A/N: Apologies for the late-running chapter, we're both growing ever more busy with work as well as school, and we're trying to work out - pause for dramatic effect - an uploading schedule. It's still in the works, right now, but it is in progress. ~Kas

I love Sirius in this. Sorry that we're very bad at time. -Kit

"You're getting to be too big for your clothes." Pausing from where he was putting his clothes on, Harry looked down at himself before finally just giving a shrug.

"By an inch or two, maybe."

Draco began to grin as he took Harry's hands into his own. "Do you know what this means?"

"That you're going to make me go shopping with you today?" Harry was trying not to grin, twining his hands with Draco's own.

"It means we get to go shopping!" He laughed, pulling Harry towards the door. "Come on, we have to go right away!"

"Wha- Dray, hold on, the stores aren't suddenly going to disappear-" Harry paused, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Draco. "Are they?"

"Well, no," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "But it's summer, so we want to get to the shops before the big Hogwarts rush."

"I suppose you do have a point- Oh! Let me go check on Snuffles real quick, though, okay?"

"Snuffles?"

"Yeah, our new pet dog? He's probably hungry- I mean, obviously he's hungry. C'mon, we can stop by the kitchens and then let your mom know we're going to Diagon Alley."

"First off, we do not have a pet dog. Secondly, if we did, we would not name him 'Snuffles.'"

"Snuffles is a great name for a dog." Harry pulled him along to the kitchens, ducking and weaving between house elves as he grabbed a few things on a plate, throwing out pleasantries to each elf who asked if he needed anything. "And he's definitely a pet. I've always wanted a pet dog, you know."

"Snuffles is a horrible name. He should have something dignified, if we're naming him. Which we're not." Naming a dog meant keeping them, and there was no way that they were keeping a dog.

"What would you name him, then?" Plate piled high with food, Harry balanced a bowl in his other arm as he headed towards the courtyard.

Draco paused and thought it over before nodding. "Hyperion. Not that we're naming him. Because that means we're keeping him."

"Oh, so you'd give him a name as pretentious as the rest of you all are." Wha- Rude! "Snuffles is a great name, you know. I bet Snuffles is waiting right at the edge of the grounds for us."

"Harry, don't give it a name." Draco couldn't help but to roll his eyes. Honestly.

"He's a he, Dray, and his name is Snuffles."

"His name is not Snuffles!"

"Well it's definitely not 'Hyperion'."

"Hyperion is a much better name than Snuffles!" Draco paused as he held his hands out. "Here, let me hold them for a moment."

"Here, just hold the bowl and that'll help." Harry shifted things around until Draco was holding the empty bowl, Harry giving a nod. "And Snuffles is the perfect name."

"Damn. I was going to shove you down the hill."

"I know." Harry smirked, quickly getting out of range of him or any kicking. "C'mon, let's go." Draco rolled his eyes and followed him down the hill. Just like Harry had said, the dog was waiting for them at the bottom. "Hey there, Snuffles!" There was a little yip from the dog, Harry beaming as he set the plate of food down in front of him. "We brought you more food."

"I told you, his name is not Snuffles. It's Hyperion." Draco paused. "Not that we're naming it!" The dog looked between them before bending down and eating the food off the plate. It was a lot less frantic than last night, that was for sure.

"Snuffles, you can stay here as long as you want, okay?" Harry took the bowl back and filled it with water, patting at not Snuffles' head.

"Harry! Perhaps in the dark it may have been different, but what happens when mother and father look out their window and-"

"Well, we're technically on the edges of the grounds, right?" Harry shifted to sit down, watching the mangy thing with fascination and delight. "So he's okay, right? He's not technically trespassing or anything."

"No, but mother and father will see us out cavorting with a dirty, mangy, sickly..." Draco trailed off as he watched the beast look up at him with incredibly sad eyes.

"You hurt his feelings," Harry said, holding his hand out and letting the animal rest his chin on it. "Aw. He's absolutely perfect, Dray."

"He's an absolute beast."

"You really don't like dogs, do you?"

"No, I don't, and for good reason. They're terrifying!"

"No they're not." Harry grinned, sitting up on his knees and hugging the monster. "They're called man's best friend for a reason, after all, you know. Besides, I've always been a good judge of character with people. We can trust him."

"In case you haven't realized, that is not a person." Instead of snapping and turning on them, the dog only went still in Harry's grip, eyes wide and tail utterly still behind him. "Ha- Harry, you might want to-" All at once, the dog slumped against Harry, the boy laughing and scratching at the dog's head as he grinned at Draco. Draco shook his head, crossing his arms. "You are an entirely different species, Harry Potter."

"Maybe." They were going to end up keeping the mangy thing, weren't they? "I like dogs. I told you I wandered around the neighborhood, right? I'd take care of strays and sometimes they'd growl at Dudley when he came around."

Draco sighed. "I hate you." Grin growing, Harry patted the ground beside him. It was also the spot away from the dog. With another heavy sigh, Draco sat down on the ground beside Harry, leaning away from the dog.

"Now was that so hard?" Harry leaned against Draco's side, still patting the dog that looked more like a Grim. "So what kind of year is this going to be, then?"

"A wonderfully normal one." Alright, he couldn't completely blame Harry for the doubting look. "I mean it. Alright - A man alleged to have helped kill your parents broke out of Azkaban earlier this summer and people think he's coming to kill you, but no near death experiences this year!"

"Oh, well as long as there are none of those." A bark from the monster had Draco scrambling back a little bit and oh, dear, that was a very loud bark. "Oh, hush. We didn't even die. We just… came a little close."

"Three times, for your part. I've lost track." Draco slowly settled, keeping a wary eye on the beast. Didn't trust it as far as he could throw it. The creature was already making little noises and pawing at Harry- Merlin that was a huge paw.

"That's probably not a good thing, Dray." Harry only caught the paw and held it, inspecting it. "Huh, he's already fully grown. 'S weird, you usually see only young ones as strays."

"As you said, it's possible he escaped from somewhere." Draco examined the dog from a distance, eyes narrowed.

"I dunno, though. If he had a family he'd be a lot better taken care of. He looks like he's been starved for years." Harry was too sympathetic for his own good. "If he grew up on the streets or in the woods, though, he'd be a lot more feral and would have bitten me by now."

"I don't know, Harry. I don't understand dogs." Draco watched them before laying back on the grass. "It's a nice day out."

"It's a good thing we're going shopping today, then." A long moment passed before Draco felt fingers carding through his hair. "Should we invite Blaise and Pansy, do you think?"

"Mm. If you'd like. I think it'd be fun, but we don't have to."

"How about we shop just me and you, we get lunch with them, and then we can shop for a while the four of us before dinner. Maybe we can meet up with your other friends? Um, Crabbe, Goyle, and... Theo, right?"

"Right. That..." Draco laughed softly as he leaned into Harry's touch. "That sounds wonderful." And days like these were just perfect. The weather was gorgeous, Harry was safe, and he was going to see his friends again.

"We can spend a little bit more time out here, though, I think. It really is a nice day after all."

"It is, isn't it? Hey, Harry..."

"Yeah, Dray?"

"...Nevermind."

This didn't feel like the day for change.

::

"If you don't hurry then we're going to be late meeting up with everyone. See, this is why you shouldn't have signed up for all those extra classes. All those textbooks are going to kill you, Dray."

Draco waved him off. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll catch up." Harry looked between him and the way they were going, huffing a laugh as he looked back to Draco.

"Fine, I'll go ahead and let them know why you're so horribly slow. Wouldn't want them to abandon us, now would we?" Throwing a wink, Harry grinned before he was rushing through the crowds and up ahead to the Leaky Cauldron. It was easy to tell how distracted he was at all the magic he was seeing. Draco couldn't help the smile that escaped as he watched Harry from a distance. The younger really didn't know how enchanting he was, did he? Draco was going to have to fix that. Harry needed to realise just how amazing every aspect of himself was. Not just the Voldemort-killing part. Perhaps he could get some ideas and help from their friends, because, really. Draco couldn't have been the only one to notice how quick Harry was when it came to discrediting himself.

Just as he reached the Leaky Cauldron, he felt his load get lighter and turned to snap at whoever had taken something from him. He was instead met with a very amused looking Blaise. "Harry seemed pretty concerned about you dying on the side of the road with your books. How many did you get?"

"Oh, you know. Just twelve," Draco answered easily, following the sound of Pansy's laughter. At least his friends were easy to track down when he needed to find them.

"Not even I'm taking this many classes," Blaise sighed, looking through the bag he was holding. "This is ridiculous. Are you planning on having time to sleep and eat this year?"

"Semantics," Draco waved off. "Harry dear, can you help me a bit?" Almost in a second Harry was at his side and holding the bag for him, grinning widely.

"See, this is why I sent Blaise back."

"All he really did was tease me," the blond huffed as he sat down and smiled around him. "Well, this is a right reunion, isn't it?"

"We were starting to think those lions finally ate you," Greg snorted, standing next Vince and throwing Draco a smirk. "Nice to see you're still alive."

"Just barely." Draco sighed dramatically. "I did not think that a requirement of being associates with Harry Potter was daily death-defying stunts."

"'Associates,'" Theo raised an eyebrow. "Sure, if that's what you wanna go with. And you don't- Well, no, there was that thing with Quirrell. And then the whole Chamber of Secrets- How are you alive?"

"A thing I wonder each day, Theo," Draco nodded, scooting over to make room for Harry. "What do you want?"

"Oh, uh." Harry blinked before just shrugging. "Order for me?"

"If I must."

"Thanks, Dray." Harry sat down next to him, careful with setting their bags down before starting to dig through for one of their books. Draco couldn't much blame him, since he didn't interact much with Theo, Vince, or Greg. Draco only smiled.

"How's your brother, Theo? He's going to be a first year, this year, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he's excited as can be," Theo laughed. "He's worried about what house he gets, but I told him if he gets Gryffindor then he'll have a pair of Slytherins to help him out."

"And you, Greg? How's your mother," Draco asked.

"She's doing fine," Greg rolled his eyes. "No wonder you always ask after her considering how much you act like her."

"What is that supposed to mean?" With a huff, Draco looked over the menu.

"It means you're as dramatic as any of our mothers," Pansy said, leaning over to tap at something on the menu. "Get him that, he'll like it."

Draco shook his head. "I was thinking something more like..." He pointed to the one a few items down, Pansy tsking and shaking her head as she took her own seat again.

"You spoil him."

"A bit, yes."

"What," Harry asked suddenly, leaning over to peek over his shoulder. "What is it?"

Draco pouted at him, leaning away. "It's a surprise."

"You don't need to make a surprise out of everything, you know," Harry pouted, trying to look at the menu again.

"Sure I do. How else are we going to make it any fun?" Draco easily kept the menu out of reach, trying not to laugh when Harry huffed and slumped against him. Draco did laugh, as well as the others with them as they began to order their food.

It wasn't until after lunch that Blaise was taking Draco aside, grinning in a way that meant trouble, "I take it you two finally talked things out on his birthday, then?"

Draco rose an eyebrow at that. "Talked what out?"

"Your feelings, of course." Oh, not this again. "About time, too. I was starting to worry you two would never get your act together."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Draco huffed, crossing his arms.

"You called him 'dear'. At that point all subtly is out the window." Blaise patted at Draco's back and goodness. He was quite mistaken. "I'm happy for you two."

"No- No, Blaise, you really don't know what you're talking about-"

"No, no, it's okay, I won't tell anyone if you two want to keep it quiet for a while. It's fine. I just wanted to say that I'm happy you two have each other. You're always so down when he's not around."

"Harry and I are not together!" Draco finally screeched.

"Are you and Pansy still on about that." See! Even Harry knew it was ridiculous! "I explained everything to you guys last night at the ball. Can't you just drop it."

"There, you see," Draco huffed. He walked ahead of Blaise to instead stroll alongside Harry, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Honestly. They must be seeing things."

"I'm sure, Dray." Oh, well glad Harry found this all amusing. "C'mon, we should take all our stuff home and then... Huh." Harry paused, looking down at the ground. "Home." Draco smiled, pulling Harry closer.

"I told you you wouldn't have to go back." Laughing, Harry wrapped him up in a hug before nodding.

"Yeah- Yeah, you did. Well? C'mon, then, we need to check on Snuffles."

"Hyperion." Draco nudged him along. "Come on, you need to be fitted for a new wardrobe."

"My clothes are small by one inch," Harry whined, not fighting against the nudging. "And his name is Snuffles."

"Draco!" Pansy seemed to materialize at their sides. "You let his clothes get that small?!"

"I didn't know," Draco quickly defended.

"You Slytherins are all insane," Harry sighed, turning around and heading towards the direction of Madame Malkin's. "I get to pick the clothes this time!"

"Fine," Draco and Pansy harrumphed at the same time. Harry rolled his eyes, trying to hide a smile as he held his hand out towards Draco. Draco finally smiled at him, taking his hand again.

"Unbelievable." Blaise muttered, trailing behind them. "I'm going, too, then. Might as well as show you all what good clothes should look like."

::

"A lot of people had it out for Sirius Black, huh?" Harry was propped up against the still mangy Hyperion and reading a copy if the Daily Prophet.

"People think of a real Slytherin, they think of that story. Betraying all of his best friends and killing most of them off to please the Dark Lord. In case you never noticed, people don't like Slytherin."

"Yeah, well, people are stupid," Harry huffed, slumping down against Hyperion, the dog grumbling and whining. "I think being a Slytherin would have been great."

"Honestly? I think a Slytherin Harry Potter is a bit terrifying. Look at how much trouble you already get into." Draco ran a hand through Harry's hair from where he lay a foot away on the grass.

"Hey, trouble finds me." Harry tilted his head into the touch, flipping through the paper again. "Oh, hey, your parents adopting me made the news."

"Did it?" Draco beamed and sat up, immediately snatching the paper from Harry's hands to read it himself. There were noises of complaint from what sounded like both Harry and the mutt, Draco paying it not mind and wow, there really was an article- Ugh, by Rita Skeeter. Already she was spinning the story in her own twisted way. It seemed the Malfoys were 'corrupting the noble Harry Potter' into becoming 'the next Dark Wizard'. What utter rot. "Hang on. How did they know about that? We did all the legal bits in private," Draco huffed, eyebrows furrowing.

"Maybe the writer of it was at the ball you guys threw and overheard you talking about it?" Harry suggested, patting at a grumbling Hyperion's head. "It's okay, boy, I'm starting to get used to being 'Harry Potter'."

"Harry, he's a dog, he doesn't understand what we're talking about, let alone who you are," Draco scoffed, shaking his head as he read over the paper. 'Interestingly, the Malfoys have a very close tie to one Sirius Black, known to have escaped from Azkaban and is currently hunting the Boy Who Lived. Is it possible Narcissa Malfoy neé Black is saving him for her very close cousin-' "How dare they!"

"What'd they say?" Harry didn't bother trying to read the paper, only fawning over his mutt some more. "It can't be anything too bad, right?"

"They're going after my mother, saying that she's just saving you for Cousin Sirius!"

"Seriously?" That had Harry moving to read the paper over his shoulder, scoffing. "Who is this person? This is so wrong!"

"Rita Skeeter. Slander is her specialty." Draco laid back down on the grass, handing the paper back over to Harry.

"Stirring up trouble sounds like it's her speciality, too," Harry huffed, taking the paper and flipping through it. "Why would anyone ever say things like that? You all saved me."

"Because they think they know us, but they don't," Draco said softly, reaching over to hold Harry's hand. Harry twined their fingers together at once, huffing as he shifted so he was between Draco and Hyperion.

"It's still- Is your Mom showing the Minister around the gardens?"

Draco sat up again with a frown. "The Minister? What's he doing here?"

Following Harry's gaze, Draco saw that Fudge was walking at Narcissa's side, the two talking quietly as they walked through the gardens. Draco might have passed it off if it wasn't for the grim looks that both of them were wearing. Beside him, Harry gave a quiet hum. "Think we should go find out what they're talking about?"

"You read my mind. Do you have your cloak?" Nodding, Harry stood up and brushed himself off.

"It's in my trunk. I'll run and grab it and then we can head over and see what they look so worried about."

Draco nodded. "I'll wait for you." Harry was away in a flash… Leaving Draco with the mutt. With a pause, the blond narrowed his eyes. "Don't you dare set a paw a single millimeter forward, you mutt."

The beast stared at him for a long moment before shifting so his right paw was even closer to Draco. Beyond that, there wasn't a single other move made. Draco still scrambled to put another foot between it and himself.

He didn't relax until he heard Harry's voice, the teen appearing a second later before throwing the cloak over the both of them, wild grin only a hair's breadth away, "Come here often?" Draco rolled his eyes, pushing at Harry's shoulder gently.

"Shut up and let's go." Laughing, Harry twined their fingers together before pulling them over towards the garden where Narcissa and Fudge were walking, quieting down and falling as silent as Draco.

"-just not safe," Fudge was saying, shaking his head. "Perhaps Dumbledore is right in saying we should send the boy back to live with his family. He'd be safer in that world."

"I can guarantee you," Narcissa said sharply. "That is the furthest thing from the truth." Draco held Harry's hand tightly, glancing at him. The teen was looking more calculating than scared, tilting his head as they followed along from a distance.

"With how word has gotten out and your relation don't you think Sirius Black might check here for the boy first? There's still a few weeks until school begins again."

"And we have the wards tightly guarded against any who mean harm to those who live here. If Sirius Black comes within a kilometer, we will be the first to know," the woman reassured. "We, however, will not be sending him back to those that the Ministry calls his family." Narcissa glanced back to the entrance of the garden before speaking softer. "Did you hear what he told Severus?"

"I'm afraid I haven't." Fudge raised a curious eyebrow, Harry tugging on Draco's hand to get them to speed their pace up. "Why? What was said?"

"Cornelius... They starved him and locked him in what he called a 'cupboard.' He says that they beat him." Suppressing a wince as the hand around his tightened to be almost painful, Draco watched as Fudge's face drained of all color.

"Impossible. We were always assured that he was well cared for and looked after- Are you sure he wasn't just blowing things out of proportion?"

"You haven't seen him. The first summer he stayed with us, he looked malnourished. We had to go rescue him from his home. His letters weren't getting through, for a reason that is still a mystery to me, and Draco was worried over him, so the two of us went to his home. They had locks on his door, and a cat flap on the door. When I managed a good proper look, there were bars on his windows. All his books, his robes, and even his wand was locked in a cupboard under the stairs." Draco... Draco had nearly forgotten all about that.

That had only been last summer, too. How had he almost forgotten? The way Narcissa said it so matter-of-factly made it sound so much worse than what it had first looked like, too. "Dear Merlin... There's no possible way Dumbledore could have known about all of this."

"But he must. He sent Harry a letter requesting he return there for the remainder of the summer. That was enough to have the boys running to Severus."

"Perhaps Severus merely hasn't told him of what he's heard. I'll be sure to speak with him and get this all fixed. The wards are secure, however?"

"Absolutely. They're tied to our own magical energies." Narissa glanced back behind them again and turned back to Fudge. "Please, excuse me, Cornelius." Uh oh.

"Oh, of course. I'll go wait in the front hall." As Fudge started walking away, Harry was tugging him back and trying to be as quiet as possible to escape. Shame it wouldn't work.

"Now, Harry, you're excused. However. You, Draco, know better than to eavesdrop."

"Wha- Why is he excused?!" Draco pulled the cloak off to frown up at his mother.

"Because you I've taught to not eavesdrop and that if you must then to not be noticed." Narcissa raised an eyebrow, Draco ready to argue back before Harry stepped in front of him.

"Um, Mrs. Malfoy ma'am? It was my idea to follow you two to see what you were talking about."

"Oh, well that doesn't much matter, Harry. Draco knows better." Narcissa looked them over, tilting her head before finally a soft look crossed her face. "Do you want me to treat you like normal, then?" Oh no.

"I- Um-" Harry looked almost panicked, glancing between Draco and Narcissa before giving a scared little nod. "I guess."

"Alright, then. The both of you, no broom flying for the next week." And with that, she turned and walked off to catch up with Fudge.

Draco sighed, shaking his head. "Honestly, it's probably for the best you agreed. If you'd said no, she probably would have given you two weeks to 'keep you humble' or some rot."

"I... Right." Harry stared after Narcissa, finally looking to Draco. "Is that a normal kind of punishment? No broom flying? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to ban us from dinner for a few nights?"

"Wha- Harry, no. Believe it or not, most parents don't starve their children as punishment."

"Right. Right." Harry nodded, taking the cloak and folding it up. "I think I'll be okay with not going on my broom for a week, especially since we learned that Dumbledore is even trying to get the Minister to make me go back."

"That's what makes me most upset." Draco crossed his arms before finally sighing and taking Harry's hand. "Come on, we may as well go back inside, if we can't fly."

"Alright." Harry took his hand, pausing long enough to raise his voice towards Hyperion. "We'll be back later, Snuffles! Try not to be seen,okay!"

"Hyperion!"