Harry was at the end of the path that led up to Colin's front door before he heard angry shouting coming from the house. He supposed Colin's father was giving him hell for being out so late. Harry wasn't too worried. He assumed it might be normal parent behavior. If his Aunt and Uncle caught him when he got home, he'd be in for the talking to of his life, but he didn't think that being caught by a parent would be quite the same.

Then he heard the sound of glass shattering. He was back on Colin's doorstep quicker than he thought possible, turning the knob and opening the door. The sight that met him utterly horrified him.

The first thing Harry saw was Colin's father, looking very threatening and standing over Colin's form. Colin was down on the floor, clutching a hand to his face. Harry heard him let out a whimper. The shattered remains of a beer bottle weren't very far off from Colin.

Harry was so full of anger he didn't know what to do. He rushed forward, lifting Colin to his feet. He took a protective stance in front of the other boy. Colin sobbed quietly.

"Who the hell are you?" Colin's father asked, squinting blood shot eyes at Harry. It was obvious he'd been drinking, and quite a bit more than Harry. "A friend of this fairy here, are you?"

Harry stared Colin's father in the eye. The man, though taller than Colin, was just a little shorter than he was and Harry didn't find him very threatening. If he had to, he would take the muggle man down with his bare hands. He didn't take time to think about how he didn't really know how to do that.

"Yeah, I'm his friend. You'd better not come any closer." Harry was trying to make it sound like there could be no arguing with him. He hoped he sounded more confident in his physical prowess than he actually was.

"You're another queer, then, aren't you? What do you think you could do to me? You queers are all a bunch of sissies." Colin's father cackled hollowly at that, a humorless sound. He took a long step forward to close the space between himself and Harry. "You'd better keep your nose out of my business and be on your merry way, or you're apt to get hurt, little man."

Harry didn't budge. If anything, he grew even angrier, "You great bloody git. You don't deserve to have a son like Colin."

"I'll not be talked to that way in my own house!" Colin's father growled, taking another step forward. That was all the encouragement Harry needed. With all the strength he could muster, he gave the muggle man a great shove, knocking him flat on his back.

"Come on!" Harry grabbed Colin's hand and started pulling him towards the door. They were nearly out the door when Colin stopped their progress.

"What is it?" Harry spun around to face Colin, who looked absolutely terrified. "Harry, we can't leave Dennis! Dad'll beat him something fierce when he comes out of it and I'm not here." Harry agreed, looking down at Colin's father. He looked like he wasn't quite sure what happened, a little bit dazed even. He muttered something as he started to stir.

"Let's go get him, then." Colin ran up the stairs to the right, taking them two at a time. Harry followed close behind him.

"Dennis, wake up!" Colin called, shaking his brother awake. After a few moments, Dennis blinked sleepily and sat up in bed. "Whatsamatter?"

"No time to explain. Just get up and come with us." Colin hurriedly shoved articles of clothing into a duffel bag, stuffing it until he was full. He was part way to the door before he returned to the other side of the room. He reached into the bottom drawer of a dresser in the corner and pulled out a fuzzy red sock that drooped heavily at the bottom, the contents of the sock clinking together when Colin moved it. He shoved it in his pocket.

"Colin, what's going on? Who's that with you?" Dennis questioned, rubbing his eyes and seeming to wake up. He let out a gasp, "Harry!"

"Stop chattering and move, Dennis!" Colin ran over and dragged his brother out of bed, pulling him to his feet. "Colin, that hurts!"

Colin hurried his brother to the door, and Harry followed the pair. They reached the top of the stairs before they heard a roar of anger.

"We won't be able to get away from him fast enough if we go down there." Colin looked panicked. Tears shone wetly in his eyes. Harry wanted nothing more than to make them disappear. That would have to wait until later.

"The window!" Harry started, rushing back into the room they'd just left. After the Creevey brothers were safely inside, he slammed the door shut and turned to Colin. "Lock it." Colin complied.

For the second time that night, Harry hoisted himself out a second floor window. This time, there was no convenient tree branch to help his escape, only empty space. This was no time, however, to try and find an easier route down to the ground, so he lowered himself out the window until he was clinging to the sill by his fingertips. He let go. His feet touched the ground shortly after, but he overbalanced at the last second and fell head long into a bush in the Creevey's lawn, scratching up his arms and face a bit.

"You two, do just what I did!" He called up the window. "I'll try to catch you if you fall. Dennis, you come first."

Dennis appeared at the window, looking quite frightened. He hesitated, and Harry thought Colin was going to have to shove the younger boy out the window to get him going, but after a few seconds Dennis closed his eyes and came feet first out the window, letting out a cry as he plummeted quickly towards the ground. Harry stepped over at the nick of time, bracing Dennis with an arm so he wouldn't fall over.

"Come on, Colin!" Harry called up to the window. He could hear Mr. Creevey pounding violently on the door. It would give in any second. "Come on!"

Colin was at the window at once, and didn't hesitate a moment before following in the footsteps of Harry and his brother. He tossed his duffel bag out the window, narrowly missing Harry's head. In no time at all, he was on the ground with Harry on one side and Dennis on the other. Harry hugged Colin for a long moment. He didn't want to let go of the other boy but he had no choice. He grabbed Colin's duffel from the ground, and uttered a single word as he took hold of Colin's hand.

"Run!"

Harry could hear the two brothers' father shouting from the front step of their house, but they were already a block or so away and it was dark. He hadn't seen which way they'd went and it was unlikely he'd be able to follow them in his current state, anyway.

The three boys didn't stop running for quite a number of blocks and they didn't stop walking until long after that. It was just starting to get light out before they came to a small all night diner. They decided to stop, clean up and get something to eat.

First they went into the rest room. Colin handed the duffel to his brother, who took it into one of the stalls to change into something that wasn't pajamas. Harry had carried Dennis part of the way, since he hadn't been able to put on shoes during their hurried escape.

Harry tried to clean up the small cuts and bruises on his arms and face as best he could. Colin frowned at his reflection in the mirror. His father had given him quite the shiner.

"Does it hurt much?" Harry asked. He moved to face Colin, picking the other boy up and sitting him on the washroom counter between two sinks to inspect the large, angry bruise.

"Only when I touch it." Colin replied. "It's not that bad."

Harry frowned, "I wish I could have stopped him from hitting you. You don't deserve it."

"He's never done it before. I guess he must have saw us out on the step and just couldn't control himself. He never used to drink so much, either, I don't really know what's going on with him."

Harry pressed his forehead against Colin's, looking into the younger boy's eyes. "That's the last chance he'll have to hurt you, that's for damn sure. I'm not going to let him hit you again." Harry punctuated this with a kiss, a gentle kiss that showed signs of escalating to the type of kiss they'd shared earlier, the kind that made Harry's heart beat harder. After only a few moments, Colin pulled back and leaned against the mirror.

"Dennis'll hear us." He said quietly, peering at the stall his brother still occupied.

"Let him hear." Harry didn't care if Dennis heard, he just wanted to be close to Colin. He felt like he'd lived through an entire lifetime in the past few hours, a lifetime he'd shared with Colin. They'd gone through the experience together. He felt closer to Colin than he would expect after so little time. He would think about it later when they'd had a chance to calm down.

"I'm not ready to tell him yet, that's all. I will soon, just not now."

Harry nodded, "I understand." Then he chuckled. Colin looked at him questioningly.

"I can just see Dennis at school, bragging to everyone in his year. 'My brother's the famous Harry Potter's boyfriend. It's true.' He's going to be so proud of you, I'm sure."

Colin flushed, and so did Harry, realizing he'd just implied a relationship that didn't exist. Not yet, anyway.

"There we go." Dennis smiled as he exited the stall, now fully dressed. He handed the bag he'd taken his clothes from back to Colin, his pajama bottoms hanging out the side a little. Harry noted his fuzzy green socks, and made a note to remedy Dennis' lack of footwear as soon as possible.

Harry cleared his throat and stepped away from Colin, as he'd been standing rather close to the other boy. No sense in getting Dennis asking questions just yet. "Let's get some breakfast, shall we?"

Colin nodded and Dennis shrugged, so Harry exited the restroom with the other two boys in tow. They slid into a booth in the main part of the diner, Harry then Colin on one side, Dennis on the other.

"What can I get you?" A tired-looking waitress asked, slouching up to their table. She looked like she might be in her late thirties, or maybe she was in her early thirties and just needed a good nap. Harry couldn't really tell.

"What would you like, Dennis?" Harry asked, smiling. "It's on me."

Dennis grinned happily, "I'll have some eggs and bacon, please, and toast with marmalade, and a large glass of chocolate milk." The waitress jotted this all down on a notepad she had with her.

"Right then, well I'll have-" Harry grinned at the look that Colin gave him, a look that said 'Why didn't you ask me what I wanted?' "A stack of pancakes with blueberries, and a mug of coffee, no sugar or cream. My friend here will have some waffles topped with bananas and brown sugar, if its not too much trouble. Bring him a glass of milk, too, please." Harry smiled at the waitress politely.

His polite manner seemed to brighten the waitress up a bit, and she smiled back. "Is that all, dear?" Harry nodded, and the waitress took their order off to the kitchens.

Dennis started fiddling with a sugar packet, which promptly tore open, spilling sugar crystals all down his front. He blushed and brushed at them in embarrassment.

Colin turned to Harry slightly, giving him a playful poke in the ribs, just a light one, "That just happens to be my favorite thing to have for breakfast." He grinned.

Harry winked, letting out a genuinely happy chuckle, "If there's one thing I knew about you before this whole ordeal, it's that more often than not when I see you at breakfast in the great hall, you're sitting there with a stack of waffles with bananas and brown sugar on top. I don't think I've seen you have anything else for breakfast... Well, ever. The image must have stuck."

Colin grinned widely, his cheeks flushing in the way Harry had become quite accustomed to. Giving the boy another wink, he coyly reached down under the table and gave Colin's leg a pat. Dennis was politely oblivious to the happenings on the other side of the table, as he was still ridding himself of sugar crystals.

"So." Dennis piped up after making sure he was once again sugar-free, "No one's told me yet why you two woke me up, made me jump out a window and run around all night in my pajamas."

"Er." Started Colin.

"Oh, look, the food's here." said Harry, as the waitress who'd taken their order returned with a large round tray piled with their order. It looked almost as good as the food the school house-elves prepared at Hogwarts.

Colin looked up at the waitress with a grateful smile, "Thanks."

"Just pay at the front when you're ready." She smiled and walked off, starting to clean the counter. There were no other customers to tend to.

All three boys dug in to the delightfully hot food, Colin and Harry carefully avoiding conversation opportunities with the third boy.

Harry finished off his pancakes in a hurry. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He rose then without giving the brothers any sort of explanation. After paying their waitress at the front, Harry exited the diner and glanced around at the surrounding shops. Luckily, they were starting to open. He wouldn't have to wait too long. He walked across the street towards a shop that looked likely to have what he was looking for: A pair of shoes for Dennis.

The sign just behind the glass window of the door proclaimed that the shop wouldn't open for another hour. For a moment, Harry felt defeated. Then Harry noticed movement within the shop. Without thinking first, he rapped against the door a little too hardly with his knuckles. The person inside stopped what they were doing and looked up. They approached the door warily, eying Harry with slight suspicion. "We don't open until eight o'clock. Come back then."

"I've not got the time to wait." said Harry. The man inside just shook his head. Harry sighed in exasperation and reached into the back pocket of his jeans, fishing some money out of his wallet and pressing the notes against the glass pane for the man to see. "Will you let me in now?"

The man thought about it for a few moments before unlocking the door and letting Harry in. Harry let out another sigh before handing the notes over to the man. The man seemed pretty pleased with himself. Without waiting for assistance, Harry sought out the footwear department. After searching for a few minutes, he found a pair of trainers that looked suitable. He found the man that had let him in, who seemed to be the only person about.

"I want these." Harry told him, smiling shyly. "I'm sorry for the trouble, my friend lost his shoes." The man raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. Harry shrugged, "You know how nights out with your mates can be."

Harry paid and thanked the man before leaving the store and going back to the Diner where the Creevey brothers were waiting with now empty plates and nearly empty drinks.

"Ready to go?" asked Harry. The two of them nodded.

"Here, Dennis. Wear these. I think they should fit, they might be a little loose, though."

Dennis complied without questioning Harry and did indeed find them to be a little big. Once Dennis had the shoes on, Harry beckoned for both he and Colin to follow him out of the Diner.

"I spent most of the money I had on me on Dennis' shoes." Harry told them. Dennis flushed a little, and Harry immediately said, "Don't worry, Dennis, its no problem at all. What I was getting at, though, is that we can't call up a Taxi like I'd originally thought we would. We'll have to take the underground. Is that a problem?"

Both brothers shook their heads no, but then Colin spoke.

"Harry, where exactly are we going?"

Harry smiled, "Where else would three teenage wizards with no where to go, go? Diagon Alley."

It wasn't very much of a walk to the nearest underground access, and they were able to take a route that brought them out fairly close to Charing Cross Road. Soon, they found themselves standing in front of the entrance of The Leaky Cauldron, and they seemed to be the only ones on the street that could see the rather seedy looking bar. Harry had decided long ago that it was only visible to those that were magically inclined. As the eyes of passing muggles roamed from the building on the one side of the bar to the building on the other side, his thoughts were only reaffirmed.

"You two can stay here for a few minutes while I go to Gringott's, can't you?" Harry asked. Colin and Dennis responded in the affirmative. They sat down at a small table in the corner, eying a rather peculiar looking witch with curiosity. Harry was certain they'd be safe. Though it didn't look very charming from the outside, The Leaky Caldron wasn't that bad of a place. After his stop off at Gringott's, Harry would rent them a couple of the rooms that were available above the bar.

Harry entered Gringott's under the eyes of a pair of surly looking goblin guards and immediately went up to one of the slightly less threatening goblins behind the counter.

"Er." He started. "I'm Harry Potter. I've come to withdraw some money from my vault, vault 687."

"Key, please." said the goblin. With a bit of a sickening feeling, Harry realized he didn't have the key to his vault at the wizarding bank. He kept it in his trunk with his school things and he couldn't have known when he left Privet Drive that he would need it later

"Er, I don't have it with me."

The goblin blinked. "Well, do you have any proof of identity, then?"

"Er." Harry said again. Did he have anything that would prove who he was? Then it came to him. Smiling, he lifted his fringe up off his forehead to show the waiting goblin the scar just under his hairline, shaped like a bolt of lightning. That would make it obvious he was who he said he was.

The goblin gave the scar an appraising look before moving to a wall behind him, plucking a key from the many that were hanging from the wall and motioning for Harry to follow him.

Soon, Harry had followed the shorter creature through a door and he was sitting behind the goblin in a small cart. While the cart started off slowly, it was soon going at break-neck speeds. Harry doubted he would ever get used to how things worked in Gringott's. He curled up into a ball in the back of the cart and tried not to feel sick.

It took a few minutes to get to Harry's vault. He was glad when the small cart stopped and he was able to get out. The goblin walked up the vault, stuck the key into the door and turned it. The door opened, and both Harry and the goblin stepped inside.

The vault was still nearly full with gold galleons, silver sickles, and bronze knuts. Harry's parents, it seemed, had been quite well off before they'd died. When Harry had first seen the vault full of money and been told it was all his, he'd been amazed.

He'd not gone dotty with the money as many teenagers might have, only spending what he thought he needed to. No sense going broke before he was through school, that was for sure. Harry piled many galleons, some sickles, and a few knuts into Colin's duffel, which he'd brought along with him since he didn't have anything else to carry the money in and Galleons were quite large.

"I think that'll be all then." Harry told the goblin. The pair of them left the vault. The goblin locked it again within moments and they were back the way they'd come, in the speeding cart. Another few minutes and Harry was back on his way to the Leaky Cauldron and the Creevey brothers, after picking up ice cream cones for the three of them at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. He thought they could all use a bit of a treat after what they'd been through, never mind that they'd just had breakfast.

Harry entered the Leaky Cauldron to find Colin and Dennis still at the small table he'd left them at. He handed them the ice cream he'd bought for each of them, and pulled up a chair from an empty table.

Colin took a nibble at his, and Dennis gave his a rather loud slurp to start off with. The younger brother then lowered his ice cream and stared pointedly at both Colin and Harry in turn.

"It's time the two of you told me what this is all about, bringing me so far away from home and all. Spill the every-flavor beans, won't you?"

Colin looked sidelong at Harry, who smiled encouragingly at him, saying, "He'll find out sooner or later. Best to tell him before he starts jumping to conclusions."

Colin nodded, and cleared his throat. Harry could see he was trying to find the right words.

"Er." Colin started, the tops of his ears turning red like Ron's did a lot of the time. Harry grinned.

"Well, you see Dennis." Colin was turning pinker by the moment, "You see, the thing is-" Harry would have interjected, but this seemed to him to be something Colin needed to tell his brother himself. "The thing is, Harry and I, we're-" Colin glanced at Harry momentarily, then to his brother. "Harry and I, we're, well," At that, Colin reached down and took Harry's hand in his, pulling it from where it had been resting and placing their intertwined hands on the table top for Dennis to see. Colin now watched his brother with wide eyes, holding his breath. Harry could feel the other boy's hand trembling in his own and he gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

Dennis' jaw dropped in surprise, and his ice cream cone dropped as well, making a slight plopping noise as its top hit the table. It stayed there like that for a small while before falling onto its side and rolling to the floor.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence and staring, Dennis spoke.

"Fantastic!" He smiled widely as he spoke.

Colin blinked. "What?"

"Well, you've liked him for so long and all. I'm glad you two have started getting on with things."

Colin stared, his mouth opening and closing, as it was his turn now to be surprised. Finally, he was able to say, "How'd you know, Dennis?"

Dennis chuckled, "I'm not entirely daft, you know. I've seen how you look at him." He waggled his eyebrows, "Plus, I found some notes you and Ginny'd been writing hidden in your school trunk."

Colin blushed, "Dennis! Why were you snooping in my things?"

Dennis looked indignant, "I wasn't snooping! I was just looking for a quill. Some of us don't do our summer work first thing, you know."

Colin shook his head in disbelief, but Harry could see that a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Harry gave Colin's hand another squeeze and smiled.

"Now that's settled, I'm going to carry on with my ice cream." Colin used the hand that wasn't holding Harry's to raise is ice cream to his lips and take a bite. Soon, he'd polished off the tasty treat, as Harry had his. Dennis stared at his on the ground all the while, quite more upset about it than the news that his brother and Harry Potter might possibly be becoming an item.

"We'll get you another." Harry said. This made Dennis brighten up considerably.

Harry glanced around for the care taker of the Leaky Cauldron, "First thing, though, we need to get ourselves some rooms to stay in."

Harry's companions nodded in agreement, and he stood, walking over to the other side of the room where he'd just spotted the bald, toothless landlord, Tom.

"Why, if it isn't Mister Potter." said Tom, smiling. Harry thought he could spot a single tooth inside of Tom's mouth. Maybe he wasn't toothless after all.

"Hello, Tom. Have you any rooms available?"

Tom thought for a few moments, "We're pretty full just now, the holidays and all, you know. But I'll see what I can round up for you. I'll only be a moment." With that, he disappeared behind a curtained doorway, leaving Harry to wait for him.

Harry waited patiently for Tom to come back, folding his arms across his chest and looking around at the patrons of the Leaky Cauldron.

Tom was back again shortly. "I've got one double bed across the hall from one single. Will that do?"

Harry nodded, "How much?"

"For you, six galleons a day. Sound fair?"

Harry nodded once again, and handed Tom eighteen galleons. He'd give the man more later, if they hadn't figured out what to do in three days' time. Tom handed him a pair of keys and he went back to the Creevey brothers, smiling.

"They've only two rooms, a single and a double. Do you two want to share?"

Dennis piped up, "I think you two should take the double. I'm sure you've lots of talking and such to do." Neither Harry nor Colin argued. The three of them went upstairs and found their rooms. Harry gave one of the keys to Dennis. He had disappeared into his room before Harry unlocked the one he would be sharing with Colin.

The room, like the room Harry had stayed in once a couple years ago, was quite cozy looking. There was a large brick fireplace in the corner, two squashy yellow armchairs on a large rug in front of it. There was a dresser on the other side of the room and in the very middle of the room was a large, canopied bed with what looked to be white satin sheets. On either side of the bed were night stands, and only a few feet from the bed was small table surrounded by matching chairs.

Harry deposited the duffel they'd brought along on one of the wooden chairs, hung his jacket on the back of the same chair and kicked off his boots. Now that he was in such a comfortable looking room, he felt positively exhausted. He released a yawn that seemed to have sneaked up on him, sitting down on the edge of the satin covered bed.

"Tired?" Colin asked, his own eyes drooping a little. Harry grinned.

"Looks like you could use a bit of a nap, yourself." Harry said. Too tired to worry about remaining decent, Harry made quick work of removing his T- shirt and jeans, along with his socks. He wasted no time in crawling under the soft white sheets of the bed and snuggling in. His eyes closed as soon as his head hit the pillow, but he did not drift off to sleep until Colin was in the bed with him, snuggled warmly against him. Harry wrapped an arm around Colin and gave him a peck on the cheek before drifting off into a deep sleep.