"Hawthorn! Stop stealing from the Library!" Harry shouted once he had finally managed to successfully locate Elias on his own. This caused the first year Slytherin to jump and turn around, his face bursting with delight and excitement when he saw Harry.

"Harry! You're here as well? I never thought I would see you again. I got adopted by a magical family and was forbidden from returning to visit you at Wool's," Elias exclaimed, actually hopping with excitement.

"What? You managed to be found by a magical family, and they never found me?" Harry was immediately hurt, but determined not to let this ruin their reunion.

"Yeah well, if I had known you were magical I would have told them. They didn't care that you were like a brother to me," the younger lad explained.

"Well at least you're here and managed to get sorted into Slytherin. I won't let anyone take my little bro away again," Harry finished before hugging him and dragging him to meet his cousin.

"Wait, you actually found family? That's fucking awesome," Elias exclaimed when Harry told him who he was introducing him to. Harry smiled, Elias did always swear more than Harry did.

/ *** **-** *** /

After using his ring to find out where his cousin and friends were, Harry walked with Elias to introduce him to the group. The younger lad was incredibly nervous about being picked on, the kids in the Orphanage had bullied him over his intelligence, and so he stuck closer to Harry's side than he normally would have done. They had passed the Great Hall and walked out the giant doors leading to the Hogwarts Grounds and were just enjoying the company of the other in relative silence, when the silence was broken as Harry's friends came into view and his nerves became even worse.

"What if they're mean to me?"

"They won't be."

"But what if they are, Harry?" Elias sounded the most nervous he had ever sounded, which made Harry understand just how nervous his brother was.

"If anyone is mean to you then let me know and I will 'talk' to them," Harry assured the younger boy.

They had finally reached the group when Harry introduced them to Elias

"Hey guys, this is Elias, he's my younger brother," he declared while standing beside him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Blimey Harry, if you had told us that you had a brother he would have been able to join you at our house during the summer," Ron informed him, seemingly very shocked about this news.

"Hello Elias, I'm Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you." After introducing herself she patted the floor next to her, inviting him to sit down beside her.

"Is your full name Elias Potter?" Draco questioned him, noting that Harry hadn't given a last name.

"Hawthorn," Was all he said in reply, to which Draco nodded.

They talked for a while, Elias telling them about Harry when he was younger and their antics, while they all told him about their adventures and activities, even about Quirrell, but not about the events in the Chamber.

/ *** **-** *** /

The month of September had ended and October was already half over, and so far Harry hadn't had the courage to talk to Professor Lupin and the man hadn't tried to speak to Harry, at least until today.

Harry was practicing with the Slytherin Quidditch team in the cold October weather, as he had been for the last hour and a half, when, as they were coming to the end of their practice, a Dementor flew across the pitch and began closing on Harry, who pushed his broom into overdrive to try and get his wand from the ground of the pitch. As he was around fifteen feet from the ground it had caught up to him and began to affect him, making all of his bad memories from Wool's, the years at Hogwarts and even his parents murder appear in his mind. As the Dementor had gotten a single hand on Harry's head, intending to suck his soul out, a silver wolf collided with it, sending it flying away. However, as this happened Harry came off his broom and plummeted the remaining fifteen feet until he hit the ground and heard the sound of bones breaking, before he fell unconscious

Many hours later he had woken up in the Hospital Wing, after sunset at this point, and looked around to see the concerned face of Professor Lupin.

"Harry, are you okay? I'm sorry I couldn't reach you in time to prevent this from happening." Professor Lupin sounded more frantic than Harry had ever heard him, not at all his usual calm self.

"I'm fine Professor, Madam Pomfrey is amazing at her job," Harry answered, which made Lupin smile fondly.

"Yeah, I remember her from my time here. I can help you, if you want, I know how to repel Dementors, it's not an easy charm to learn, but once mastered can provide you protection from Dementors and Lethifolds." As Lupin went to continue Harry drew his wand and summoned his Patronus. At once a silver doe was there in the room with them, the sight of which filled Lupin with nostalgia and awe. "You can conjure a fully corporeal patronus already? That's impressive for a thirteen year old wizard."

"I've been able to cast it since first year, it's very calming actually," Harry informed the Defence Professor.

"I'm impressed, Harry, I myself was 16 when I managed it for the first time. I was a friend of your parents, I looked for you after they were killed. I went to Privet Drive and was immediately accosted by Vernon Dursley to tell me that you were abandoned at an Orphanage by him that week and wouldn't tell me where. I searched hundreds of Orphanages for you, I must have gone to every Orphanage in Surrey and the surrounding areas. I'm sorry you never grew up knowing your parents and that I couldn't find you." Remus was actually crying at this point, so disappointed in how he had failed Harry.

"You were at my parents' wedding, along with Sirius Black, weren't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, I was, your parents were the most important people in my life for the best part of my life. Nothing has been quite the same since we lost James and Lily… if you ever wanted some stories from our time here at Hogwarts, I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"I think I'd like that, Professor," Harry answered before Madam Pomfrey entered and sent Lupin away so she could check on her patient.

/ *** **-** *** /

Halloween was here again and this time Harry had someone with him the whole day, this person was Blaise, who also despised Halloween. He had been a lot nicer to Harry and his group of friends, even sticking around them, even if he wasn't actually a member of the group.

"I'm finally talking to my parents again regularly, they still want to pull me out of Hogwarts, but are giving it one more year," Blaise told Harry three hours into their time hanging out, towards the end of the festivities.

"That's a lot better than last year, I do hope you can convince them to let you stay."

They talked for hours later as the rest of the Slytherins showed up from dinner, for once Blaise was an active part of the conversation and was surprised to find he was accepted without question.

/ *** **-** *** /

"Now Hermione, all you have to do is focus on a happy memory, one that is powerful enough to draw your Patronus out. I use memories of love as my fuel," Harry explained to his best friend who wasn't family, before realising he had put his arm around her. He quickly removed it and blushed, the sight of which made her blush as well.

Hermione paused for a second before she lifted her wand and called out.

"Expecto Patronum."

Nothing happened and so she tried again, and a third and fourth time.

"What memory are you choosing?" Harry asked her after the fifth time of nothing happening.

"The first time I got 100% on a test," she answered meekly.

"That won't work, think about a boy, or girl, you like, or maybe the most recent time you felt loved and appreciated by your parents."

"Yeah… urm… my parents are big fans of… distant love, they're very well respected dentists." Hermione was staring at the floor as she said this, clearly embarrassed at sharing something so personal. At this Harry grabbed her into a hug and remarked that she just needed to make a memory powerful enough to generate the beginnings of a Patronus. It was as Harry was rambling that Hermione decided to follow that advice straight away and kissed Harry on the lips.

Harry was stunned, he literally didn't know how to respond and so kissed her back rather awkwardly. Once the kiss broke Hermione grinned and broke their hug so she could turn and shout out.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Her wand immediately began glowing and a silver mist formed at the end of it. It wasn't a corporeal Patronus yet, but it would get there.

Still speechless Harry just stood there for a moment before his brain caught up to what was going on.

"Brilliant Hermione, absolutely brilliant." He hugged her again in the excitement, but swiftly let go, blushing again.

/ *** **-** *** /