Disclaimer: Unfortunately, none of the characters from Harry Potter belong to me.

Btw thanks for reading...bye!

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

THE ENCOUNTER

Meanwhile back at the Manor…

Harry had just arrived back at the Manor after an exhausting training session with Mad Eye Moody, when an owl flew in, an envelope attached to its beak. As soon as Harry plucked the letter from its beak, the owl took flight. Glancing at the letter, he realised that it was addressed to him from Lucas. With a smile, he began to read his friend's ramblings about school and how hard some classes were. He got to the part about Lucas asking him if he could come spend the Christmas holiday at the Manor and rolled his eyes, knowing that that was the reason for the letter in the first place. With a shake of his head, he summoned a quill and a piece of parchment and wrote back to his friend. He had just attached it to his owl, Hedwig's beak when Sirius walked in.

"Hey Padfoot" he called out as he took the owl to the window and watched it take flight.

"Hey cub!" his godfather replied with a smile as he reached out and ruffled his already messy hair. "Ugh you stink! Why do you stink?"

"Hey, I don't smell that bad!" Harry protested hotly. "Besides, I just got back from Mad-Eye's and I haven't had a chance to go and take a shower. Which reminds me, Lucas wrote to me today and asked if he could spend the Christmas holiday with us and I said yes…I hope that's ok?"

"Sure, it's ok...if we have anything planned, I will just include him in it" Sirius replied with a careless shrug. "Now please go and take a shower so we can have dinner…I'm bloody starving"

Meanwhile back at Hogwarts…

The trio were working on their homework in the common room, they were the only ones occupying the room as everyone else had gone off to bed.

"Ugh I hate Snape so much…asking us to write 3 rolls of parchment on the properties of Moonstone and its uses in Potion making…it is just plain cruel, like we don't already take other classes with homework" Ron complained as he got up to stretch his stiff joints.

"Oh stop complaining Ron" Hermione said, without taking her eyes off of her textbook.

"I am so tired…I'm taking a break" Ron replied as he flopped back on the couch. "Hey, what are your plans for this Christmas holiday?"
"We've still got two more weeks to go before the holidays, Ron" Neville said as he used the distraction as an excuse to put down his quill.

"So? Anyway Mum said to tell you lot that you are welcome to come spend Christmas at the burrow"

"Oh that's so sweet of her, I will be sure to ask my parents but I don't think that they'd have a problem with that as long as I spend Christmas day with them" Hermione replied with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to ask my nan but I don't think that she'd mind either" Neville said as he picked up his quill.

"Ok, that's enough time wasted…let's get back to this homework" Hermione muttered as she began to write once again.

With a groan of protest, Ron followed suit.

Soon enough, schools were closed for the Christmas holiday and the students returned home. It was the day after Remus arrived back at the Manor and they were all sat at the dining table having breakfast.

"Harry, when did Lucas say he's arriving?" Remus asked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"He said that he should be arriving sometime today…we've got plans to go to Diagon Alley when he does…if that's ok with you" Harry hurriedly added.

"Sure you can go but pick another day to go…I don't want you staying out late especially in the wizarding world" his godfather replied as he got up from the table and headed towards the huge living room.

"Besides, I would like to come with you guys whenever you go" Remus said and as Harry opened his mouth to protest, he quickly added, "No, not to watch over you or anything…I actually need to buy a couple of items for a class that I will be teaching when I return back to school and it just makes sense to accompany you when you go"

"Ok fine" Harry replied as he too got up from the table and began to head towards the potions lab.

"Hey, where are you going?" Sirius called out from the couch where he had been lounging as he fiddled with his cell phone.

"I'm off to the potions lab" Harry replied.

"But I thought we were going to hang out and play video games today…come on Harry"

With a feigned sigh of resignation and a smile which he hid from his godfather, Harry returned to the living room and began to fire up the game console. Soon enough, the room was filled with the sound effects of the game.

Remus soon got up from the dining table and headed to the living room to watch his family. He smiled in contentment as he watched Sirius and Harry yell at the television.


Meanwhile at Burrow…

"Ron! Neville has arrived" Ron heard his mother call as he laid in bed twirling his wand playfully. It was a day after Christmas but the house was more crowded than usual as his two oldest brothers Bill and Charlie were visiting.

As he ran down the stairs to meet with his friend, he bumped into his sister at the end of the stairs as she had been climbing up.

"Ouch! Ron, watch where you are going, will you" she yelled at him sullenly as she angrily pushed past him and stomped off up the stairs.

"Blimey! What's up with Ginny?" Neville asked, surprised by her outburst.

"Oh that, she's been acting irritably since we came back home" Ron whispered as he looked over his shoulder to make sure that his sister wasn't behind him listening.

"Why?"

"I don't know" he replied with a shrug. They headed outside towards the garden to join the twins who were currently tasked with de-gnoming the garden as a punishment for playing a prank on their brother, Percy.

"So Hermione should be arriving sometime this evening…and I already asked mum if we could go to Diagon Alley tomorrow" Ron began as he flung a gnome over the hedge.

"So what did she say?"

"She said we could go but she is going to be coming along" Ron replied with a roll of his eyes.

"They are all scared and worried about this whole You-Know-Who situation…even my nan was worried. She almost didn't let me come over and it doesn't help that the Ministry is making it seem like nothing's happened and that he isn't back" Neville replied as they began to head back inside.

"Hey where are you lot going?" Fred called out to the boys.

"Yeah…don't go, we were about to play a 2 on 2 quidditch match" George said.

"Ok, we will play…I'm going to go and fetch my broom, Nev can use Charlie's old broom" Ron replied as he headed back in to the house to fetch the brooms.


Back at the Manor…

"Harry! Moony wants you to go get ready, we'd be leaving for Diagon Alley in an hour" Lucas said as he burst into the potions lab, taking Harry by surprise and causing him to almost drop the potion that he had just finished brewing.

"Bloody hell, Lucas! You almost made me drop my potion" Harry yelled indignantly.

"Sorry" his friend said, not looking or sounding sorry in the slightest bit. He turned around to leave and he said over his shoulder, "Please hurry up mate, Sarah Wilson and a couple of girls from our year are supposed to be in Diagon Alley today."

"So?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. He could care less if his old schoolmates were going to be there, he was just going because he needed to buy some supplies.

"Well, I-I kind of fancy Sarah and…" Lucas stammered as he went red in the face.

"Fine, I will go and get ready but I am not going to be standing around while you try to stutter your way through professing your feelings for her" Harry replied as he nonverbally used his wand to clean up the mess in the lab before heading out.

"Aww come on, Harry, I need you to be my wingman" Lucas groaned as he followed behind his friend.

"Wingman?" Harry whipped around to face his friend. "You want me to distract her friends so that you can get her alone to yourself, right?"

"I know you hate to do that but it is the only way I can get to talk to her, you know she is always with her friends, plus all the girls at school think you are hot or whatever, so it shouldn't be too hard to distract them…please Harry" Lucas begged, as his friend began to angrily walk away.

"Fine! But I am only agreeing to play wingman for only five minutes, no more no less" Harry replied with a sigh before walking away.

"Thank you, Harry" Lucas yelled after his friend who just ignored him.


An hour later…

"Wow, there are so many people here today" Lucas exclaimed as they stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Well yeah, it is always crowded" Harry responded with a roll of his eyes.

"Ok boys, I am headed over to Gringotts and then to Flourish and Blotts and finally to Knockturn Alley…I will be waiting at the Leaky Cauldron when you are…"

He was cut off mid speech when he heard someone call him.

"Professor Lupin!"

Whipping around, he came face to face with three of his students from Hogwarts.

"Ha! Mr Weasley,Mr Longbottom and Miss Granger…how are you doing?" he smiled as he greeted them.

"Hello professor" Neville smiled as he greeted the teacher, his friends however had their attention snagged by the two boys standing behind their professor.

Hermione had been about to say hello to the professor when her gaze had fallen on the boy standing behind him. He looked very familiar with his dark rumpled hair and his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses which she remembered to be a vivid shade of bright forest green. His was a face that couldn't be forgotten and beside him, was an equally attractive blond boy who having noticed her gaze on his friend, had merely smirked.

Ron, on the other hand, was gazing at both boys with interest as he had deduced that one of them had to be Harry Potter and as he looked at both boys, one was dark haired and had his face partially hidden by a pair of sunglasses and looked on with an air of polite indifference while the blond boy who seemed amused was looking at them with curiosity as he listened to Neville and Professor Lupin's exchange.

Meanwhile, Harry who had been oblivious to the students staring at him, had received a text from Sirius and had pulled out his phone to text him back when he felt Lucas elbow him in the side.

Turning around to glare at his friend, he replied "What?!"

Meeting his friend's angry stare, Lucas surreptitiously nodded in Hermione's direction calling Harry's attention to her.

Hermione let out an audible gasp as the dark haired boy swung his gaze towards her and as he had caught her staring unabashedly at him, his sensuous mouth quirked in a slight smile.

"Hey, I know you, right?" the boy said, still smiling.

She closed her eyes briefly as his deep gently voice washed over her like a caress. At this point, Ron had forgotten to keep searching for the famous lightning bolt shaped scar on the boys' forehead as he watched his long-time friend act like a love-struck puppy when the dark haired boy spoke to her.

"You know her? How can you know her? Do you go to Hogwarts?" Ron asked sullenly as he frowned at his friend who was still struck dumb.

"No, I do not" Harry chuckled, glancing at the tall gangly boy with a shocking bright shade of red hair. He glanced back at the girl with the bushy brown hair who for some reason wasn't saying anything. "But I do know you…we've met before right?" he said slowly.

"Y-y-yes, we've met before…we bumped into each other at Flourish and Blotts" she stammered as reddened in the face, thanking whatever high power there was that she had found her voice again.

"Oh you've met Miss Granger?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow as he heard Hermione talking to Harry.

"Yeah, once…so you guys are his students?" Harry asked the trio.

"Y-yeah" Hermione replied as Neville who had finally noticed Harry and Lucas was now looking at them with curious eyes.

Leaning close to them, Lucas asked with a smile, "Hey, what's he like as a professor…is he strict or scary…come on , you can tell us"

"Oh alright, that's enough" Remus said as he pulled Lucas back by pulling the back of his shirt. "Weren't you lot headed to meet your friends or something"

"Oh alright, we can take a hint…come on" Harry replied laughing as he slung an arm around his friend's neck. As they made to leave, he turned back to face the trio, "It was nice meeting you guys."

Remus smiled affectionately as he watched his son and friend playfully shove each other as they walked away. As he turned back to his students, he noticed them also watching the boys' retreating back.

Clearly his throat slightly to gain their attention, as he knew they were probably wondering which of the two boys was Harry, he said "Well I hope you three have a nice holiday and I hope to see you on the first day back in class, rearing to go"

After the teacher had left, Neville voiced what was on all of their minds "I wonder which one of them was Harry Potter"

"I don't think either of them was…none of them had the scar" Ron replied, sounding disappointed.

"But the dark haired one had on sunglasses, it could have been hidden behind them" Neville said as they began to make their way towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Merlin's beard! You're right" Ron agreed, almost shouting in his excitement.

Hermione who had been thinking about the dark haired boy spoke up at this point, "I have seen him close up without sunglasses and I can tell you that he didn't have a scar on his forehead"

"Speaking of which…what was that back there Hermione?" Ron asked as he turned to face her.

"I don't know what you are on about" Hermione replied, carefully avoiding looking at him as she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"What is he talking about, Hermione?" Neville asked, as he alternated between looking at her and Ron.

Before Ron could reply, Hermione hastily changed the subject by saying, "So I found out why Ginny has been acting irritably since we came back home from Hogwarts"

Hermione's reaction to the dark haired boy temporarily forgotten, Ron asked "Really? What is the problem?"

"She broke up with Dean Thomas" Hermione replied as they ordered their ice cream flavour of choice.

As they sat down, Ron swivelled around to face her and said, "I didn't even know that they were dating"

"I did" Neville spoke up as he took a bite from his ice cream.

"What?!" Ron shouted in shock as he turned around to face his friend.

"Calm down, Ronald…everyone knew. They weren't keeping a secret or anything, you are just oblivious to things around you especially when it has to do with Ginny and boys"

"So what do we do about it?" Ron asked as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Nothing!" Neville replied.

Before Ron could refute Neville's response, Hermione spoke up "Yeah, nothing Ron…because it is none of our business."

"But she's my little sister!" he protested hotly.

"True but she didn't tell you or any of your other brothers about it because she didn't want you guys getting involved…let it be!" Hermione replied with a voice that signalled that she was done with the discussion.

Soon after they had finished their ice cream, they decided to take a look around Diagon Alley and as they walked around, they chatted.

Meanwhile, Harry and Lucas had met up with the girls from school and had decided to head over to Sugarplum's Sweets Shop. Harry arranged the seating setting in such a way that Lucas got to seat next to his crush, while he was reluctantly sat between the Sarah's two friends. As Lucas chatted with his crush, Harry had to endure listening the other girls chatter and attempt to shamelessly flirt with him. He would have been more accommodating usually, however that wasn't the case this time as he was deep in thought. He thought about the trio that he and Lucas had encountered today and wondered who among the two boys was Neville and regretted not making more of an effort to find out as he really did feel sorry for the boy.

As they chatted, the trio who had decided that they wanted to buy some sweets, entered the shop. As soon as they did, they heard girly laughing and looked over to the direction of the sound and found the mysterious boys they had met with their professor earlier surrounded by three girls.

"Nice!" Ron said with a smile.

"What's nice, Ron?" Hermione snapped angrily. She wasn't exactly sure why she was angry but she was definitely going to go with that emotion.

"Those girls are well fit" Ron replied, oblivious to his friend's growing anger and irritation.

Sensing that his friend was on the verge of losing it on an oblivious Ron who was still gawking at the girls, Neville quickly diffused the situation by suggesting that they go and pick out the sweets that they wanted to buy.

Meanwhile, Harry had looked up and spotted the trio. He decided that it was his chance to find out which one of them was Neville and without bothering to alert his friend of his plan, he got up and headed towards them.

Hermione and Ron had been busy arguing over the portion of sweets to buy when she noticed the dark haired boy approaching them. He had taken off his sunglasses and had taken off the leather jacket that he had been wearing when they had met earlier. As he came closer, walking with such confidence gait, her eyes drank him in.

That slightly tousled jet black hair that looked soft and luxurious enough to make her itch to get her hands in them, those gorgeous forest green eyes. The boy was seductive without even trying.

"Bloody hell! He is so handsome" she thought to herself as she audibly sighed. And as she looked over at the girls that he had been surrounded by, they gave her such evil stares that even she could understand. She wouldn't want to lose his attention once he directed it at her too, so she could relate.

Ron and Neville had noticed the boy approaching them and looked on curiously as he came closer.

"Hey guys" Harry said with an easy smile. They didn't respond as they kept looking at him with curious and wary eyes. "Anyway, I was wondering if you guys would like to come and join us"

"Why?" Neville blurted out, taken aback by the request. You don't just approach a bunch of strangers and invite them to come and hang out.

"Because I thought you lot seemed like an interesting bunch…" he leaned closer and dropped his voice down to a whisper, "Plus, I would love to hear all about Remus as a professor"

With a smile, Ron nodded his head eagerly. Any excuse to meet the girls that the dark haired boy had been surrounded by, was fine by him.

"Sure, mate!" he replied. Soon they were seated with the blond boy and the girls.