Epilogue: Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts.


It was a bustling Tuesday evening as Harry was hurrying to Potion's class with his father. It was the last class of the day before supper in the Great Hall. He was exhausted.

When he turned eight years old, they administered drops of phoenix tears into unseeing eyes. He sobbed into his best mate's shirts as he saw the world in color again, even if his green orbs were hidden behind thick lenses.

His grades were fantastic, he had friends (and rivals), and he had talent as the Slytherin Seeker. He was happy for once.

When he turned seven, his father came out to him. His father married Lucius Malfoy; Snape took the Malfoy name in marriage- Harry, however, did not take the Malfoy name. He was content with keeping the Snape moniker. Harry and his new-found brother were very close, their tight friendship seemingly suspicious to onlookers.

As he took his seat in Advanced Potion's, he smiled slightly to his father, who nodded at him with upturned lips, and he then proceeded to take his regular seat next to Draco Malfoy. He smiled up at Draco, who happened to be six inches tallen than Harry, whose growth stunted at a meager five' five- a fact that Harry was not too fond of admitting.

Dutifully working on his burn tincture, hours passed while Harry was lost in thought. Harry stirred his potion for a final turn, and quickly ladled up a sample to pour into a vial to present to his father.

As Draco and Harry left class together, Fred and George Weasley, Harry's best friends, caught up to them and clasped their arms around Harry's shoulders. Yes, even if he was a Slytherin, his best friends were Gryffindor.

"Hello, there, my dear Harry," Fred whispered, kissing Harry's left cheek. "We missed you, we've been thinking about you all day," George murmured, planting one on the other cheek.

While Draco rolled his eyes at the twin's antics, Harry laughed, "I hope not, you'll fail your classes at this rate!"

Smiling back at the tiny boy, they replied together, "Oh, anything to be with you, my love."

Draco smacked them on the back of the head, "Merlin, stop harassing him, one day he'll wise up and tell Snape about what you two fools put him through." Harry laughed at Draco's jealousy, and the twins gasped in horror, pulling the small boy closer to them.

"You'd never do such a thing, right?", "Oh, Harry, promise us, you'd never leave us," They moaned dramatically, pausing in the middle of the hall to purposely make a scene. People stopped to watch as the two tall red-heads held the boy in between them, causing Draco to whack them again.

Holding their heads in pain, the two boys began to whine. "Draco, why'd you do that?" Fuming, Draco pulled a blushing, laughing Harry to the Great Hall, mumbling about how he was going to kill some weasels. The twins looked at each other and chased after them. "Wait for us, Harry-poo~!"

"God, Ron, your brothers are so embarrassing. It must suck to have brothers who are fags like that, and like the Potter queer," Lavender Brown sneered to Ron Weasley, younger brother of the Weasley Twins. Casting a glance at his girlfriend, he sighed, wishing he could be open and happy and free like his brothers.

"Yeah, they really suck."


Harry, Draco, and the Weasley twins reached the Slytherin table, taking their seats among Blaise Zabini and Marcus Flint. The two older Slytherins nodded their heads at the arrival of the foursome, acknowledging their presence.

"Hello, Blaise, hello, Marcus," Harry murmured as he took his seat. His eyes focused in on the feast of food in front of him, and he picked up his fork and began to stuff the food into his mouth. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until now.

Marcus's low voice rumbled, "Evening." And Blaise spoke in between munches of food, "Hi."

Draco rolled his eyes at the disheveled way they all ate. Had they no manners? They were all, well, most of them, were pure bloods, after all, they should have more grace than that! He picked up his knife, and gracefully began to cut his steak.

"So, Harry, who do you think will win the House Cup this year?" Fred asked, stuffing treacle tart into his mouth.

Harry put his chin in his hand. "Well, because of Quidditch, Slytherin has a pretty good lead, but Ravenclaw is looking pretty good because of academics. Gryffindor is coming in close on Ravenclaw, even though right now, they're in third place, but I'm not sure. I think it'll be a real competition this year."

George nodded and spoke, spitting food out, "Good point."

Draco sneered, "Don't talk with your mouth full, Weasley."

George turned to him and began chewing with his mouth opened, stuffing his mouth full, "Make me."

Draco sighed. "You are such an imbecile."

Harry laughed. "So, Draco, do you think you'll do well on your OWLs this year?" Harry asked, green eyes bright with curiosity.

"I hope so. I want to become an Auror, so I have to do well. What do you want to be, Harry?" Draco asked, his grey eyes staring at Harry politely.

"I would love to become a medic and help people. I want to show people that there is good in the world, and that you can overcome the bad," Harry spoke happily, his emerald eyes filled with wonder and dreams.

The twins smiled. That was their Harry.


"Alright, Harry," Severus spoke, "The next potion we'll be attempting to make is Felix Felicis. Tell me what you know about this potion."

"Felix Felicis, also known as liquid luck, is a potion that will make a person very lucky within a short period of time. you shouldn't use it too much, as it causes giddiness, over confidence, and you're likely to attempt dangerous situations. It's extremely toxic in large doses, so you should take it in small amounts. It's very hard to make, and if you make it wrong, it can cause disastrous results," Harry finished. As an afterthought, Harry added, "Oh, and it takes six months to brew it."

"Very good," Severus remarked, smiling at his son. Harry had come so far since he had taken him on as an apprentice. He knew the young boy didn't want to become a potion's master, but still, a large range of knowledge of potions is needed to become a medic. He was doing just fine as it was.

"Now, let's get started..."


Harry's back hit the wall. His breaths came in short pants, and he felt weightless. His vision was blurring, so he squeezed his eyes shut. He began to panic. Clenching his right hand, he shoved the left one in his mouth, biting hard enough to draw blood.

His heart beat was racing, and his world was spinning. Why was this happening now? Why, why, why? As he began to hyperventilate, he heard his door opening. Trying to block out the outside world, he heard a gasp, and footsteps coming towards him.

He felt someone shaking his body, and whispering his name.

"Oh, Harry... Harry, it's alright."

The unknown person wrapped their arms around his body, and Harry began to sob as he shook. His panic was slowly subsiding, and he felt the unknown person taking his hand from his mouth.

"Harry... Shh, it'll be okay, Harry."

Harry opened his blurry eyes and noticed pale blonde hair before black spots came into his sight and he blacked out.

"Harry?!"


Harry awoke not too long afterwards, surrounded by the Weasley twins and Draco. He noticed he was in the Hospital Wing, and he sighed.

"Finally awake, eh, Sleeping Beauty?" George asked quietly.

"We've been waiting for you," Fred remarked.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, eyes filled with concern for his fragile brother.

Harry smiled up at them and stretched. He swung his legs off the side of the cot, and stood. He regretted that decision shortly after as he nearly fell, being caught by the three of them. Harry sat back down.

"I'm fine... Just a panic attack, that's all," Harry murmured, looking up at them with a feeble smile.

The three of them looked at each other warily.

"Doesn't seem like you're fine," Draco remarked, laying his petite brother back onto his back, "I think you should lay down for a while longer."

Harry squirmed, trying to sit back up, "No, I'm fine, I swear."

Draco allowed him to sit back up, eyeing him with hesitation. "If you say so..."

Poppy Pomfrey came out of no where, putting her hand on Harry's head. She nodded, writing something down. She turned to the three boys.

"He should be fine, as long as he gets something to eat. Bring him down to the kitchens and ask them for something sweet, with lots of sugar. That should bring his blood sugar up, and cheer him up. Make sure he doesn't fall, keep a good eye on him! You all are free to go."

She walked off, and the three boys helped Harry up, and steadied him. As soon as he didn't look like he would fall, the three boys smiled at him.

"Ready?" Draco urged.

Harry nodded, and the four boys walked off, out of the Hospital Wing to the kitchens.


The kitchens were rather empty at three in the afternoon.

All of the house elves assigned to the kitchens were on break after the lunch rush, and were quietly preparing themselves for the dinner to come. As Draco, Harry, and the twins strolled in, house elves flocked to their side with inquiries spewed from every corner. The overseeing kitchen elf, an elderly looking female name Loli, held up one hand to silence the frantic cooks. She approached the young masters dutifully.

Bowing her head in respect, Loli spoke.

"May us help youse, young masters?"

Harry hid slightly behind Draco, still partially unused to the submissive ways of the born-servants. Had he really acted like that at one time?

Fred spoke with ease, "Yes, we missed lunch, could you prepare something for us to eat before dinner?"

George agreed quickly, "We're starving!"

Loli and her lower chef's eyes widened in fear. What horror it would be if a student starved while they had a chance to rectify the situation! What an abominable circumstance that would be indeed!

"Yes, sirs, right away, sirs!" they squealed, rushing to fix a delightful meal and stumbling into each other in the hastened process.

Draco rolled his eyes at their childish actions. He could almost guess what the subservient beings were thinking as they flitted around the large kitchen.

Fred nudged Harry with his elbow, sending the shorter boy a wolfish grin as he caught his eye.

And what beautiful eyes they were indeed.

Before Harry could make a sound of protest to Fred's nudge, Loli appeared disheveled with four grilled cheese sandwiches and an equal number of bowls of minestrone soup. Another female in a bright blue towel shakily held a platter containing a pitcher of lemonade and four glasses. Harry's eyes darkened in desire, and his mouth began to water. The house elves bowed before him, raising the platters above their head in a giving manner.

"For youse, sirs," they chorused

Fred relieved the house elves of the heavy food with ease, stepping to the side and quickly dismissing them with thanks. He motioned for the others to follow him as he found a small dining room attached to the kitchens. A single blond eyebrow was raised, and Fred shrugged.

"At night, I get hungry."

Draco rolled his eyes.

As they took their seats, Harry allowed his eyes to wander over the three boys surrounding him. His eyes first fell on the redheaded twin placing the food onto the table for everyone to enjoy: Fred.

Fred was headstrong and always took the initiative. Always the first to speak, never the last to react. He was, no doubt, a leader through and through: brave and determined to save the world. He and his twin were a year above Harry, only this far away from opening a shop in Diagon Alley. An almost parallel to his twin, who on his right.

George was more cautious, but held the same fiery determination as his twin. He contemplated his thoughts before speaking, and thought through his actions before partaking; he never was the first, but he was not even close to being last. After all, he was almost just as foolhardy as his brother.

Draco was precise and poised, a perfect pureblood Slytherin and an upstanding, high-ranking member of the community. A sixth year like Harry, and his step-brother, Draco had stood by Harry through every year and hardship Hogwarts had presented them. While cunning and witty, Draco was just as determined at the Weasley twins.

Inwardly, Harry sighed. He may be the 'savior of the Wizarding world', but he was nowhere near as courageous as the men around him. Intelligent, yes, cunning, definitely, but brave, no. He didn't have the strength to accomplish what he would soon need to do, and the ever-present nightmares and panic attacks showed that.

George sat down with no eloquence, his legs spread open wide. Grabbing a sandwich, he shoved half the item into his mouth before grinning open-mouthed at the repulsed look Draco was sending him. Fred laughed, and mimicked his brother's actions in order to disconcert the blond Slytherin. Draco trained his eyes onto Harry to block out the annoyance near him.

Harry rolled his eyes at their childish actions, grabbing a sandwich and a soup of his own. Fred poured him a drink, sploshing some of the sweet liquid onto the tablecloth. Draco mopped it up quickly with a napkin shooting the redhead a look of disapproval. He received a cheeky grin in response.

They ate the meal in mostly silence, with the occasional joke coming from a Gryffindor, and the jibe in response from the blonde Slytherin. Harry watched his friends' childish mannerisms with amused eyes, only too acquainted with their behavior.

Harry was halfway through his sandwich when Fred finally spoke what was on all of their minds.

"What happened, Harry?"

Harry muttered out an evasive 'nothing', dipping his sandwich into his soup and taking another bite.

The three shared a look.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Draco pressed, his sharp grey eyes pointedly staring the black-headed boy down as he ate.

Harry's eyes flickered up to meet the three boys' for a small moment before averting them once more. Inwardly sighing for a second time, he knew he could not hide his fears from his friends.

"It's just that I'm not sure what I can do. I'm not like you all. I'm not brave, or funny, or strong. I don't possess the grace or poise that could outrun a man of that strength; I don't have the power to slay a man of that level. I don't have what it takes to defeat Him, and I just don't want to let anyone down," Harry finished, his voice growing quieter with every word in his torrent of thoughts.

The three men stared him down with a fierce determination to make him see that he was wrong, so very wrong.

As always, Fred spoke first, "Harry, you don't have to be like us to be all those things. Everyone is different, strength isn't a set thing with guided expectations on how to have it; strength is so much more than power. And you are so strong, Harry."

George followed his twin's remarks, "So much stronger than us. Yeah, we're funny, and brave, and in Draco's case snake-like," Draco shot him a look, "but our strength is different than yours. No one is the same, and that's what makes strength so breathtaking. No strength is the same; some people just show it in a more outwardly reflecting way."

Draco finished the rant off with a polished ending, "Strength is not defined by how humorous or fast you are. Strength doesn't come from the intelligence you claim to have, or the Strength comes from the wisdom you accrue from experience; strength is born through the pains of a broken world. And you, Harry, have so much strength in you."

"We're not worried at all about how you'll defeat Him," Fred supplied.

"We know you'll do what's right—and if you don't know, then that's what we're here for, isn't it?" Fred winked, grinning wolfishly at the younger boy.

Harry's eyes began to water while listening to the words of his friends. Never did he know he had such amazing people who were willing to stand with him through the sky falling; never did he know that they would be so determined to help him see his own strength. And he knew, without a doubt, that he would never be able to repay them for all that they have, and will do, for him.

"Thank you, guys," Harry choked out, salty tears flowing down his face, contrasting with the sweet words spoken to him.

The three men smiled at the younger boy, enveloping him in a warm, tearful embrace.

Because through all the toils of the world, all the pains he would face and the struggles he was destined to overcome, they would be there. They were his friends after all, and that's what friends were for.

The twins shared a knowing look.

But hopefully they could stand by his side as more than just friends.