Part 6

Brian awoke the next morning feeling much calmer then he had the night before when he had gone to bed. He credited his young lover for his mood and reached over to Justin's side of the bed, only to find it empty. Brian only had a moment to wonder where Justin was before said blonde exited the bathroom.

"Hey," Brian greeted the teen, who came over and lay back on the bed, on top of the covers. The two men kissed tenderly, a smile on both of their lips when they parted.

"Morning." They kissed again, this time the kiss becoming more passionate. Much too quickly, though, they separated. "As much as I would like to continue this, and boy would I love to continue this, I better go make something for our young guest to eat." Justin stood up and grinned down at his lover. "So, what exactly to up and coming wizards like to eat?" Justin laughed as he ran; avoiding the pillow that Brian tossed at him.

"Twat," Brian shouted.

"But you love me anyway," Justin retorted, heading towards the kitchen area. He wasn't sure what their young guest likes to eat, but he figured that he couldn't go wrong with blueberry pancakes. Brian had always told him how much he liked his pancakes and he wanted to treat his lover to something special, knowing that whatever was about to happen with Harry's entrance into their lives wasn't going to be easy on Brian.

"I've never seen two men together," a shy voice said from the direction of the couch, causing Justin to jump.

"Shit," Justin turned to face the teen. "I didn't think you were up yet."

"Sorry," Harry said, sheepishly, standing and stretching.

"Don't worry about it," Justin brushed it off. Justin turned back to the counter. "How did you sleep? I know the couch isn't the exactly all that comfortable."

"It was okay. I've slept in worse. Actually until I was eleven, my aunt and uncle made me sleep in a closet under the stairs."

"Are you serious?" Justin asked, horrified that anyone would do that to a child. "Why did they do that?"

"They didn't like me," Harry replied, matter of fatedly. He had long grown out of needing his blood family's approval. He was happy with the extended family that he had found during his time at Hogwart's. "My Aunt Petunia is my mum's sister. Her and my Uncle Vernon didn't want me with them. They hate the fact that I'm a wizard. Actually when I first found out about the whole thing, my uncle said that they had vowed they would rid me of the whole thing. How they intended on doing that, though, I have no idea."

"With a family like that, no wonder you were sent here. You fit in perfectly."

"What do you mean?"

"What Justin is trying to say is that, with the exception of Mikey, none of our little group has the ideal family life," Brian commented, coming out of the bedroom and joining the other two men. He grabbed an apple from the bowl of fruit that was sitting on the counter separating the kitchen from the rest of the loft. Justin grabbed it out of his hand before Brian had been able to so much as take a bite out of it.

"I'm making pancakes and I expect you to eat some," Justin admonished.

"Whatever," Brian rolled his eyes. He accepted the glass of juice that Justin handed him. "Now, Sunshine, don't forget to offer our guest anything."

"Can I get you something, Harry? Orange juice, milk, water?"

"I'll take some juice, please," Harry answered. Justin poured the juice and handed it to him. "So how long have the two of you been together?"

"Two damn long," Brian muttered, earning himself a smack from his lover. "Watch it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've been together off and on for three years."

"Cool." Just then the phone rang and Brian went to get it, leaving Justin and Harry to talk. He had a feeling that Harry would be asking questions about the couple that he would just as soon as have Justin answer.

"Hi Mikey," Brian said, already knowing it would be his best friend on the other end. Justin had told him about what Ben had said to everyone, so he had been expecting the phone call.

"Brian, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Mikey. Why wouldn't I be?"

"What do you mean? Some strange kid comes looking for you. Telling you that some guy named Dumbledore sent him to you because another guy named Voldemort was back. And Ben told us about that guy. About Hogwarts. Why didn't you tell me you were a wizard?"

"I'm not a wizard, Mikey," Brian said patiently. He knew that his friend was only worried about him, and he did appreciate it, but he also didn't really want to get into his past over the phone. Especially with Michael. It was going to be hard enough to tell him that he was leaving because he knew Michael wouldn't understand why.

"But Ben said that Hogwart's was a school for witches and wizards."

"Right."

"And you went to Hogwarts, right."

"Right," Brian drawled out.

"Well then why wouldn't you be a wizard? You were always a good student so there's no way you didn't learn anything while you were there," Michael reasoned.

"Mikey, Mikey, Mikey, have you ever seen me do anything even remotely magical?"

"You mean other than at the baths or in the backroom?"

"I said magical, not legendary," Brian rolled his eyes, his attention drawn towards the kitchen where Justin and Harry were now eating the pancakes that his lover had made for breakfast. The two boys were laughing at something that Justin had said and Brian wanted nothing more than to go over to them and join them. "Look, Mikey, the reason I didn't tell you about my going to Hogwarts was because you didn't need to know."
"What do you mean, I didn't need to know? Of course I needed to know. I'm your best friend."

"I know that, but this didn't have anything to do with that. I had to keep it a secret from everyone in case Jack and Joanie found out I was still taking my lessons. And then, after they did find out, I didn't want anyone to know what had happened. All I wanted was to graduate and get the hell out of the Pitts."

"Brian," Michael continued to whine but Brian had had enough.

"Not another word, Mikey. Look, I'm sure we'll talk more about this at Linds and Mel's tonight. Right now, I've got things to do."

"But Brian," Michael tried to talk more but Brian hung up the phone, not wanting to listen to it anymore. The ad exec knew there was no way his friend would let him get away with what little he had told him, but Brian also knew that he wasn't in the mood to get into anything over the phone. He went over to Justin, wrapping his arms around the younger man and kissing him.

"Everything okay?"

"It will be." Brian grabbed a piece of bacon off of Justin's plate and turned to face Harry.

"So, Harry, what does Dumbledore want from us?"