HARRY POTTER AND THE PRINCES OF HOGWARTS


A/N: Here it is: the tenth chapter! I hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: This story was made for fun and not for profit. I make no claim to rights and ownership of Harry Potter.


Chapter 10- I'm back

Hogwarts, the Headmaster's Office

Harry was leaving.

It was hard on everyone. The Founders had been like a second set of parents to him and he had been like their son. He loved them, and they loved him. Even though they had known when they took him in, they would have to let him go one day. None of them had thought that day would come so soon. Tears were shed by everyone, so many that they could fill an ocean, but no one noticed the soaked carpet. He was hugged by everyone once, twice, thrice, ten times. He didn't want to ever let go, but he knew he had to.

A small part of his brain strayed to Sirius, Draco, Lucius, and Evelyn, Arian. He'd be back with them soon. He only hoped the reunion would go as well as he'd imagined it over the past three years. He shook his head slightly, ridding himself of these thoughts. He wanted to remember every detail in his last moments with the Founders.

"We'll miss you, Harry."

"Stay safe."

"Don't worry about us."

"We love you."

"Make sure I look good in my portrait."

Harry grinned through his tears at Rick and promised, "I will." Then added, "But don't wait too long, you don't want to look old, right Rick? Is that a white hair I see?"

For the joke, he got a playful punch in the arm.

A glance at his watch and Merlin stood up, smiling sadly. "Time to go."

Harry nodded, and with a last look at the Founders, each one of them waving, he mounted his broom and flew out the same window he had broken a few years ago when Dumbledore had confined him in his offices. The wind attacked his face, skewing the glasses Helga had gotten him but the charm he'd put before flying held and they didn't fly away. Neither did the bag with all his belongings that he had slung around his shoulders. The warm summer air-dried his tears as he flew, but they kept coming.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. It was little more than a shack, small, with wooden walls and a few windows here and there. Merlin searched around, looking for something until he found it. He slid away an empty frame to reveal a small hole and a tunnel that led to something Harry couldn't see.

Merlin gestured inside and the message was clear: after you. He awkwardly crawled in and made his way through. The tunnels were relatively clean though dust and dried mud ornamented the walls. Once, to his chagrin, he even saw a rat passing him and he yelled so loudly that he was afraid the tunnel would collapse.

After recovering, he kept going until he came to a brightly lit metal box with no windows or doors. The circle he had come from had closed after him and angst entered Harry's heart.

Where was Merlin?

But then, the rat from the tunnel appeared at his feet again, and even though it surprised Harry again and he released another rather high-pitched yelp, he noticed that the rats' skin turned from brown to white under his eyes.

Harry smiled down at his feet.

"Game over, little rat."

The rat seemed to sigh and transformed into a full-grown man with a long white beard- Merlin.

"You're too perceptive for your own good", he said. "Though you scream like a little girl. My ears almost fell off."

Harry couldn't help but laugh along.

When their laughter died down to a somber silence, Harry saw fresh tears running down Merlin's face, even though he tried to hide it.

"You ready, kiddo?", he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be", Harry answered.

Merlin took a deep breath and grabbed his wrist. The world seemed to spin in a mixture of black and white, and Harry soon got dizzy. It felt like being forced down a rubber tube and not having done it in so long, his stomach didn't enjoy it.

A split second later, they arrived on a perfect lawn on a muggle street. They both turned to face the little house which the lawn led up to. It was white and square with a big front door and a window on each side of it, but the curtains were drawn. Snores sounded through the air that seemingly made the house shake. Although it was day when they had left the Founders' era, the night was pitch-black here; even the street lamps had gone off. Work of Merlins, for sure.

"That's the house?", Harry asked, reluctant to get a step closer.

"That's the house", Merlin confirmed.

Resigned to his fate, he took a step closer to the small building before thinking better of it and running into Merlin's arms, hugging him tightly for what could be the last time.

"Come visit us, yeah?", Merlin asked, patting the sealed pocket of the coat where the time-turner rested.

"I'll think about it", was his answer, earning a chuckle from his mentor. He didn't want to stay here. At least, not before seeing everyone safe again. And by everyone, he meant the Malfoys and Sirius.

"Can we make one more stop, please?"

Malfoy Manor

Lucius Malfoy was a sound sleeper. Once he was out, there was no waking him up.

The ache in his heart helped with that. Trying to get to sleep was so hard, that when he did succeed, he didn't want to wake up to go through the same painful process again. He loved Draco; he was his only son, his heir. He would do anything to protect him and keep him safe. His wife too. He loved them both so much.

And yet, when he went to bed, his love and caring for them didn't protect them from the hollowness inside. He had everything he could want, and yet it didn't cease. Because that pit inside him was the guilt and the love that he could never show for two people.

Sirius Black. Harry Potter.

If anyone had told him at 17 that he would be living with a Potter, a Black and a Halfblood under his roof when he was 40, he would have laughed his head off. But Harry, Sirius, and Evelyn were proof that people could change, that he had changed and he was proud of that.

Sirius became a friend, a great one, maybe even a brother, like Harry was to Draco. Black made him laugh, something no one had achieved, safe for Draco, and loosened him up when he was down, made him scheme stupid pranks that brought them all closer together. Harry, Draco's brother in everything but blood, was like a second son to him. He was the opposite of Draco, but still, he loved him. He and Sirius were a comedic duo, all laughter and fooling around. But sometimes, Harry came to Lucius with questions about charms and spells, sometimes even potions when Severus got sick of Harry's constant good mood and questions, and he was all too happy to answer them and tell him all he knew. And Harry listened as no one had, intrigued and happy to absorb everything Lucius told him. Advice was another matter when Sirius' recklessness couldn't be counted on and Lucius gave him the best he could. Harry could read him like no one could, not even Draco.

So when he and his son chased two of the three away, all that was left was a certain emptiness. Emptiness, guilt, sorrow. All things that came back to him as he tossed in bed, chasing sleep.

He'd tried potions, but as he became addicted, there was no one he could go to that would sell him any, nor the ingredients to make it himself. So he was left to his own means: bore or cry himself to sleep. Or not sleep at all. The last one seemed to happen more and more often, but tonight, he had decided to try again, hoping for the best. The fatigue and bruised circles under his eyes were too hard to bear for too long. A spell could only do so much.

"Are you thinking of them again?"

Evelyn's soft murmur cut through his thoughts and he turned his head slightly to meet her eyes.

"How can you tell?", Lucius asked, his voice raspy.

"You're crying."

He turns his head again, this time away from her to hide another well of fresh tears.

"Why did they leave?", Lucius' voice broke and his cheeks tinged with red in embarrassment. He was supposed to be Lord Malfoy, strong, confident, and powerful, not broken and sad. But Evelyn just sighed and put an arm around him.

Lucius knew why. Because they had told them to leave. Biggest mistake of their lives.

"It's going to be alright", Evelyn tried to comfort him, though the words felt bitter. It was a lie, and they both knew it. Nevertheless, he huddled closer to her and sighed as well, resigned. It looked like he would be crying himself to sleep tonight.

And that seemed to work well as they did not hear two shadows move quietly to their bedroom window and whisper, "I'm back."


A/N: That was it! Did you like it? Let me know in a review! More news on Sirius next week!

Love you all and stay safe,

~Meghan B.