him like he's the enemy" 

Draco gives Harry a look of confusion "I don't know what you're talking about" 

Unfortunately for Draco, Harry knows him too well and can read him like an open book and he knows he's lying, Draco knows exactly what he's talking about. 

"Yes you do, you're always looking at him like he's going to pull out his wand and kill us all at any second" 

"Well he could" 

Harry groans "Well if you're thinking like that then technically anyone at this school could pull out their wands and kill us" 

"Yeah, but they won't this school is full of pussy's" 

Harry has to try really hard not to smile because Draco is right, but that's not the point right now. 

"Theo won't either, he's explained why he did everything he did, and he's apologized for it, and I'm not saying that any of that excuses what he did, but he knows he was wrong and he's trying to change, he wants Reggie's help" 

"I don't trust him" Draco grumbles "Before we came to Hogwarts we made that we would stick together, just us and obviously we made shit of that immediately on the train, and as much as I hate to admit it, I love our group, even Ron with his refusal to do anything school related, and Neville with his forgetfulness".

Draco sighs and then continues "then all of a sudden this summer you're just letting Nott in on everything, and then he's with Crabbe and Goyle so their practically in on it too. I just think it's a really bad idea, their families are terrible, they would do anything to get ahold of you, and I don't want to lose you, and I just don't trust that Nott isn't replaying everything about us to his father who will tell all the other death eaters" 

Draco is looking down at his feet, clearly embarrassed by the words he'd just spoken 

"Don't you trust my dads? Harry asks him "They wouldn't have let him in our house, or anywhere near me if they thought he wasn't safe, Reg wouldn't have asked me to help teach him Occlumency" 

"I still don't trust him" Draco mutters, still looking at his feet. 

"Dray" Harry says trying to get his attention, it works because grey eyes meet green ones "I'm not asking you to trust him, I'm asking you to trust me, I get why you think everything that you do, but you haven't seen inside his mind" 

"Have you?" Draco asks 

"No, but Reg has, he didn't give me many detail but it's bad Dray, with his dad I mean they don't have a good relationship at all, Theo wouldn't be a spy for his father. 

"Can you at least try to trust me?" Harry asks. 

Draco sighs 

"I already do" Draco says 

Harry smiles "ok, so can you stop treating Theo like he's the enemy, at least don't make it quite so obvious" 

Draco smiles too "ok, yeah I guess I can do that". 

"Good" Harry holds up the letter "shall we read and see how much trouble I'm in" 

"Do you think their going to make you come home" Draco asks while Harry is opening the letter. 

"I hope not" Harry replies, he hadn't even thought of that, but they very well could bring him home and just teach him themselves, he doesn't want to leave his friends. 

Dear Haz, and Draco we know you are reading as well, 

You can breathe we aren't mad, we are however disappointed, not necessarily only in you but in ourselves as well. I thought that we had raised you to a point where you trusted us, that we had a good relationship, more than I had with my parents. I thought we had a deal that if something went wrong you would contact us, that you trusted us enough to do so. I understand why Ron didn't want his mum to know, I heard all about the howler she sent him, she wanted me to send you one, but I did not, not even for you but for myself, I do not want that embarrassment. What I do not understand is why you didn't contact us, you should have known that we would have never been over that we would have helped you and probably found the whole situation funny. 

If you could use the in your dorm to give us a call tonight, I would love to hear your side of the story. 

                                                                                                                                                              Love you always, Reg and Dad

PS: I would love to hear all about the flying car sometime when Reg is not around - Dad 

Harry laughs at the last part, and runs his finger over where they signed their names a couple of times. He considers them both to be his dads, but in letters, or if he's talking about one of them or to them both at the same time it's easier to call them something different. 

Harry had already felt guilty but now it was doubled. He knows Reg wrote the letter his dad definitely had a say in what it said but the writing and the wording is just more Regulus. 

Everything he said was true, Harry knew they wouldn't be mad but still, he had let Ron convince him they had to do it all on their own. It could have been a lot worse, but if he just held his ground it's likely nothing bad would have come from it. 

Draco, sensing his inner turmoil, puts a hand on his shoulder "at least they're not mad".

Harry can tell by the way Draco is looking at him that he knows that that doesn't make Harry feel any better, but that he's just trying to break the silence. 

"Them being disappointed is so much worse especially because everything they said was right, they raised me to use my brain in bad or questionable situations and when I was finally put in one I completely lost my head" 

Harry sighs before continuing "for years all I've wanted is to prove myself to them, to show that they did a good job with me and prove that I can protect myself like they taught me, and all I've managed to do is just show them what they already, I'm just a dumb kid who can't handle what's throne at him" 

"Harry" Draco says with a serious voice 

Harry interrupts before he can say whatever it is he was about to say "no, Draco, this was a simple situation we weren't even in danger, but what happens when I am, when someone inevitably tries to kill, I'm gonna lose my head and not be focused and then I'm gonna get killed because I'm not focused on my magic" 

"Harry" Draco practically yells, this time his voice leaves no room for interruption, so Harry shuts up. 

"You are not dumb, you have top marks in all of your classes and don't even have to try hard, which I'm extremely jealous of by the way, and you are not going to lose your head in a fight, when you do magic it's like you go in a trance and the spells you're doing are all that's on your mind. You're extremely powerful more so than me and I'm a pureblood, no one knows why but it's just you, but you shouldn't have to worry about any of that because we are kids. 

"But I have to worry about it, it's part of my life I've always known people were going to come after me one day" Harry whispers, still shocked by Draco's speech. 

"You don't have to worry about it yet though, your dads didn't tell you that stuff just for you to spend your whole life waiting for it. They told you to prepare you, but they want you to have a childhood it's the whole reason they sent us to Hogwarts instead of keeping us home like they would have preferred" 

When Harry doesn't say anything Draco nudges his shoulder and says "you know I'm right" 

Harry nods his head "yeah I guess" 

Harry's not gonna give him any more and Draco seems to realize it because he leads them out of the classroom. 

Lunch is over by now but they run into Theo on their way to the next class. 

"Hey, I'm sorry our lesson got interrupted-" 

Theo cut him "It's fine, honestly I understand that something came up, I came back but I heard you two talking so I went back to the Great Hall" 

A rush of panic goes through Harry. As much as Harry is starting to like Theo, he doesn't want him to hear about all of his inner feelings and insecurities. 

It must show on his face because Theo gives him a smile and says "I didn't hear anything, promise" and then he walks into the classroom. 

~~

That evening Harry and Draco sneak up to their dorm while everyone else is hanging out in the common room. Typically they would hang out with them, Harry loves quality time with his friends, but this call home is really important to him. 

This is one of the only times that Harry is thankful for how cold the dungeons are, because each dorm as it's own fireplace. Harry doesn't know why he hadn't thought of using it to call home before now. 

Using the floo powder that Regulus had given him to use in emergencies he throws it into the fire and then he sticks his head in while draco watches the door to keep anyone from coming in. 

His dads are sitting in the living room at Potter Manor waiting on the call, they jump up at the sound of his voice. 

Harry tells them the same story he's repeated many times since it happened, but gives his dads much more detail and emotion than he'd given anyone else, by the end of his story he's almost in tears because of the guilt. 

"I'm so sorry that I disappointed you" he says and now the tears do fall. 

"Oh bambi don't cry" his dad says looking like it pains him that Harry is crying. 

"No, I messed up and I'm sorry. I like to consider myself to be smart, but I'm not I'm stupid and everything you said in the letter was true I knew better, you've taught me better, I'm a disappointment

Regulus hastily stands, his dad right behind him. Reg throws some floo powder in the fire and Harry jumps back t get out of the way when they come through. 

Reg immediately pulls Harry into a hug and whispers in his ear "please, don't ever call yourself stupid again, because you're not, you are so, so smart" Reg kisses on the head then pulls away. 

Now his other dad steps forward and hugs him "you are not a disappointment, we are extremely proud of you, for everything you are. Your mum would be even prouder" Harry lets out another sob at that. 

Reg joins them and now their in a three-way hug "we love you so much" his dad says. 

"Never doubt that" this is from Reg. 

"Come on Draco" his dad says lifting his arm to make room for Draco who come willingly. 

That night Harry sleeps really well, he really that moment with his parents. 

Chapter Text

Draco POV: 

After James and Regulus came to their dorm and comforted Harry, he'd been in a much better mood, he's just overall happier, which in turn has made Draco happy, because he hates it when Harry is upset, they've known each other for so long that they practically feel each other's emotions. 

All of their other friends have noticed Harry's improved mood and are taking advantage of it, wanting to hang around him all the time now that he's in the mood to laugh and mess around with them again. 

It's making Draco angry, while Harry was upset and freaking out about making his parents mad they were all off doing their own thing, they didn't even notice that Harry was upset, that he was acting off, but their all quick join as soon as he's acting all happy again they came running. 

That's not how friendship with Harry works. You're either there for it all, or you don't deserve him at all. 

He's not the always happy guy he makes everyone think he is. He has thoughts in his mind that even Drace knows Harry hasn't told him about. The thoughts he was having about disappointing his dads are only a small part of it, and he's pretty sure those thoughts are still at the back of Harry's mind even though he's acting like his visit with James and Reg healed it all. 

Some people might think that Harry's reaction to getting in trouble with his parents is dramatic, even though Draco himself doesn't fully understand he will never stop defending his best friend for it. Draco is relatively close to his mum but Harry and his dads are different, maybe it's because they were in hiding for so long and all they had was each other but their all extremely close.  

He feels something bump into his side, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looks up to see Blaise standing beside him. 

"We have to get to class," he says handing Draco his book from the library table they'd been sitting at. 

Draco is truly thankful to his parents for instigating the friendship with Blaise because he is the only other person at Hogwarts that he feels like he can fully trust. 

He's also the only other person who noticed something was up with Harry and had asked Draco about it. 

Of course Draco would never betray Harry's trust by sharing his secret, but Blaise's effort is appreciated nonetheless. 

"Uh should we help him?" Blaise asks looking somewhere ahead. 

Draco follows his gaze and sees Lockhart talking to Harry. 

"Yeah let's go" Draco says already walking toward them. 

"Gave you the taste for publicity, didn't I?" Draco hears Lockhart say as he and Blaise reach them. 

"Harry" Blaise says before the professor can say anything else "we should get to class" 

"Ah yes" Lockhart says noticing them standing there "don't want you kids to be late" and then he starts walking away. 

"Good day, sir" Draco says with a smirk. 

Lockhart may have written books about all the great things he's done, but draco doesn't believe it for a second. 

Not only does it all just seem impossible for one man to live through, but he's coward, he gets nervous around the Slytherin's, especially the one's from families like Draco's. 

He's all over Harry when he's alone but the second he, Blaise, or Pansy is around Lockhart practically runs away, he's not complaining though they all find it quite amusing. 

If only he knew who Harry was raised by then he would be nervous around him too.

"Thanks," Harry says also smirking at where the professor is retreating. 

Together the three of them start walking to class and Blaise slings an arm over Harry's shoulder. 

"What" Blaise says with mock surprise and cheeky grin "you aren't mad for taking away your chance to be in the paper again" 

Harry shoves him away and says "shut up, you know I hate fame and attention" 

Blaise laughs "do I know that?" 

"Yes, asshole" Harry says shoving him again with a laugh. 

"Quiet" Draco tells them when they reach the greenhouse. 

Their classes had been going well. Helping Regulus and James with the potion ingredients had helped with Herbology, and they of course had practice with potions. 

As for Defense Against the Dark Arts, everyone hates it. Their not learning anything about defending themselves, Lockhart just makes the class all about himself, even their exams are just questions about himself. 

Draco thinks the only person who doesn't hate Lockhart's classes is Hermione, she loves his books and is convinced he actually did everything he said he did. 

As for the magic part of their schooling, James and Regulus had already taught them a lot of it, so most of what they were doing seemed like extra practice. 

The written exams were a bit more of a struggle because they had to study to remember definitions, History of Magic was especially hard because Draco didn't have any interest in it. 

Harry had proven that he had a fantastic memory, he barely had to study to ace is exams. Draco wishes Harry could share that skill with him. 

He guesses that Harry gets it honest, he's heard Reggie complain about how James and Sirius were the same when they were and in school and he and Remus hated it. 

~~

Harry POV: 

Harry had been going out of his way to avoid Lockhart he'd even resorted to going to class in his cat form, They've been saying that he was Blaise's pet because he didn't bring one to Hogwarts. 

Being in his cat form also helps him avoid Colin Creevey who seems to have memorized his timetable, he's even waited in the hall outside the entrance to the Slytherin dormitory to catch Harry when he was leaving or entering. 

Which is why Harry is currently in his cat form being carried by Draco and followed by Blaise and Pansy through the dungeons to their dorms. 

The only bad part about this plan is that it looks weird for them to all be together without Harry because he's almost always with at least one of them, and he hasn't been seen with them much at all lately. 

He didn't realize this until Theo came up to them once they entered the common room and asked "hey, have you guys seen Harry? He's supposed to be helping me with you know what, but I've barely seen him lately." 

Harry can feel Draco's grip tighten around his body, telling Harry to not reveal himself. 

Harry has no intention of revealing his animagus form to Theo, especially not in the middle of the common room. Despite what Draco seems to believe he actually doesn't want everyone to know all of his secrets. 

Which is why he jumps out of Draco's arms. 

His senses are heightened as a cat so he can easily hear the breath that Draco, Blaise, and Pansy take, and feel the tension as they wait for what he's about to do. 

He doesn't change back into his human form like his friends think he's going to, instead he takes off running to their dorm. 

Once he's out of their view he changes back and walks back to the common room. 

He runs a hand through his hair and pretends to act surprised to see them all standing in the common room. 

"Oh, hey guys" he says with a wave and a slight smile. 

His friends quickly catch onto his plan and play along. 

"What's up Harry?" Blaise says. 

"Where have you been?" Pansy asks. 

"I took a nap upstairs, I've been so exhausted lately" Harry says realizing this a terrible excuse because he doesn't nap, but Theo doesn't know him as well as Draco does so maybe he won't notice. 

Harry can tell that he's not going to be that lucky by the way that Theo is looking from him to the staircase that he's putting something together, whether it's the truth or not, Harry doesn't know. 

"I looked in the dorm and you weren't there" Theo says and then goes quiet again. 

"Shit" Draco says then runs forward and pulls Theo up the stairs. 

The rest of them follow.

"Harry" Theo says slowly once they are in the dorm with the door closed "the cat was you, wasn't it?"

Harry nods, keeping his eyes facing the floor. 

"Are you an Animagus?" Theo questions as if that was obvious at this point.

"yes" Harry says, figuring it was time to use actual words 

"You know what? I'm not even surprised" Theo says and Harry's surprised to that Theo has a joking smile on his face.

"Your not?" Harry and draco say at the same time, genuinely confused. 

"No, before I met Regulus and learned how you were raised I would have been, but now, I mean he taught you everything else, I'm not surprised that he taught you this too" Theo says with a shrug. 

"I'm guessing you're one too?" Theo asks Draco. 

Before Harry can comeprehend what's happening Draco is rushing toward Theo with his wand out, then Draco pins him to the wall. 

"Draco" Harrys says, but his friend ignore him and sticks his wand to his other friends throat,  he looks to Blaise and Pansy to see if they'll help him separate them, but they shake their heads at him.

"You cannot tell anyone" Draco sneers at Theo. 

"What-" Theo starts but Draco presses the wand harder against him. 

"Don't talk, listen, you will not say a word to anyone about this or anything else that you know about us" 

Theo looks at Harry over Draco's shoulder. 

Harry gives him a look that shows that he's sorry, but that even though Draco's being harsh it's necessary. 

Theo then moves his gaze to Pansy and Blaise, who also have their wands out. 

Draco moves his head back to face him with his wand. 

"You will work extra hard on learning Occlumency so that your father doesn't learn our secrets, and if I find out you told anyone I will obliviate them and then kill you". 

Draco finally lets the pressure off of Theo's neck and steps away. 

It was weird seeing Draco act like that. Yes, it's what his dads were training them for, but neither one of them had ever gotten that serious before. Draco was always supper soft around him. 

It's weird because Harry knows that he is capable of as well, and so much worse.  

Draco storms out of the room, Blaise and Pansy look to Harry who motions for them to follow him

When it's just he and Theo left in the room he clears his throat and looks at the other boy. 

"Theo I'm sorry about what he did, he didn't need to be that harsh, it was unnecessary" 

Theo isn't looking at him, he's looking at the floor. 

"You didn't stop him" Theo mumbles. 

"No" Harry sighs "I didn't" 

"Draco was violent and he shouldn't have been but I didn't separate you because if I did I would have just had the same conversation with you" 

Harry pauses

"People cannot find out about our Animagus forms or anything else about us, if they do it's not just Hogwarts that we'll be in trouble with, it's the law, being an unregistered Animagus is illegal" 

"I know" Theo sighs "last year I would have jumped at an opportunity to get you guys kicked out of school, getting the law involved would have just been an added bonus" he says the last part with a laugh that Harry reciprocates.

"But this year I don't that, I like being apart of your friend group, I like Regulus, and honestly I really want him to teach me some of what he taught you guys, so I won't share anything I know about you"

"I like you being in our friend group too" Harry smiles at genuinely happy about all of the friends he's made. 

"Do you want to help me practice Occlumency, so Draco doesn't kill me" Theo asks him. 

"He won't actually kill you" Harry tells him.

"No, he won't kill you or the others, but me? and maybe even Ron, he won't hesitate" Theo says dead serious. 

Harry rolls his eyes at him. 

~~ 

Later that night 

Harry is in the shower after helping Theo with his Occlumency. 

He's humming along to a song when the curtain gets pushed open. 

Harry spins around fully expecting to about to be attacked but pauses when he sees Ebony slithering for him and then he bends down and she wraps around his arm.  

"Where have you been" he asks her. 

He hasn't seen her since she hit the knot on the whomping willow. He figured that she had a good reason but he was starting to worry about her. 

"I've been exploring" she hisses back. 

At this point Harry has moved out of the shower and is getting dressed. 

"What'd you find?" he hisses while pulling a shirt over his head. 

"We are not alone" she replies. 

That sentence is enough to make Harry freeze. 

"What?" he says looking at his snake friend likes she's crazy. 

She of course doesn't understand human emotion so she continues on like this conversation is completely normal. 

"There is another snake in the castle" 

"Well, yeah they probably snuck in from outside" Harry says not as worried as he was before. 

"No, this is not a normal garden snake, it's a Basilisk" 

And just like that Harry's worry spikes once again. 

"There's a Basilisk in Hogwarts!?" Harry says, his voice rising because he is borderline freaking out now. 

"Well technically he is under the building, but yes" 

Harry nods slowly. 

"He says that there is someone else trying to reach him that can also talk to him, but then I told him about you and how you want what's best for everyone, he seemed very interested" 

"Do I get to meet this mysterious snake?" Harry asks her. 

"Not yet I need more time to win him over to you, but of what I've heard of the other guy I don't think it will be very hard" 

Harry nods, mostly because he really doesn't want to end up frozen or whatever it is that Basilisk's do. 

Ebony leaves to go back to her new friend and Harry goes to tell his friends everything he just learned. 

When he walks out of the bathroom only Crabbe and Goyle are in there, waiting for the shower. He gives them a small smile and walks out of the room. 

Even though he's close to Theo now, he hasn't exactly clicked with the other two. 

His friends are huddled in a corner of the common room he rushes toward them. 

"We're going to Gryffindor Tower" Harry tells them. 

"What why?" Theo asks, and Harry realizes he probably didn't know that Harry hung out there sometimes. 

"We're going to get Ron and Hermione, I've just found something out and I want to tell you all together" 

"How are we going to get in?" Theo questions. 

"Harry has the password, totally a double agent for Gryffindor or something" Blaise jokes. 

"I am not" Harry punches him in the shoulder. 

"Let's go" Draco says heading for the door. 

They put an extension charm on Harry's invisibility cloak and their friends slip under it going unnoticed by the few people in the common room. Harry and Draco walk in front of them and open the common room entrance, once they are outside they transform into their Animagus forms and crawl under the cloak. 

Theo carry's Harry's cat form, which Draco growls at, and Pansy carry's Draco, Blaise has the map, which Theo keeps staring at, Harry realizes he's never used it in front of him before. 

Pansy notices him staring and explains "Harry's dad and his friends made it when they were in school, pretty cool huh" 

"His dad, as in Regulus?" 

"No" Pansy answers "James, his bio dad" she says a bit sadly. 

Theo nods. 

Draco and Harry look at each other, their being the only two who know that James is alive. 

It doesn't take long for them to reach the Gryffindor entrance, and once they do Harry crawls out of the cloak and changes back into human. 

"You guys wait here, their kind of used to me coming here" he tells them. 

Once he enters few people look his way, but don't pay him any attention. 

The Weasley twins say "Hey harry" "good to see you" when they notice him. 

"Hey guys" he says back. 

He walks to wear Ron, Neville, Dean. and Seamus sitting. 

"Harry?" Neville questions when he spots him. 

Causing the others to turn towards him as well, they all share looks of confusement, Ron and Neville having a little bit of concern mixing in. 

"Where's Hermione?" he asks them. 

"She went up to her room already, mate" Dean tells him. 

"Why what's up" Ron asks. 

"I just wanted to talk to you guys" 

"You might have to wait until the morning, the stairs are spelled so we can't get to the girls dorms" Neville tells him. 

"Speaking of going to the dorms, I think that's what I'm going to do" Seamus says, and Dean goes with him. 

"I'll be right back, I have a way to get Hermione from her room, and then I would really like to tell you guys something" 

Ron and Neville nod. 

Harry goes back to the entrance and sticks his head out

"Pansy" he whispers not one hundred percent sure where they are under the cloak. 

"What" she replies. 

"Can you come in with me?" 

"Why?" 

"Because someone needs to get Hermione and you're the only other girl" 

Pansy huffs but follows him inside, Ron gives him a looks like he's crazy. 

"Really dude, you brought her in here"

"Just shut up and let her go get Hermione" Harry tells him, tired of Ron putting down on his friends. 

Pansy comes back down being followed by a grumpy looking Hermione. 

"Harry, this better be important" 

He rolls his eyes "just come outside" 

They go outside and Blaise sticks his hand out so they know where they are, even with the extension it's tight under the cloak. 

Pansy picks up Draco, who refused to be held by Theo" and Hermione hold Harry once he's a cat again. 

They go to the secret tunnel behind the statues and Harry waits until their all inside before he speaks. 

He doesn't tell them that he spoke parcel tongue to Ebony, because Ron and Hermione don't know that he can do that. 

He tells them that Ebony came back and was trying to tell him there was a threat. 

"Great" Ron says "someone else who could potentially try to kill us" 

"Well technically their probably going to try to kill me" he says with a shrug "but yeah, might try to kill you too"

"They stay in the tunnel a while longer, talking about how they might be in danger again this year, and how they need to stick together, before the Slytherins walk the Gryffindors back to their tower. 

~~ 

The next morning it was Halloween, and the dull ache that came every year was still there, but he was excited because he had was going to call his dads later.

After breakfast Harry is walking with Ron and Hermione, everything was fine until he started hearing a voice. 

"rip, tear, kill" 

It was a snake, their voices sounded slightly different than human ones. 

Harry stops to listen more closely, the snake was saying "I smell blood". 

Harry really isn't trusting Ebony's judgement of her new friend. 

This feeling is heightened when Hermione gasps. 

There is something on the wall and when they get close enough Harry reads it 

The Chamber of Secrets 

Has Been Opened, 

Enemies of The Heir,

Beware.

Chapter Text

Draco POV:

Harry ended up joining Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table at the end of breakfast, saying that he hasn't been able to spend enough time with them lately.

Normally Draco might have tried to get him to stay at the Slytherin table with the rest of his friends, but today is Halloween and Draco knows what this day means to Harry so if he wants to go sit with Gryffindors so be it.

Draco and the rest of his Slytherin friends are walking out of the Great Hall when they run into a bunch of students stopped in the corridor, everyone's chatter had died down. 

Draco was pushing his way through the crowd trying to see if he could find Harry within the crowd. Nearing the front of the crowd he finally did see Harry and they pushed their way through the rest of the people to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione where they were standing. 

They reached the others right before Filch made his way through the crowd. When the old man started yelling at Harry and blaming him for killing his cat, Draco stepped in front of Harry feeling the need to block him from everyone's view. 

 Harry hadn't said a word during any of this, which didn't really matter because Harry didn't even need to explain what happened, Draco knew that Harry didn't do this, but Draco also knew that it was going to be really hard to convince their teachers of this. 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione just nodded when they were told to follow Dumbledore. 

Draco on the other hand did not "I'm coming too" he said. 

Dumbledore turned his gaze on him "this does not concern you, Mr. Malfoy" 

"I don't care I am coming" Draco said defiantly. 

Dumbledore narrows his eyes at him clearly not liking Draco's attitude, but Draco's not scared of him and just stares right back. 

Dumbledore acts like the good guy but Draco and Harry know it's all just an act. 

Hermione is just staring at him, probably shocked by how he is talking to the headmaster. 

"I'll only tell you what happened if he's there" Harry says also staring at Dumbledore. 

Dumbledore is now staring at Harry seemingly considering something before he eventually nods "very well, but the rest of you" he points to Blaise, Theo, and Pansy "go to your common room".  

Harry and Draco walk at the back of the group, Harry grabs Draco's hand making Draco look at him, and harry gives him a look that tells him that Dumbledore can't find out the full story of what happened, Draco nods to tell him that he'll help.  

Lockhart being the attention seeker that he was insisted they go to his office, which is where they find out that Mrs. Norris was dead but petrified. 

Dumbledore says he doesn't know how it happened which makes Filch turn to Harry and start accusing him again, Draco steps in front of Harry and puts a silencing charm on filch. 

He hears Hermione gasp "Draco", he ignores her. 

"Mr. Malfoy" Dumbledore starting to look angry "do not use magic on elders, you must" 

"No" Draco cuts him off "whatever it is you are going to say I will not be doing it" ignoring how even Harry is looking at him. 

"Don't make me turn your detention into expulsion" once again Hermione gasps. 

Draco looks Dumbledore straight in the eyes "do it" 

"if you expel me, i'll be glad to tell about how your staff is yelling and falsely accusing a minor, a student, without any proof at all." he says the last part while gesturing to Harry. 

Harry looks at Dumbledore then at Filch, his gaze staying on the latter "I haven't touched your cat" 

Draco noticed that he both sounded offended and angry "I might not like you, but believe me I would not take that out on your cat" 

Despite this being a serious moment, Draco has to fight back a laugh knowing that he is one of the few people in the room who knows that both Harry and Regulus' Animagus' are cats, which is why he would never harm a cat.

It seems like all everyone does for a few minutes is stare at each other waiting to see who is going to back down. All Draco knows is that it's not going to be either him or Harry. 

Severus is the one who ends up bringing the silence. 

"They could have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, they were in the Great Hall with the rest of the students, they would not have had enough time to have harmed Filch's cat". 

Harry, Hermione, and Ron give the professor a look of surprise, Draco gives his godfather a look of appreciation. 

Dumbledore looks at Severus and nods his head, likely realizing that he has a point, because they in fact would not have had enough time to do anything. 

"Also Albus, there is no way that second years would be able to petrify something" McGonagall speaks up, Draco had forgotten that she was there. 

Dumbledore looks at them briefly before saying "you may go" and they get out as quickly as possible. 

They hear Filch yell something as the door closes behind them. 

Draco quickly grabs hold of Harry and drags him towards their common room yelling "see you guys later" over his shoulder to Ron and Hermione. 

They get to the dungeons quickly and he keeps going until they reach their dorm room and find Blaise and Pansy already there, he doesn't know where Theodore is but quite honestly he doesn't care. 

"What happened?" Blaise and Pansy say at the same time, honestly, it's weird how often they do that. 

They tell them what happened with Dumbledore but when it's time to talk about what happened before, Draco turns to Harry as he still doesn't know the full story. 

Typically Draco would ask Harry in private, but the only other people here are Blaise and Pansy and they already know almost everything, except about James. 

 "The Basilisk that Ebony was talking about" Harry starts "it's not happy" 

The rest of them just stare at him waiting for a better explanation. 

"I heard it talking about killing something and then that's when we found the cat" 

"Do you think it's what did that to Filch's cat?" Pansy asks. 

"Obviously" Draco says a bit more rudely than he had intended. 

Blaise shoots him a look and he corrects himself.

"I just meant that the Basilisk is the only thing in the castle that we know has the ability to petrify" 

Blaise looks at Harry "you need to go talk to it"

"What?" Draco, Harry, and Pansy say at once, looking at Blaise likes he's gone insane. 

Quite honestly Draco thinks he might have. 

"We need to know it's motive, why it's here in the first place" Blaise says with a shrug "and as far as I know Harry is the only one here who can do that". 

"I don't even know how to get to it, I have to wait for Ebony to get back so she can take me to it" Harry says and Draco whips his head around to stare at him. 

"What?" Harry questions, noticing Draco staring. 

"You can't actually be considering this, Haz, it'll kill you" 

Harry huffs "wow thanks for the confidence Dray" 

Draco rolls his eyes "that's not what I mean and you know it, you wouldn't be able to get close to it without it petrifying you" 

Harry is quiet for a moment, likely realizing that Draco has a point. 

"I trust Ebony" that's all Harry says. 

"What?" Pansy asks, but Draco thinks he knows where Harry is going with this and he doesn't like it. 

"I trust Ebony" Harry repeats "I know that she wouldn't put me in danger, so if she trusts the basilisk then so do I" 

"so we're trusting snakes now, great" Pansy mumbles throwing her hands up. 

"Do not do anything until Ebony gets back" Draco says gaining the rooms attention again "and then I'll do whatever you need me to" 

"Me too" Blaise says 

"We all will" Pansy corrects him. 

Harry simply smiles at them. 

~~

Harry POV: 

Harry hasn't seen Ebony since she told him that the Basilisk was there, and he was starting to worry, she'd never stayed away for this long before. 

Instead of focusing too much on worrying about where Ebony is and his potential talk with a giant snake he's been trying to prioritize quidditch as he's been putting it off lately. 

His dad always told him that exercising off the broom would help his performance on the broom so he's found himself going for early morning runs and then meeting Draco on the pitch to work on some moves before the team meets for practice. 

When he's not either in class or doing quidditch he's in the library with Hermione, simply joy reading or studying. occasionally joined by Draco, Pansy, and Blaise, or sometimes Theo. 

It's during one of his library days with Hermione that Ron walks in and sits at their table. 

Harry and Hermione share a look of confusion before turning to look at Ron. 

"What's up?" he asks Ron. 

"So I've been thinking about who could've opened the chamber," Ron says 

"Wow you've been thinking, it's a miracle," Hermione says with heavy sarcasm, clearly not happy about her reading being disrupted. 

Ron ignores her and keep talking "it could be any one of us you know". 

"What do you mean 'one of us' is it you?" Hermione asks Ron. 

Ron falters "what! of course not" he says clearly offended. 

Hermione just shrugs "I thought it was a valid question."

Harry rolls his eyes not wanting to get in the middle of whatever their recent argument is. 

"Ron, I don't that whoever opened it is a student," Harry tells him. 

"Just hear me out," Ron says and Harry knows Ron isn't going to drop it so he nods. 

"We know that it would have to be someone who hates muggleborns, and who's family probably supported you know who" 

Harry stays quiet, waiting to see where he's going with this. 

"Let's think" Ron says in mock puzzlement "who do we know who's families are known to hate muggleborns" 

"Ron" Harry and Hermione say warningly at the same time. 

"The Malfoys-" 

"Absolutely not" Harry practically growls 

"The Nott's-" 

This time Hermione cuts him off "it's not Theo" 

"Ron neither one of them are prejudice they are literally our friends, I'm a half-blood and Hermione is muggle-born" 

"But their families-" 

"First of all" Harry cuts him off "the Malfoys may have a bad reputation but their not bad people, Narcissa is literally the only woman role model I've had in my life if they wanted me dead they would have killed me by now" harry knows he's probably saying too much, but Ron is seriously making him mad right now. 

"But the Nott's-" Harry cuts him off again. 

"Yes the Nott's are bad people, but Theo is not his family, Reg has seen into his mind and if he was a threat I would not be allowed anywhere near him, so drop it". 

Harry grabs his things and leaves the library. The Malfoys and now Theo are his family now, he won't tolerate his other friends talking shit about them. 

Harry hears steps behind him and looks over his shoulder expecting to see Ron, but is surprised to see that Hermione followed him out. 

He slows down so she can catch up to him. 

"Sorry for storming out, I just hate that no matter what Ron can't seem to accept us" Harry says with a sigh. 

"It's not you Harry, you're one of his best friends" Hermione tells him.  

"Yeah, but that's only because he doesn't actually consider me a Slytherin," Harry tells her "For some reason he can't get it into his head that Slytherins aren't bad, yes some are but anyone can be a bad person even a Gryffindor" 

"I believe you Harry" Hermione tells him "based off of my reading I would have avoided you at all costs, but then we met and I've actually spent time with you guys and I believe you" 

Harry smiles brightly at her, really glad that he's managed to become friends with Hermione Granger. 

~~ 

Harry hasn't spoken much to Ron after their chat in the library and according to Hermione Ron hasn't spoken to her much either. 

She told Harry that he's been hanging out with Neville, Dean, and Seamus a lot and that she thinks that they might be up to something. 

Harry's not worried about it because he knows Ron and even if they are up to something he knows it won't be dangerous. Besides he's got other things to focus on, such as their quidditch game against Gryffindor this morning. 

He's already gone on his morning run, he even got Draco to go with him, despite the rain. 

They are now on their way down to the change rooms, where they see Hermione, Blaise, and Pansy waiting for them. 

Harry smiles to himself thinking how lucky he is to have found friends that come to support him even in this terrible weather. 

"Kick some Gryffindor ass" Blaise tells them. 

Draco looks at Hermione with a raised brow "you are aware that we are playing against your house, right?" 

Hermione rolls her eyes "I just came down here to tell you guys to be careful, but I've changed my mind now" 

She looks at Harry now "be careful, Harry" then she walks away causing Harry to let out a laugh. 

Pansy points at Harry "Potter, you better catch that snitch first" 

She then turns her glare and finger on Draco "Malfoy, score as many goals as possible" 

She then spins and walks towards the stands, Blaise looks at them with a smirk saying "you heard her" before following Pansy. 

She puts a hand on both of their shoulders "I am not sitting here in the rain, letting my hair look like a mop to watch you lose" 

Harry and Draco go in the change rooms to meet the rest of the team. 

Flint goes over the game plan with them and tells Harry close to the same thing that Pansy did about catching the snitch first, the only difference is that Harry finds him less terrifying than Pansy. 

Right before Hooch blew the whistle Draco met Harry's eyes and mouthed "we've got this" Harry nodded and mouthed back "obviously". 

The whistle went off and things started off great, Harry got away from everyone else to look for the snitch and the rest of the team seemed to be working well together. 

Well that's until a bludger came pelting at him. 

Luckily Crabbe and Goyle has been paying attention and were there to knock it in the other direction.

Harry thought that he was good now so he wasn't paying attention until he heard Draco shout "Harry watch out" 

He looked up in time to see the bludger coming at him again and was able to just barely move out of its path. 

As soon as it was past him it turned mid air and came right back towards him. 

Crabbe was able to knock it away but it was no use it just kept coming back at him. He gave up his search for the snitch and was just trying to stay away from the rogue bludger. 

Now even the Weasley twins had abandoned the game in an attempt to help Crabbe and Goyle keep the bludger away from Harry. Woods was yelling at them to get back to the game but they seemed to ignore him. 

Fred and George were flying on either side of Harry now while Crabbe was flying over Harry and Goyle underneath him. 

"Someone tampered with this bludger" Fred grunts as George whacks the bludger again. 

Flint finally calls for a time-out. 

They all land and Fred and George huddle with the Gryffindors while Harry, Crabbe, and Goyle join the Slytherins. 

Harry can hear Woods lecturing Fred and George and he winces. 

Draco runs up to Harry "are you ok" he says while seemingly searching Harry for injuries. 

"What's going on" Flint asks "where have you two been" Flint directs at Crabbe and Goyle. 

"What do you mean where have they been, where have you been? They've been keeping the bludger from killing Harry, haven't you noticed it won't leave him alone" Draco snaps at him. 

Flint runs his hands over his head "are you ok, Harry" 

"I'm fine, and I want to keep playing" Harry tells him. 

Draco steps towards him "Harry, are you sure, that bludger is trying to take you out" 

Harry meets his gaze "I want to win" 

And so they go to resume the game Harry pulls Fred and George aside "listen I want this to be a fair game and as long as you two are flying right next to me it won't be so let me deal with the bludger on my own so I can beat you fair and square" 

"Harry don't be thick" Fred tells him "it'll take your head off" 

"Only if it hits me" he tells them "and I've spent my childhood dodging things that Draco threw at me while I flew, and he has really good aim" 

And then he shoots in the air. 

Harry was doing good with avoiding the bludger until he saw the snitch and was distracted only for a moment, a moment which aloud the bludger to smack straight into Harry's arm. 

The crowd gasped and despite the pain Harry still shot towards the snitch. 

As he got closer to the snitch he took his good hand off the broom to grab it, he's only holding onto his broom with his legs as he crashes into the ground. 

He can vaguely see people rushing towards him before his vision goes black. 

Chapter Text

Draco POV: . 

He thought that watching that bludger go after Harry was terrifying, but watching Harry plummet towards the ground was one of the most terrifying moments of Draco's life. 

They've done a lot of sketchy moves on a broom throughout their childhood, but the difference between then and now was that then he knew Harry was just joking around and that he would stop last minute, but this time he knows that Harry won't be able to stop, it's obvious that he is in a lot of pain and is in not fully aware. 

Draco does the first thing he can think of and throws his arm out and cast a wandless wingardium leviosa, he usually has to be very focused when doing wandless magic so at first he's not sure if it's going to work because he did it so hurriedly but when Harry stops right before he hits the ground and lowers slowly as Draco lowers his arm, he lets out a sigh of relief. 

As soon as Harry's safely on the ground Draco runs for him. 

He reaches him within a matter of seconds, soon met with the rest of their friends, and Crabbe and Goyle who followed Draco. 

Harry sits and open his hand, Draco is not surprised to see that he has the snitch, every one else on the other hand does. 

"We won" Harry says, then he faints. 

All of them gasp, Draco meets Pansy's worried eyes, giving her a worried look of his own before looking back down at Harry. 

They all have a hand on Harry lightly shaking him, trying to get him to wake up. 

They've gathered a bit of a crowd by everyone trying to either figure out what's happening or find out if Harry's okay. 

It started raining harder, no one really paid attention to it other than Harry who opened his eyes and blinked groggily. 

Draco let out a relieved breath looked up to see Lockhart leaning over Harry. 

"Oh no, not you" Harry groaned  

Lockhart being the delusional idiot that he is just says "he doesn't know what he's saying" very loudly. 

"Don't touch him" Draco says starting to take a step forward, but is stopped by Hermione, Draco glares at her, she can't possibly think that Lockhart is actually capable of healing Harry. 

"No need to worry, I'm just going to fix Harry's arm" Lockart says. 

"Why can't he just go to the hospital wing?" Pansy asks. 

"He should really, Professor" Blaise agrees. 

"It's a simple spell, I've done it countless times" Lockhart says and Draco shares a look with Blaise and Pansy. 

"It's quidditch rules for a player to go to the hospital wing after an injury" Flint says. 

Before anyone can say anything else Lockhart waves his wand and casts the spell.

Draco kept his gaze on Harry's face watching the strange expression on his face, until he heard a gasp from Hermione and Pansy. 

Looking at Harry's arm he had to stifle a gasp, because Harry's arm no longer looked like his arm it looked more like a rubber glove. 

Draco could tell when Harry finally looked down at his arm because he tensed. 

Lockhart made some kind of excuse of why it happened and that it was normal, Draco wasn't really listening, he and Blaise got on each side of Harry and helped him up. 

Harry tried to move his fingers, but nothing happened because Lockhart hadn't mended his bones, he removed them. 

He finally noticed the Weasley twins still wrestling the rogue bludger trying to put it away. 

He also noticed that the crowd surrounding them had grown and was not moving out of their way. 

Nott walked up to him with Crabbe and Goyle "we've got this". 

Draco was about to roll his eyes but then Crabbe and Goyle walked in front of them and used their size to their advantage and cleared a path through the people. 

Theo walked behind them to make sure people stayed out the way. 

Draco and Blaise walked behind him with Harry, followed by Pansy and Hermione. 

Madam Pomfrey was not pleased when she saw Harry and they explained what happened. 

"You can fix it can't you?" Harry asks her. 

"Certainly" she answers, and Harry relaxes a bit "but it will be painful". 

Draco winced because he knows that Harry doesn't take pain very well. 

Madam Pomfrey told Harry he'd have to stay the night, then threw him some pajamas. 

The others waited outside the curtain while Draco helped him change, it wasn't easy getting his rubbery arms to cooperate.