Chapter 1

"Harry? Harry? Harry!" Draco shouted in a sleep ridden voice.

"What? Stop poking me," Harry mumbled, trying to push Draco's hand away, but it froze when he felt something furry.

He slowly turned from on his stomach and locked eyes with a small, tawny owl.

"That's what," Draco drawled, standing near the bedroom window. "That bloody owl was tapping on the window and woke me from a peaceful sleep. Now take the bloody parchment so it can leave and I can get back into bed."

Harry stared at Draco with wide, blurry eyes. "It's for me?" he asked with astonishment.

"Well, of course! Who'd be writing to me using owl post?" he asked, trudging towards the bed.

"But-. No… It can't possibly…" he muttered, staring at the owl, which'd started to impatiently poke him again.

"In case you've forgotten, Harry, you are a wizard and that's how we other wizard folks send respondents to each other," Draco replied slowly in a tone that stated he was questioning Harry's intelligence.

"I didn't forget, you arse. I just mean that… Well… Ow!"

"Take the parchment so it can leave," Draco said with an eye roll, though his lips twitched at seeing the owl use its beak as a weapon. Harry grabbed his glasses off of the nightstand and carefully removed the parchment from the owl's leg, afraid of being pecked too hard again. The bird immediately took flight out of the open window.

"You close it… And what did you mean?" Harry got up to close the window and got back in bed before responding.

"Well you see… After the last letter I'd gotten from Herrmione, it made me a bit homesick but I didn't want to return. So I… So I put a spell on myself to sort of cloak myself from any magical way of being found. Even by the ministry," Harry replied, nervously staring at the letter in his hand with a familiar script.

"That's impossible, Harry. The ministry can't trace every spell you've performed since you're of age but you can't just completely vanish from every magical radar. I don't even think Voldermort could. He used tons of spells that he had to reinforce daily, most of them being of dark magic…" Draco suddenly gasped, staring at Harry in surprise.

"No! It wasn't anything dark. Though, I'm not entirely sure really," Harry mumbled to himself.

"What do you mean you don't know? What spell was it?"

"Er… Well… I didn't name it," He muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"You didn't-. You mean you created the spell yourself! How! That would take lots of-."

"Powerful magic – I know."

Draco stared at Harry a moment before speaking again. "Explain."

"I spoke to Ollivander before leaving. I thought that maybe fixing my wand with the Elder Wand somehow transferred something into mine but he said that was impossible. I then met with someone he suggested I talk to, who told me that he believes when Voldemort transferred a piece of his soul into me, it not only gave me some of his magic, but also created a sort of bind on part of my core. So when I allowed him to kill me-,"

"So you really did die?" Draco interrupted in shock, scooting closer to Harry.

"I suppose. Well a part of me. The Voldemort part of me," He responded nervously. "When that part was removed, so was the bind around part of my magic. I've been able to do a lot of things that I guess should be impossible."

Draco went silent again.

"Okay… I have loads of questions but right now I'd like to know who the letter is from and how did it find you with this magical cloak you've created?"

"I'd like to know as well, but it being from Hermione, I can't say that I'm as surprised as you."

"Of course the know-it-all would figure it out," Draco mumbled to his self, ignoring the glare from Harry. "Well what does it say?"

Harry fully straightened out the parchment and began reading.

Harry,

I've been trying to reach you for ages but all of my owls have been returned. I even put a tracking device on a few but it led to nowhere. Ron said that you obviously didn't want to be contacted at the moment and that I should just give up. That you'd come around when you're ready. I did a bit of research but couldn't figure out exactly how you've been able to hide yourself so well, seeing as I taught you most of the spells to do so. I know I should maybe listen to Ron and leave you to your peace but I just don't understand what's taking you so long to come back and exactly why you felt the need to leave in the first place. Being your best friends, there shouldn't be anything you can't talk about with us, Harry. Why did you distance yourself from us and then decide to leave your family behind? We all miss you. Ginny and Teddy as well... Just come back Harry and we can all talk about this. You should also know that I've had the baby. We've named her Rose Lilian Weasley. We would like you to be the godfather, if you'll decide, and as you should, to return home. She would like to meet you. Please respond back soon.

Yours,

Hermione.

"A bit pushy isn't she?" Draco said to fill the silence.

"That's Hermione for you…" Harry retorted with a bit of bitterness.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, placing a hand over Harry's.

"I just…." He ran a hand through his hair again before continuing. "I had all that time to discover the things about my magic because I didn't have anyone who cared. Because I didn't have any family there... My parents and anyone who were related to them died by the hands of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. People seemed to have forgotten that. They want me to mourn and move on and to remember what I had left but I had nothing! Yes, I understand that I wasn't the only one who lost someone in the war but I lost my entire family. Even at the funerals, I was busy consoling others and dealing with the guilt of the lives that were taken for defending mine. I was told to let it go and move on. To remember the family I had left and although I appreciate the Weasley clan for taking me in, I was only like family, unlike Hermione, who is now legally a part of them and was able to track down her own parents and repair the memory charm she cast on them. For her to use my god son and her child to lure me back… When no one even noticed I was gone for at least a weak – being so busy with their families…" Harry suddenly stood up and began pacing back and forth, now running two hands through his hair.

Draco stood, walked around to Harry's side of the bed and gently grabbed his wrists to remove his hands.

"Harry? Calm down. Just take a deep breath." He waited for Harry to oblige before continuing. "Now look… I know it's only been a couple of months and we're still getting to know each other as well as repair the damage from our pasts, but why didn't you tell me you've been keeping this inside? I've told you how I felt about my family and bringing back the amount of time we've been together, I know it's not long and we still have so much to get through with each other but… Well I thought we were each other's family now. I didn't know you still felt alone," He ended with a sad tone.

"Draco, no…" Harry paused to place his hands on Draco's shoulder, Draco's still holding on to his wrists. "I don't feel alone with you. You mean something to me. More than anyone has in a while. I agree there are still things we need to work on and deal with if this is going to last but I do want it to last. I do want you to be a part of me and…" He looked away from Draco and took a deep breath.

"And what, Harry?"

Harry took another deep breath. "I think that maybe just as we've been talking through our pasts with each other to gain understanding and forgiveness. Maybe I should do the same with those I left behind. I think it's time to return home." He finished, turning back to Draco who'd seemed to deflate again.

"You're leaving?" Harry could hear the fear in his voice.

"No! I'm not leaving… We're leaving."

Draco dropped his hands and took a step back, staring at Harry in disbelief.

"What?"