Before they knew it, it was the first Hogsmeade weekend. The group made their way down to the village ready to kick back a little and relax.
"You know what, it just occurred to me that we are missing a person." Susan said as she stepped out of the carriage.
Tracey did a quick head count. "Everyone's here."
"No, I mean you, Harry, Daphne, Blaise and Draco are Slytherin's. Henry and Neville are Gryffindors and Hannah and I are Hufflepuffs. We need a Ravenclaw in our gang to complete the group."
"I can make a list of possible candidates." Tracey piped up already making a list in her mind.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "We aren't holding auditions T, let things happen naturally. I'm running low on ink, should we all split up and meet at the Three Broomsticks in say an hour?"
Draco was about to follow Daphne when Harry caught him by the arm. "Where are you going?" He hissed.
"I need parchment."
"I'll get you the parchment."
"But… okay fine." He said, wilting under Harry's gaze.
"You could come with me." Susan said with a smile "I wanted to check out Zonkos."
Draco's eyes lit up. "Are you planning on doing something to Macmillan? I could help. That pompous ass could be taken down a peg or two."
Harry jogged after Daphne as Hannah, Henry and Neville went to the post office and Blaise and Tracey went to Honeydukes.
"So, what type of ink do you enjoy using?"
Daphne couldn't help but smile, "how about you tell me what you enjoy doing instead."
Harry wasn't sure what to say. "I enjoy my morning workout. There's something serene about the early mornings when everyone else is still in bed. It helps me clear my head and admire the little things that life has to offer."
"Don't you ever just do something for the sake of doing it? Something for yourself, not something that's expected of you."
He stopped. His casual smile faltered for a mere second just as she looked up into his eyes. It was gone in a flash but she saw the pain hiding behind his carefree mask. "I enjoy doing things for the people that I care about, I haven't had the opportunity to do it so far. It feels good."
They were walking once again when he asked her the same question.
"I enjoy baking." She replied "but I don't just enjoy the baking part, I enjoy what comes after. The part where I can decorate the cake or the muffin and make something plain and simple look like a piece of art."
"Maybe one day I can try something you bake."
"Maybe." She said as they reached the shop.
The rest of the month carried on in much of the same way. During the week everyone was busy completing assignments and on the weekends they'd get together to catch-up.
On the 31st of October the Daily Prophet came baring bad news, there had been a mass breakout at Azkaban which dampened the spirit a little.
Neville was upset because his parents' tormentors were once again enjoying freedom and Nott was cancelling his Christmas plans opting to stay at Hogwarts instead.
Before they knew it was the last Hogsmeade weekend before the Christmas break started and everyone was busy completing their shopping list.
Henry scowled as he stood in the middle of the street figuring out which shop to enter next. They'd all agreed to exchange gifts before the break started and had split up when they reached the village, wanting to surprise each other.
"Why so glum?" A vaguely familiar voice asked him.
Turning around he recognized Padma Patil looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Err, I'm still figuring out what I should buy."
"You could always pick up the hampers they have at Honeydukes or you could make an OWL basket." She said, showing him a basket that she was carrying. "I've put some sugar quills and chocolates, a couple of pepper up potions and a calming draught, a lavender candle and essential oil, a bottle of ink, a peacock quill, monogrammed parchment, a bottle of relaxing bath salts and a self heating salt neck pillow."
"Err, that sounds great…" he mumbled. He couldn't understand why she was suddenly looking irate.
"Right. Have fun shopping then."
"Wait." He called out as she started walking away. "Could you help me make a few baskets?"
She carried on glaring at him but eventually nodded. "We should start at Honeydukes before they run out of stock."
An hour later his baskets were ready and the two were walking back to school.
"Err, thank you for helping me but I just feel like there's something bothering you…"
She sighed. "Parvati told me that you'd distanced yourself from Ron, I just thought that with Harry around you'd take a page from his book."
Henry bristled a little upon being compared to his twin. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It's nothing okay. It's just that Harry is considerate about others around him and you are not. You and Ron treated Parvati and me horribly last year and neither one of you bothered apologizing."
Henry felt his cheeks warm up as embarrassment flooded him. "I hadn't really thought about it, there were other things on my mind like surviving the tournament and Voldemort coming back."
Padma stopped and turned to look at him. "Look, I get it. You had a lot going on and it's wrong of me to compare you to your brother. I mean he's only a member of an elite vigilante group and is now working on saving us all and is trying to pass his OWL's. Look at Parvati and me, we are worlds apart when it comes to our personalities but we have the same moral compass." She stalked away without giving him a chance to explain himself.
He once again found himself standing in the middle of the road completely perplexed.
At dinner he repeated what had happened to Neville.
"It's pretty simple really. She clearly had a crush on you and when you asked her to the ball it most probably got her hopes up. But then you ignored her for the rest of the night and never bothered apologizing. Face it, you acted like a jerk."
Henry spluttered trying to come up with an answer. "But I went with Parvati. She was Ron's date." He said defensively.
Neville shrugged "they are identical twins except Padma has a mole on the side of her neck. They could have easily switched."
"How do you even know that?"
"I spent four years alone, I got pretty good at observing people."
Henry once again found himself feeling embarrassed. He vowed to start treating people better.
He went to bed that night thinking that he'd talk to Parvati and Padma the next morning, only fate had other plans. He dreamed about Mr Weasley getting attacked by Voldemort's snake and he along with the Weasley twins, Ron and Ginny found themselves sitting in the kitchen of number 12 Grimmauld place.
He was feeling extremely guilty when Harry arrived and took him to the library so they could talk privately.
"It's my fault." He whispered. "I attacked Mr Weasley."
"He's fine, the healer just informed Sirius. Mrs Weasley should be here any minute to tell her kids the same."
"You don't get it Harry. I was the snake."
Harry sighed. "There's something I haven't told you. You can see inside Voldemort's mind when he lets his guard down, these dreams you have of him are really visions."
"But I was a snake."
"The snake is linked to him as well but you need to understand that you saved Mr. Weasley, if it hadn't been for you he'd be dead before anyone found him."
They heard Molly arrive, she told her children that she was heading back to the hospital and thanked Sirius for letting them stay at Grimmauld place.
"Come on, you should get some sleep as well."
"Will you stay? Or do you have to go back to school?"
Harry playfully punched his arm. "I'm not going anywhere kiddo."
He sat on a chair next to Henry's bed and watched him sleep. Unbeknownst to Henry or anyone else, Harry had done the same countless times in the past. It had started when eight year old Henry had fallen off a tree trying to escape Marge's awful dog.
He'd spent the night in the hospital because a neighbor had called the ambulance. When Arcturus was told about the accident Harry had been adamant about going, Arcturus had agreed under the condition that no one should spot him.
After that Harry had become an expert at sneaking into places. He'd even managed to sneak into Hogwarts every time Henry was admitted into the hospital wing where he'd spend the entire night keeping an eye on him, right under Madam Pomfrey's nose.
When Henry awoke they both went down to the kitchen to eat something. The Weasley twins were discussing their latest invention with Sirius, Ron and Ginny were quietly eating their breakfast.
"Ah, you two are up. Would you prefer breakfast or lunch?" Sirius asked.
"Lunch." They both replied.
A piece of grilled salmon with a side of steamed vegetables appeared in front of Harry whilst a plate of cottage pie was placed in front of Henry.
"Um, can I have the same as Harry please?"
Sirius gave Henry a questioning look as the elf exchanged his plate. "Is there a girl I need to know about?" He asked, causing Ginny to choke on her cottage pie.
Henry blushed and mumbled something under his breath.
"What was that? I didn't hear her name."
"Not a girl, I just want to eat healthier." He repeated.
"Ahuh." Was all Sirius said as he too went back to his grilled salmon. Harry rolled his eyes but was distracted by Apollo and Woof who had come to greet their boys.
"They've been dying to meet you ever since they smelled you in the house. I had to keep them in my room so you could get some rest." Sirius said, giving each one a bit of salmon.
It was a week later that Mrs Weasley came into the kitchen accompanied by Hermione.
"Dumbeldore told me what happened, are you alright?" She asked as she hugged Ron, Ginny and Henry in turns.
Henry gave her an awkward one armed hug in return and left the kitchen, going to watch Harry and Sirius in the training room.
Moody, Arcturus, Draco and Dora were already sitting in a corner.
"No winner still?" He asked, taking the seat that he'd vacated minutes ago to go get a snack.
Draco and Dora helped themselves to some popcorn.
"No, they've been at it for an hour already." Dora replied as her eyes darted from side to side trying to keep up with the spell work.
"They're so fast that sometimes I can't even tell who's casting what." Draco said as a wall conjured by either Harry or Sirius blew into smithereens.
Harry sniffed the air and looked at Henry with narrowed eyes. "I'm getting tired, let's call it a draw?" He asked Sirius as he avoided the bone breaker curse and a dagger that sliced off the tips of his hair.
Sirius, who had sweat pouring into his eyes nodded.
Harry turned around showing his back to Sirius as he walked upto the group seated on the sidelines. Without missing a beat he bent his body backwards as a stunner flew over him and jumped doing a summersault as another stunner flew past where his feet had been seconds ago.
Turning around he grinned. While doing the summersault he'd thrown two daggers effectively pinning Sirius to the back wall. Sirius was too shocked to react when Harry summoned his wand.
Moody handed Arcturus a bag of coins.
"How did you know he'd cast two stunners? Even we couldn't see them till you moved." Dora asked, flabbergasted.
Harry shrugged. "I occasionally duel the dummies blindfolded. It helps me hone my hearing skills."
"But why did you ask for a draw?" Henry asked, looking a bit put out. He was secretly hoping to replicate Harry's style later when he was alone.
"Because I love popcorn! I hope it has extra butter. I suppose Arcturus told Moody who then asked you to bring it thinking it would distract me… but no seriously give me some, I'm going to start drooling."
"You are such a Black!" Sirius grumbled as he too helped himself to some popcorn "acting like you are yielding only to attack me unawares."
Harry raised an eyebrow "yes Padfoot that's exactly how it went down."
When the group headed back upstairs Molly invited Henry to go to the hospital with them.
"Give me a minute, I need to visit someone as well so I'll tag along." Harry said, running up the stairs.
"Tonks, aren't you coming? We need at least two people with so many of us going." Molly remarked when she saw her going to the main door.
"I need to go to the office. Besides with Harry around you don't need extra guards. Voldemort could attack with his entire army and that boy will take them down single handedly."
Moody noticed a tinge of jealousy in her voice. "Sirius, I need to go as well. Will you go with them?"
"I was going either way." He replied. Everyone ignored Molly's complaints as the two Aurors left.
"Shall we?" Harry asked as he walked down the stairs. Henry noted that he was carrying a small bouquet of wild flowers and a packet of sweets.
Molly grumbled all the way to St Mungos. Several times she took Dumbledore's name but no one was really paying any heed to her rant.
When they reached St Mungos, Harry gave the bouquet to Molly. "It's for Mr. Weasley." He said as he left to go visit Neville's parents.
Molly watched him walk away with moist eyes "oh, he's such a good boy." She whispered as she ushered her group towards Arthur's room.
Arthur was delighted to see everyone. "Harry sent these for you." Molly said, placing the bouquet in a glass.
"Why didn't you bring him as well?"
"He's gone to visit someone else. Now what was that healer saying about experimenting with Muggle medicine?"
Arthur paled.
Henry, who was feeling extremely anxious, tried to leave, saying that he would wait in the corridor. But Hermione, Ron and Ginny joined him as well.
"What's going on with you?" Hermione asked. "Henry, we know you and we can tell that something's not right."
"It's nothing alright. I just feel like this is my fault." He sighed and told them what he'd told Harry.
"You are an idiot!" Ginny snapped irritably "I was possessed by You-Know-Who and I know what it feels like…"
"Yes and that's great and all but how about you stop making everything about yourself." Harry's voice cut in. The group turned to find him leaning against the wall scowling at Ginny.
Ginny immediately bristled "HOW…"
"Keep your voice down or are you forgetting where we are."
She glared at him.
"Look, you are clearly a lot like your mum. She is loud and obnoxious but her heart is in the right place. She's trying to keep the children safe, it's a moot point but she's trying. You on the other hand are a loud and obnoxious self absorbed spoiled little brat. Now you can hex me, scream at me or even hit me." He looked at Hermione when he said the last part. "But know this, I don't care if you are a man or a woman, I will give back what I get."
Ginny gawked at him and looked at Ron and Henry for support. Both of them looked away. Hermione too was studying her shoes, she knew Harry was referring to her punching Draco in their third year.
"What are you doing here so soon?" Henry asked, trying to diffuse the tension.
"Oh right, I was looking for the healer in charge of the Janus Thickey ward. I spotted a plant that could be potentially dangerous for the patients there."
"I'll help you look." Henry said, ushering Harry away.
On their way back to the ward with the healer, they met Neville and his grandmother.
Harry showed the plant to the healer as Neville introduced Henry to his grandmother.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"I came to see Mr. Weasley and Harry came to visit your parents."
"No Alice, you can only have one a day." They heard the healer say "you know how upset you get when they finish."
Harry furrowed his brow. "I'll bring more packets. If I'd known before I would have brought more."
"You can bring ten packets and she'll finish them all." The healer grumbled but she looked at Alice fondly.
Neville took out a packet of sweets from his own bag. "I couldn't find the sweets that she gives me the wrapper of so I would bring these. You've been bringing her sweets all these years?"
Harry shrugged "if it were my mum and dad here, you would have done the same. The sweets are muggle, Werther's Original, you'll find them at any muggle grocery store."
They wished Neville and Augusta a merry Christmas and left to find Sirius who was waiting in the reception area.
On Christmas day Arthur was finally released from the hospital. The elves had prepared a feast which was served in the formal dining room.
The day had gone flawlessly. Ron had seen the mouth watering food and forgotten about Draco being there, Molly had simply been too happy to care about anything else. Even Hermione had put aside her OWL preparation to enjoy the festivities.
"What did Moody want?" Harry asked Sirius.
"I'll be training a select few Aurors while he trains the rest. Oi, Nymphadora are you ready to experience real pain?"
"Looking forward to it! Harry, I'll take you down during your summer break!"
Harry grinned as he loaded his plate with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and vegetables.
"Aren't you eating healthy anymore?" Henry asked, frowning at his own plate that only had turkey.
"It's a special occasion kiddo." He replied, spooning some mashed potatoes, gravy and sauce onto his plate as well.
Sirius saw his glass of wine disappear. In its stead a glass with golden liquid appeared, looking up he saw Arcturus smiling at him with his own glass raised.