"Hullo, Moony," Sirius said, adding Harry's needed books to the cauldron he brought around. "Harry here will be joining us at Hogwarts. We're almost done with the shopping."
Once they had brought out everything and were on their way, to the car, James suddenly said, "Hey, Harry, d'you want an owl?"
Harry started. An owl? But nobody could possibly replace Hedwig. Then again, he missed the calming hoots and affectionate nibbles.
"But who would I write to?" Harry asked.
"Your parents?" Remus suggested.
Harry decided to tell him a bit of the truth. "They're... they're dead."
Remus looked at him with wide eyes, and then nodded solemnly, mumbling sorry over and over again. Sirius sighed and James closed his eyes for a moment, taking a few deep breaths.
"Trust us, Harr-bear," Sirius said, trying to recover from the wave of sadness that washed over them. "Having an owl can be very useful, even if you have... no one... to write to..."
"Well, come on," James said, entering the Owl Emporium. He looked at Harry with those hazel eyes, and Harry recieved his unspoken message:
"I wasn't there to buy you your first owl. Now's my chance."
They walked around the place, looking at different owls, but only one caught Harry's attention. He was snowy white, with a brown heart-shape framing his face and black flecks on his feathers. He had big, golden eyes and a calm, proud look to him, reminding Harry very much of Hedwig. He smiled as he approached.
"That one looks nice," Remus commented, nodding approvingly.
"It's twenty Galleons," Sirius said, peering at the tag on the golden cage.
James was watching Harry stroke the owl's head softly. The young time traveler was smiling wistfully, chuckling a bit as the owl nipped his finger affectionately.
James took twenty Galleons out of his pocket and dropped them into Harry's hand covertly. No one else noticed.
"No, dad," Harry whispered to him. "I can pay for him myself. I can't take your money."
But James merely smiled and walked away. Harry shook his head with a smile and approached the counter, clutching the coins in one hand and the cage in the other.
He named the owl Soren.
~oOo~
"When are we to journey, my lord?"
"When the time is right. Patience. We must wait until the plan works for sure."
"Term is about to start, my lord. Tomorrow, in fact."
"Yes... but we need a little more time. We haven't obtained the stone yet... Thank you, you have been of great service, Severus."
~oOo~
Harry woke suddenly, breathing hard. He was pale, shaky and drenched in cold sweat. The last word he had heard was still ringing in his ears...
He looked around. James turned silently on his bed, making the bed creak a little. Starlight streamed through the window, lightly touching Remus on his bed. Sirius snored loudly, his mouth wide open.
Beside his own bed, Soren slept silently in his cage, his head buried under his wing.
Harry looked out the window. It was a new moon. He sighed and ran his fingers through his unruly hair, standing up. He decided to go down for a glass of water... or maybe some soothing tea...
He crept silently down the corridors of the third floor (Marauders' Bedroom, three guest rooms), down the stairs to the second floor (Master Bedroom, a fancy-schmancy bathroom, and a door that was sealed magically) and down to the first floor (kitchen, dining room, living room).
"Hello, Masters Harry," Geo greeted. He was standing at the doorway of the kitchen."Geo knews he heard someone. It is awful late."
"Sorry to wake you up, Geo," Harry said, smiling sleepily. "I just wanted to make a cup of tea."
"Oh noes, master must lets Geo make the tea," the little house-elf said, grabbing the teacup before Harry could reach for it. "Geo makes the bestest tea, sir!"
Harry smiled sadly, thinking of Dobby and Kreacher. "Thank you, Geo," he said softly. "I-I'll just go upstairs to fetch something and come back for it later, okay?"
"It will be ready when master returns, sir," Geo said, whistling as he prepared the tea.
Harry, as silently as he could, ran up the stairs and opened the Marauders' door a crack. He slipped through the frame and knelt down before his trunk, which contained his pack. He opened it and smiled as he saw the intricately woven silver cloak that once belonged to one Ignotus Peverell.
With his mind positively whirring in thought, it was impossible for him to get back to sleep. He decided to go for a walk around the manor after gulping down his tea, under the safety of his trusty Invisibility Cloak.
He slowly walked downstairs again, feeling the soft fabric ripple against his rough skin (let's face it Harry, with all those burns, scars, bruises and marks, you can never have smooth skin). It felt lighter than air and more fluid than water.
As he approached the kitchen, he stuffed the cloak out of Geo's line of sight and thanked the house-elf for his tea.
"Any night, Master Harry," he said, bouncing out of the kitchen. "Just ask and Geo shall give!"
Harry drank his tea in one gulp, nearly choking to death. Eyes streaming, he threw the Cloak over himself and walked out of the front door, instantly feeling the calming effects of the tea. Even so, it was not enough to make him feel sleepy.
He allowed his legs to take the lead and just make his mind wander. Voldemort was happy because of the information from the Freys. Snape knew about this information. He was helping the Dark Lord. Still so young...
He rounded a corner and permitted his subconscious to take him to the black forest. The scene of the crime. The site where he had nearly lost his father (and his existence, thank you very much).
"If Snape is helping Voldemort," Harry thought out loud, "then that's good. But then again, what if... But even so... No, no, I've got to let things fall perfectly into place. I can't ruin the future..."
He walked onto the hill where they had landed, looking out into the forest. The Cloak rustled at his feet, and his bare feet were showing, pale against the darkness.
He sighed, wondering what a peaceful life would possibly feel like. He turned around to go back to the manor, when he felt the Cloak being torn away from him, flying into the night. Panicking, he held on to the selvage tightly and felt his feet lift from the ground. He closed his eyes as the wind whipped his face. He was being dragged by the Cloak, acting like a paper clip attracted to some huge magnet.
He didn't know what to think. The wind was cold, he was visible, and he was flying into some unknown place.
Friend or foe or bro or hoe? (A/N: I totally just put that in for the heck of it).
~oOo~
Meanwhile, somewhere else, Voldemort was (once again) laughing like the megalomaniac that he is, awaiting the thing he had searched for.
~oOo~
It was late into the night, or really early into the morning. James Potter couldn't tell. All he knew was that a soft click seemed to wake him up, but even so he didn't rise until he had concluded that he would not be able to fall back asleep.
His eyes sleepily scanned the bedroom, and it took him a few seconds to register in his head that a bed was empty. Someone was missing. Who? Er... Peter? Wait. No, Harry. Yeah.
He groggily got up and checked the bathroom for any sign of his future son. No one was in there. Now he was starting to feel the panic building. He shook Sirius awake rather viciously.
"Hurrgh..." Sirius said sleepily, sitting up on his bed. "What?"
"Son gone," James said, shaking all the sleep away. "We look."
"Why're you all awake?" Remus said, getting up from his own bed. "How am I supposed to sleep with all the noise?"
"Harry's not here," James said, now completely awake. "I've got to find him."
"Prongs," Sirius groaned, rolling over on his bed and falling over the side. He didn't seem to mind, though, for he continued from the floor. "Has it ever occured to you that he might just be downstairs, drinking some tea?"
"Yeah," James said, pulling Sirius up harshly. "But I just have this really bad feeling about tonight."
Remus nodded knowingly. He knew Sirius made some sense, but he had also learned to trust James's instincts. His "just feelings" had saved them many times before, after all.