*A/N: Sorry it's been a few days guys but here's the third chapter and the fourth part... Thank you for the ones who reviewed, you are what made me want to upload this tonight instead of tomorrow night so yay to you! ;)

To clear up a few things yes I know that to have a swimming pool in England costs a pretty galleon but let us not forget that they are WITCHES and WIZARDS and thus magical- I love using that excuse! lol! Besides the Potters and Blacks are both insanely rich on their own, so just think of what they could be combined? $_$

Someone might ask why they chose to keep Harry and Lily's original house then if they could simply buy another... Since Lily is a muggleborn I think she'd want to give Harry a stable and "normal" childhood as much as possible and it still has very strong blood wards, ones that might be difficult if near impossible to move to another house.

Enough ramblings, time for chapter 3!

Chapter Three: And Away We Go

Cyril sat the backyard of his childhood home, one leg raised up on the swinging seat he sat on, his other hung over in a relaxed position, his toes barely skimming over the long grass. It was Harry's turn to mow the lawn this week but his brother had of course forgotten amidst the chaos of packing and saying goodbye to friends and family... Cyril couldn't blame him, it had been one hell of a week, and even his patience had reached it's limits, which is why he was sitting alone outside at 9 o'clock at night.

Releasing out a sigh, Cyril stared up at the night sky and let his mind wander back to dinner...

Harry and Cyril sat across the table from Lily and Sirius, with Remus Lupin on one end of the table, Godfather to both Harry and Cyril. All five were happily eating their steak and shrimp and assorted other delicacies that the family normally didn't have unless it was a holiday, birthday, or Lily felt the urge to go all Betty Crocker on them. Harry and Sirius were talking excitedly about Gryffindor house and who they knew would be best in which house.

The conversation was going on smoothly enough, with Harry asking so many questions that he was making it hard for the adults to eat, when Sirius pointed out that both he, Harry's father James, Lily and Remus had all been in Gryffindor, so Harry was sure to get into the house of the brave. And without missing a beat Harry wrapped his arms around Cyril's left arm with the boy in mid bite. "Gryffindor won't know what hit 'em with Cy and I in it!" Harry proclaimed happily, completely unaware of the looks Remus and Sirius were shooting the other boy, or the way Lily worriedly looked away, biting her lip in thought.

Cyril did though. He could always see the looks and feel the weight of those long pauses.

Shrugging out of his brother's embrace, Cyril glared at his father and said with venom, "What good is bravery if you don't have the cunning? You'd be just a house of fools running around without the brains to do any good." With that Cyril rose from his seat and left the table, leaving his food uneaten and their eyes trailing after him.

Harry stood at the sliding glass doors, staring out at his brother in the backyard, swinging and staring off into space. A soft hand fell onto his shoulder and he looked up into his mother's face, smiling some as her thumb rubbed circles on his back. "It's okay hun," Lily said, leaning down and putting a kiss on the top of Harry's head. "He's just nervous for tomorrow and the boys weren't helping matters... Go upstairs and get ready for bed, okay?" Harry nodded and watched his mother open the door, closing it behind her and biting his bottom lip in thought.

The night was pleasantly cool but still held a bit of summer warmth on it's breeze, the scent of flowers and the sounds of crickets singing in the night as Lily walked around the pool and to the far side where Cyril sat. Crossing her arms over her chest, Lily smiled down at the boy and cleared her throat to get his attention, smiling when he finally looked her way. "Hullo handsome... This seat taken?" Lily gestured to the right of where Cyril was sitting and, at the shake of the head he gave her, sat down and kicked off of the ground to regain some lost momentum.

They both sat there for a few minutes, simply content in letting nature resume her orchestra before Lily moved her arm and wrapped it around her son's shoulders, bringing him closer to her. He rested his head against her chest after a tense moment and Lily brought up hand to card her fingers through his hair. "It's hard living in a lions' den isn't it love?" She said softly, staring out at the lit pool and a few of the moths fluttering above the calm surface. When Cyril nodded his head Lily smiled sadly and kissed his forehead. "But it's okay to be different... It's what makes us strong and so important to each other, and this goes for life at Hogworts and after. The prejudices you'll face in school because of those silly house rivalries won't matter when you leave that place, people won't be wearing colors afterwards to show you who is bad and who is good... What matters is what you feel inside. Do you understand?"

Cyril didn't reply right away but took a moment to think all of what she said over first. It was so like the same speech she always gave, tweaked here and there to fit their current conversation, so Cyril knew what she wanted him to say... With another nod, he pushed away from her supposed to be comforting embrace and looked away just as a green and white with black hair blur flew past him and dove into the pool!

Flinching back, Cyril stared at the spot his little brother had splashed into the pool before letting out a snort and smiling again. Their mother could talk until she was blue in the face but, if it weren't for Harry, Cyril would never believe that people could look beyond what they see. His father might always hate the sight of him, their mother might always pity him, and the other children might be intimidated by his mature personality- but Harry would always love him.

Harry's head broke out of the water and he gave Cyril the biggest smile his face could make. "Don't worry about school Cyril! We'll make a splash! Get it?"

Cyril let his head fall back with an exaggerated groan at the bad joke and Lily laughed and clapped her hands, the noise level in their cozy backyard skyrocketing when Sirius came out dragging Remus and both men fell in as well. Clearly bed time would be moving back some tonight...

The Next Day

Harry and Cyril had just burst through the wall for Platform 9 & 3/4 when the Hogworts express let out it's final boarding whistle. "This is so your fault!" Cyril called out as they ran, pushing their trolley at break neck speed while Harry kept pace beside him, looking over his shoulder every few seconds and waving his arm excitedly as their mother waved them on. "Bye mum! BYE! Love you!" Harry shouted out, completely ignoring Cyril's comment until they were finally on the train and moving out of the station. Turning some, Harry shot his brother a glare and picked up his luggage, leaving Cyril to struggle with his own along with his owl's cage as they made their way down the corridor in search of a free compartment.

"And how was it my fault we had to run through the station like chickens on crack?" Harry asked with a frown, looking into the windows that they passed and waving hellos to people they knew from other families or kids they had met during their trips to Diagon Alley.

"Mum needs to stop letting you watch muggle tv, it's clearly corrupting your already fragile mind... And it was your fault because you kept everyone up late last night with that damn impromptu pool party! We were going to go to bed early last night so we could get a fresh start today. Now look at us, all sweaty and disheveled. You and that damn dog hugging and crying at home... Thank Merlin we made it at all!"

Cyril was about to continue complaining when he spotted Draco Malfoy up ahead, a cousin of his that he had only met once since his father hated that branch of his family. Still the two had clicked and had kept in correspondence through the years unlike Harry who had been allowed to visit and spend weeks at a time with his friends the Weaselys, Longbottoms, Lovegoods, ect. Cyril stepped away from Harry and raised a hand to get Draco's attention, who quickly spotted him as well and rushed forward, sending Harry a sour look before focusing all of his attention on Cyril. "Black! Good to see you again finally! What has it been, two years?" Draco gushed out, going to Cyril's other side and taking a hold of his arm, smiling up at the taller boy with large blue eyes.

Preening under all of the attention he wasn't used to getting, Cyril grinned down at the boy and nodded happily. "Two and a half I think! It's good to be back in some superior company again." Draco's grin seemed to widen at this and Harry frowned over at his brother, not sure if he should feel insulted or not. Draco was quick to cut in before he could speak up though. "Welcome back to the world of the refined my dear cousin! Why don't you come to the honorary Slytherin compartment with me?" Cyril was delighted and quick to agree but then looked over to Harry and saw his brother with his arms crossed and foot tapping, looking almost the spitting image of their mother in that moment with his green eyes flashing. "Ah, but my brother-"

"Will be more comfortable with the Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs I'm sure! They're such a cute and happy lot," Draco cut in smoothly, sending Harry a smirk and taking a hold of Cyril's arm tighter, beginning to steer him away. "Ta Harry, why don't you go find your little friend Weasel while the big boys talk?" And with that the two boys disappeared into a compartment down the corridor with a loud click and Harry was left by himself, fuming and hurt. It took him a moment before he realized Draco's slip of the tongue and, as if it mattered, yelled out in his friend's defense, "It's WEASELY!"

Red in the face, Harry whirled around and was about to stomp off, luggage be damned, when he ran right into a strong, warm, living wall. Long arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders and Harry blinked owlishly up into Ron Weasely's freckled, grinning face. "Ron!" He shouted happily and brought his arms up, hugging his friend excitedly. Ron returned the hug and laughed, ruffling Harry's hair as they pulled apart. "Harry mate I was looking all over for you at the station! Where were you? Ginny really wanted to see you and mum made you some new socks," at this Ron shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a pair of red and gold stripped socks, passing them over to a smiling Harry. "You never should have told her you liked Fred and George's clothes, now she won't stop making them! Particularly the socks!"

Harry laughed at that and put the socks in his luggage, happy with the colors since he really wanted to be in Gryffindor house and, apparently, so did everyone else. "It's cool Ron, I really do like them!And I'm sorry about the disappearing act, I'll explain it all as soon as we sit down. Do you know where everyone else is?" Ron bent down and picked up Harry's luggage with a grunt and a grin and nodded in the opposite direction of the Slytherin compartment. "This way mate, everyone's excited to see you! And there's been a ton of people who came by to see the famous 'Boy Who Lived'! Come on!" Ron said happily and started down the corridor, with Harry following a second later after a long look back at where his brother had disappeared, hoping that this wasn't a preview of what was to come...

*A/N: Short chapter I know but it's either have them short and fast or long and hard- er, I mean slow! ;P

Which would you guys prefer?

Also I'm not sure if anyone has noticed but I'm going to be peppering this story with lots of slashy, flirty, and brotherly love moments. In no way does this mean an explicit scene is coming up in the near future, I just don't like stories that are WHAM! BAM! Thank you Ma'am! with the love scenes. Build up is key!

Any comments or questions please leave it in a review and I'll get back to you! Or just say that you're enjoying this, I'd love to hear from you!

Ciao~!