Here is the latest chapter... hope you all enjoy
Thanks go out to all my fabulous reviewers, and the my new beta xXEvieXx, she made all the bad grammar go away
James didn't go back to bed like Lily. Instead, he went downstairs to think and found Remus doing the same thing.
"Hullo Moony. Why are you up so late?" James threw himself down on a chair and stared deep into the fire.
"I could ask you the same question, Prongs." Remus shifted in his chair. He was clearly uncomfortable. "Tonks wants to date me," he blurted out, then covered up his mouth in shock that he had said it aloud.
James sat up as he heard this. "What?" He stared at Remus in shock.
"Why didn't you say anything before? This is great! She knows all about your 'furry little problem' and she still wants you! Remus! Why does that make you unhappy?" he questioned, confused.
"Because, she could do so much better. She could have anyone in the world and she is settling for me? That doesn't make any sense! Anything could happen! People are dying all the time, and she wants the broken down old werewolf?"
"Remus, we're 37. That's not exactly old."
Remus threw up his hands in frustration and started pacing.
James watched his friend with careful eyes while plotting out his next attack. "You know," he said, "You're right. Anything could happen. Like finding my son and realizing that he has to save the whole damn world. Having said son call me 'Dad,' trying to explain why he had to stay here when he was legally able to leave and never come back. Having..."
"What do you mean telling him he had to stay?" Remus interrupted. He had heard many fights between father and son over the last week, but none about that.
"Ginny dropped the fact that wizards come of age at 17. He wanted to leave, and Chaz did as well. It took a lot of convincing and pleading, until finally magic made him stay put. He makes me mad sometimes." James's earlier tearfulness was forgotten as he leaped to his feet in frustration. "He was NOT abandoned. We thought he was dead, can't he understand that? That we would never have left him? But nooooo. He has to be all self-righteous and somehow understanding. Why do Vi and Evan hate him? They don't even know him!"
As Remus stared at his friend, his own predicament seemed to pale in comparison with what James was going through. But Remus, being Remus, had a solution.
"Because, as much as he might want to, he doesn't trust you. You know what really happened, but he has been growing up hearing a lie all his life. A kidnapping, being forced to stay, and a week is not enough to change that. You have to get to know him. He isn't one anymore James."
"I know that!" James snapped.
"Then treat him like the adult that he is, and not like a silly child," replied Remus.
James stared at his friend and wondered where he learned these things. "You would make a great father Moony," he proclaimed. "You know all about how to deal with waywardness, yet still claim that you don't know what to do with your own life. Have a piece of advice Moony: take her on a date and see what happens."
"James?"
James turned back from the door and looked at his friend.
"Thanks, for everything all these years."
"No Mate, thank you."
Lily frowned at Harry and Chaz the next morning as they were eating breakfast. She had just noticed that all their clothes were either torn, old, didn't fit, or covered in grease. She would have to do something about it.
"Harry. Chaz."
They both looked at her, wondering what in the world they had done now.
"You both need new clothes. We also need to go Christmas shopping, so we'll kill two birds with one stone..." Lily frowned here. Was it worth it to take them to Muggle London, or would she have to make do with Wizarding London?
"So what?" Chaz asked as she continued to leave her thought unfinished and had them both staring at her.
"We are going into Muggle London. I don't want to, but you won't wear Wizards robes."
"'Cause they look gay." Harry stated bluntly. Despite all the pleading, the boys couldn't be convinced to wear the robes. They didn't see the point as they couldn't go to Hogwarts and weren't allowed outside.
"However they look, you need new clothes and your various siblings and friends need to do shopping as well." Lily considered the discussion closed. "James and I have a meeting with Dumbledore, so after that we can go shopping."
"Has he had these dreams before?" Dumbledore asked the concerned parents before him.
"He won't tell us, but since Chaz wasn't surprised by it I'm going to assume that they are a common occurrence." Lily answered.
"Was he at the rebirth of Voldemort?" That was all James wanted to know. The fact that they might have been so close to him was wearing on him.
"Maybe, and since Mr. Diggory has no memory of the event and we know that he was there... Maybe Harry was there as well. If we can get the two to meet, that might speed up the process." Dumbledore nodded to himself. "Yes, that would be a good plan. Cedric is home from America, so I'll tell him to drop by your house when he gets in. Is that alright?"
"Yes, that's fine, of course." Lily answered as she and James stood up to leave.
"Oh, and Lily? Keep track of when Harry has nightmares; it could come in handy later on."
"If that's what you want."
Bob paced angrily up and down the alleyway.
"These dreams are bad signs, and if Cedric and the boy meet it could ruin everything." He glared at the man leaning easily against the wall. "Why aren't you worried? This could ruin everything that we have been planning for years."
"No, this could be the best thing that has happened." Billy pushed away from the wall and stood in front of Bob. "Think. What would happen if the Man-Who-Knew and the Boy-Who-Lived joined forces? They could finally bring down this regime of tyranny. The Dark lord would be stopped, and peace would descend. I could come out of hiding, and you could even get your old job back. You know, the one you lost because of former ties? That rat would be placed firmly where he belongs." He threw up his hands in mock despair. "Yes, I see exactly why you don't want that to happen, it all makes sense now." Billy leered at his companion.
Bob backed away with an uncertain look on his face. He was thinking. It would be nice to get my life back; to be myself again instead of a spy without friends, family, or a home.
"Alright, we'll do it your way. But if it starts to go wrong, we stop."
Lily was already regretting her decision not to make James, Sirius, or Remus come with her. All these teenagers were a major handful, and to make it worse, Harry and Chaz kept taking them on shortcuts that weren't that short.
"Guys, how much further?" she called to the front.
"We'll be there in about two minutes." Chaz called back.
"We promise that making you walk this far will be worth it," Harry added. "Honestly, it was much better not to bring the car."
"Traffic can be a nightmare, and there is no parking anywhere. We have learned that several times," Chaz said as they walked on to a busy main street. "See, the center of London. How I have missed it." He flung his arms wide as if to embrace the city to him.
They really had missed it. Potter Manor was large, but it still felt enclosed to two boys who were used to roaming. They were both also slightly claustrophobic; as punishment the Matron would lock them in a closet for hours. It was awful.
"Well, I guess I should have trusted you more that we would get here," Lily said, pushing her hair out of her face.
"Clothes: girls first because you take the longest. Boys, you are to stay on this street. Am I understood?" She looked every single one of them in the eye. "If you move there will be chores, isolation, and being locked in the house. I'm not kidding, this is very important."
A chorus of "yes ma'am" rang throughout the circle.
Harry looked her in the eye as well, "We won't move, okay?"
"Okay," Lily replied. She grabbed Reagan's hand and motioned for Violet to follow along behind her. Cassie followed after waving goodbye.
Harry looked around. They were finally back in London, the first place that he had considered his real home. Chaz was right: It was great to be back.
"So, let's see what's in the shops, alright?" Chaz fell in step next to him. Grumbling, Evan walked behind him with Leo next to Evan.
Harry and Chaz were fooling around and trying to decide what to buy for Christmas for all the people that they felt deserved a present. Namely: Ginny, Reagan, each other, Chaz was going to get Lily something, and Harry couldn't make up his mind. He hadn't decided about his siblings either. He was musing on the subject when trouble came around the corner.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Specs and Swifty? I heard that you two had died or something." A blond boy strode right up to them. They really only saw him around Christmas and the summer. Blondie, as they mockingly called him, apparently still lived with his parents and went to school.
"Malfoy?" Leo asked. He was totally shocked. This guy knew Chaz and Harry? How?
"You know Blondie?" Harry asked Leo. His tone was sharp. Blondie could and would be dangerous. This guy didn't hold back for anything.
Malfoy's face flushed at the name, but he quickly composed himself and replied himself to Harry's query.
"Well Black, seems that your family has stooped even lower on who you associate with."
Leo couldn't help himself, "You knew him first."
Malfoy opened his mouth to retaliate when Chaz cut him off. "But how do you know him? This guy's one of the largest arseholes know to man." Chaz glared at Malfoy in utter hate, hate that was gleefully returned.
"He's one of our kind." Evan spat out, and then spit literally at Malfoy's feet. "One of the ones that should never have been born."
"You'll pay for that one Potter." Malfoy reached for Evan, only to have Harry grip his arm rather painfully.
"You will keep your hands off my brother." Harry ground out each word, there was no mistaking the anger behind the statement.
"Brother?" Malfoy asked confused. "There is only one Potter son... No you can't be that boy. That is so wrong."
"Blondie, you are going to turn around and crawl back into your dank little hole. If I ever see you here again you will have a lot to answer for." Chaz had lowered his voice and had one of the scariest expressions Leo had ever seen. Harry merely crossed his arms and waited.
"From who?" Malfoy asked, "You two? Your gang is gone. But mine's not. Might want to run, boys." Out of nowhere a large horde of boys came around the same corner that Malfoy had. They were familiar to Harry and Chaz—they kind of wanted them dead. See, Harry and Chaz had become rather good at stealing cars. So good, in fact, that they had taken business from some other fellows. Namely these guys, and they clearly wanted revenge.
"Evan, Leo, get out of here," Harry said as he advanced away from the boys.
"We want to help," Leo protested.
"No, get out of here before you get killed," Harry said. He threw them a look that clearly said they were to move their butts now.
"But..." Evan started to say.
"GO!!" Chaz and Harry both roared as they dived into the fray.
Fists were flying, legs kicking, and Harry and Chaz were losing.
"Go get your mum!" Leo yelled at Evan before diving in as well to help.
Evan started to pound down the street, pushing shoppers and other people out of his way. He saw a familiar head of red hair walk out of a store.
"MUM!!" he ran headlong into her and didn't stop for breath. "We have to go, Harry and Chaz got jumped. Malfoy... fight... danger... have to help."
"Show me." Lily commanded as she ran back the way that he had come.
Harry delivered a mean roundhouse punch to a stocky kid, and dodged another fist. He saw Chaz taking on 3 more and even Leo was fighting. Malfoy was standing off to the side, smirking as he thought that Harry was taken care of.
Harry turned his attention back to the fight, kicking the guy's legs out from under him and smashing the back of his head into the pavement. That took care of him. He was standing up again when he felt a fist hit right under his ear. Stars exploded in front of his eyes and he staggered. That was enough for the man to put him in a half-nelson and attempt to choke him. Harry gagged and threw the man over his head, delivering a sharp punch to the guys face, he looked up when he heard shouting.
Mum...
The word exploded in his head and he felt a sense of safety come over him as she ran up, and the other boys scattered. Well, except the ones that were unconscious.
"Harry? Oh baby, are you alright?" Lily pulled a tissue from her handbag and pressed it to his noise that was dripping blood. "Chaz? Leo? Are you guys alright?"
"Yeah, no worse than what I've had before." Chaz said with a grimace as he felt his ribs for breaks. Leo was all right, other than a bloody lip and swollen eye.
"Let's get back to the house; I want to check on all of you. And," Lily drew herself up and looked at all of them. "We are going to have a nice long chat about street fighting."
"Well son, what was your first fight like?" Sirius was more happy and pleased with his son than upset. This was a step into manhood, and he had done okay, according to Harry.
"Alright, I guess. I wasn't really thinking about it at the time." Leo held an ice pack to his eye and watched his mother warily for the outburst that was soon to come.
"What I can't believe is that 3 teenage boys took on a gang and aren't worse for the wear," James exclaimed. He wasn't sure what he was feeling. Just that he wanted to hug his sons until they couldn't breathe.
"Well, you just have to aim for the right spots," Harry explained. "See, Shorty has a bad elbow, and Thumbs has previous injuries to his hands. Just have to factor in all the factors and you'll do alright." Harry shrugged and readjusted his own ice packs on his ribs and leg. "All about knowledge and exploiting it."
"But why were they after you? From what Leo said, they came straight for you," James said.
"Well, Blondie doesn't like us, and probably got those guys to help attack. He would do that. Blondie can be very sneaky," Chaz explained.
"Who is Blondie?" was the general question from all adults.
"I think that Leo called him Malfoy..." Harry started to say.
"Malfoy!? The younger one?" James asked Leo.
"Yeah, it was definitely Draco. And the strange thing was that Daddy dearest wasn't around."
"Lucius has been busy at the Ministry trying to get more people in his back pocket. " Sirius said, "He has been there everyday."
A murmur went around the room and at what the Malfoy's could be up to now. But Evan was more focused on one other issue.
"I can't believe that you stood up for me," was all Evan could say. Now having seen his brother in action, he was a little scared, and grateful that he was his older brother.
"That's what older brothers do. They protect their siblings," Harry said firmly and without room for denial.
They all looked up as the door opened. Who could that be at this time of night?
Cedric walked in and started to open his mouth when he saw Harry. "YOU!"
"So the Potter boys is back with family." Voldemort drawled from his throne at the head of the room. "Yes, that makes sense, his parents have been happy as of late. You please me Draco, this is a true sign of loyalty. But how did you come by it?"
"I merely saw him with Black's son and his brother. They called him Harry." Draco lied easily and without regret. It had become easy to block his mind, and necessary. He had no intention of going the way that his parents had, no Draco Malfoy had better plans. And besides, the Dark Lord could not find out about his street life.
Review Please and tell me what you think should happen next, because honestly I have hit a wall.
