Guess who's back? Thanks for waiting for me.

This is kind of a filler chapter, there will be some drama ahead but also some happiness..

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Life.

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"Right, so we need to beat the eggs." Lily said, pulling them out of the fridge and handing them to Sirius.

"Lils… This is like the tenth lot of baking today…" Sirius sighed, "Just talk instead babes…"

Lily pursed her lips, "About what?" She snapped.

"You know what." Sirius replied, moving and taking a bottle of wine from the shelf before grabbing two glasses and pouring wine into them, handing one to Lily and leading the woman into the living room. "Talk to me Evans."

Lily sighed and stared down at her glass, "I… I forgave him, I forgive him… I do, I really do. It was a really shitty time for both of us and we'd been through so much, I wasn't there for him when he needed me and he had to turn to someone else to feel wanted, to feel loved…" A tear trickled down Lily's face, "I do love James, and forgive him for what happened but it doesn't stop it from hurting."

"Of course it doesn't Lil." Sirius murmured, "And knowing she's around probably doesn't help." He added, "But you and James will be okay Lily, I know it. Look, Jay'll be home soon, why don't I head to the manor? Then you guys can spend some time together? Talk a bit."

"Thank you Sirius." Lily whispered, hugging the man close before taking a swig of wine. "I should probably make dinner…"

Sirius snorted, "I think all the cakes we've made will be enough food for weeks!" He said, ducking as Lily aimed a swat at the back of his head. "I'll just floo Luc, see if he'll hang with me tonight, then I'll help you with dinner." Sirius promised.

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Harry laughed as Joshua did a cartwheel, landing right in front of Harry and handing him a daisy that he had somehow managed to grab during the cartwheel. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Used to go to Gymnastics before I came to Hogwarts." The boy shrugged with a smalls mile as he sat back down next to Harry, resting his arm around Harry's shoulder.

"You're a muggle born?" Harry frowned, he hadn't thought that Josh was.

"Nah, my mum was though, and my dad actually. They thought it was good for me to do stuff like gymnastics and football, help to focus my mind or some other bullshit." He laughed. "It kind of works though, keeping focused and busy means that there's less accidental magic, I'm not sure how it works but it does."

Harry nodded, "I'm sure Hermione'd explain if I asked." He chuckled.

Josh picked up a bottle of water and sipped some before casting a quick charm to see what time it was, "We should be heading back." He murmured regretfully.

"Don't want to." Harry replied, moving to kiss the other boy, Josh chuckled against Harry's lips, kissing back as he was pushed backwards against the blanket. Harry slid his hands up Josh's shirt, resting them against the skin of the boy's back.

"God, you're gorgeous." Josh breathed, pressing several quick kisses to Harry's neck, "But we're kind of public here babe…" Harry groaned and sat up, running a hand through his hair, Josh looked at him carefully, "We could, only if you want obviously, go somewhere more private." The teenager offered shyly, "I mean I'm cool if you don't want -"

"I'd like that." Harry smiled, wondering why Josh was suddenly so nervous, hell they'd done more than just kissing in the bloody corridor the other night.

Josh gave a small smile, "I do want this to be more than just sex though." He murmured, pulling Harry to his feet.

Harry looked at him, he wasn't used to relationships that weren't purely physical but… Well Josh was nice and… "Me too." He said with a smile, gathering the blanket and food into his bag.

Josh grinned then, flashing his scarily white teeth, "Great."

They headed back to the castle hand in hand but as they got closer Harry released Josh, "Look, I do like you, a lot. But if we could keep this quiet… It's not 'cause I'm ashamed! It's just that only my close friends and a few other Gryff's know I'm gay and… Well it'll be all over the papers and everything. I just want to keep this nice, for us, for now." He tried to explain, hell even Mrs Weasley didn't know he was gay and he knew he had to tell her before the newspapers got hold of the story.

"It's okay, I get it." Josh said, "Well, kind of."

"It's not because I'm ashamed!" Harry said again, "And I'll tell Ron and Hermione and even Remus. I'd just rather not have the whole school, the whole world, on my back about it, at least for now…"

Josh nodded, "Okay." He grinned, "Although it'll be difficult to keep my hands off you." He added with a leer before frowning, "Wait, Remus isn't Professor Lupin is he?"

Harry laughed, "Yup."

"Oh god… I'm dating the Professor's unofficial god kid." Josh mumbled, covering his face with his hands and giving a small whimper.

Harry laughed again, "And he won't let you forget it!" He added, bouncing up the Castle steps, stopping as he saw Draco in the entrance hall, talking quietly to Blaise. "What do you want?" He snarled as Harry walked in.

Harry raised an eyebrow, obviously Draco had to be an arse to keep cover but today he seemed angrier than usual, "I'm minding my own business Malfoy, maybe you should try it." Harry snapped in reply, earning a snort from Josh as well as a few passing Hufflepuffs. Draco sneered at Harry before his eyes ran over Josh, his face twisting as he turned away and stalked down to the Slytherin rooms, Blaise looked worried as he followed his friend and Harry frowned slightly.

"Don't let the bastard get to you." Josh said gently as they walked up the stairs.

"Why is he so grumpy?" Harry asked, talking more to himself than to Josh.

"Because he's a prat." Josh shrugged, "He's always like that."

Harry forced a chuckle, "True." He said, dragging his mind away from Draco. "So where are we headed?" He asked.

Josh smirked, "There's a little room next to the portrait hole, it's been unused for years." He murmured, "Just here." He added, shoving open a door and pulling a face at how dusty it was. Josh quickly cast a cleaning charm before locking the door and turning to Harry with a grin.

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Draco gave a small smile as Neville pressed a soft kiss to his lips, "I've missed you." The blonde murmured gently, running his hand through Neville's hair. "Your face is healing." He added quietly, running his finger over the bruise, "Although why you didn't just go and get some anti-bruising cream I don't know…"

"I deserved it." Neville muttered and Draco simply looked at him before shrugging. Neville had told him everything that had happened between him and Harry, Draco had been angry at first but he did understand Neville's insecurities, and so they had had a long chat about how Draco loved Neville and promised not to hurt him. Neville gave a slight frown as Draco held him tighter, "Is everything okay?" Neville asked gently.

"Had a row with Pansy." Draco muttered. "She found out that I slept with Blaise, she's upset because he never told her."

Neville frowned, "Why didn't you tell her?"

"Because B asked me not to. I don't like keeping secrets from either of them but… Well it wasn't something I wanted to publicize. I knew Pansy would be mad at the time too because of Kyle and…" Draco sighed, "It's just bringing it all up again isn't easy, I was such an arse. I refuse to be like that again."

"Well they say you learn from your mistakes." Neville said gently, "And I'm sure you'll sort stuff with Pansy."

Draco gave a small nod, kissing Neville again, "How long do we have before the others arrive?" He asked desperately as he pulled back.

Neville pulled a face, "Not long enough." He murmured, understanding what Draco wanted, "Maybe we can sneak away to some quiet little room afterwards though."

"Mmm… Wanna fuck you somewhere nice, not some old classroom."

Neville smirked, "You know, we could just wait for everyone to leave here before sneaking back in…" He grinned, kissing Draco again.

"I like the thought of that." Draco breathed against Neville's neck, sucking at the skin gently.

Neville flushed slightly, clearing his throat, "I was… Well I… I want to try it."

"Try what babe?"

Neville took a deep breathe, "I want to know what it feels like, to be inside you." He murmured, brushing Draco's hair from his face and pressing a quick kiss to the boy's lips, "But it's not like I've ever done it before and I don't want to hurt you and… Well I get it if you don't want -"

"Nev, relax." Draco smiled, "I'd like that very much. However I haven't been taking the potion and, although we could ask the room for muggle condoms, I don't trust them."

"Oh." Neville frowned.

"But I'll start taking the potion tomorrow, I've only not been taking it because it tastes foul and there wasn't much point when I was the one doing the… well… We have to give it a least five days to settle into my system but then..." Draco grinned and kissed Neville again, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend as he deepened the kiss. They broke the kiss reluctantly as the door opened and Remus walked in, "Hey dad." Draco smiled, twirling his fingers around Neville's as Remus sat down opposite them.

"Hey, how was your day?" Remus asked.

"Not great." Draco admitted, "But bearable."

Remus frowned and opened his mouth to ask what was up but was cut off as Harry walked in, his cheeks flushed and a big grin on his face, "Good day then?" Neville smirked.

"Was alright." Harry mumbled, rubbing at his neck awkwardly and Neville snorted, causing Harry to blush. "You seem in a better mood now." Harry said to Draco, Draco simply shrugged and looked at Harry defiantly. The Gryffindor scowled having been expecting an apology and, honestly, feeling that he was owed one. Neville frowned, hating the tension that settled between Draco and Harry, there was so much chemistry there… How the hell could he compare to that? Neville jumped as Draco squeezed his hand, smiling at the boy gently, silently telling him to stop worrying so much. "Umm… Remus? Could you go over my paper for class?" Harry asked, dragging his eyes away from Draco.

"Of course." Remus smiled, accepting the parchment Harry handed him. Draco looked up and smiled as Severus walked in, then he frowned as he noticed how exhausted the man looked, "Everything okay?" Remus asked quietly, having noticed as well.

"The Dark Lord has broken pretty much every one else out of Azkaban." Severus sighed, "And he's planning something big." He slumped down onto the sofa next to Remus, leaning against the man slightly, hoping the teenagers wouldn't notice.

"So what are we going to do?" Harry asked, "It's all very well that we're hanging around and getting to know each other but we should really start planning something!"

Draco frowned, "Like what?"

"Well… Dumbledore says it has to be me who kills Voldemort, I dunno how true the prophecy is but… Well Dumbledore obviously expects me to follow through with it."

"But I thought Dumbledore and Voldemort were working together." Neville said, utterly confused.

Harry shrugged, "Sometimes they are but sometimes it seems like Dumbles is scheming against Tom too…" He gave a small growl, "I'm gonna fix this somehow, I know I am… It has to be me."

"But why?" Severus snapped, "If the prophecy's not even real… I don't see why you should even be involved."

"I'm involved, like it or not. Dumbledore has something planned for me… But even if he didn't, he's put me through too much, stolen too much from me." Harry said, scowling at the fire.

"You're not the only person he hurt." Draco pointed out angrily.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps not. But I seem to be the only one who actually wants to do something about it." He sneered, "I am so sick of listening to everyone tell me how bloody perfect that man is!"

"I know Harry." Severus sighed. "But we have to be careful or we'll put everyone in danger,"

Harry slumped slightly, realizing his father was right, "Yeah…" He muttered, "But we can't keep doing nothing!"

"We'll talk about it at Christmas, when we're all together." Severus replied, "Now… How was your day?"

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