Hey everyone, just wanted to say a big thank you for all the reviews, I love reading them Also thank you to everyone who has followed or favourited the story. It really helps motivate me to write! I'm thinking this story will be wrapping up in the next few chapters, I have an ending in mind and we are nearly there, so I hope you enjoy the last few chapters. If you have read any of my other stories, please comment and let me know which WIP you want me to start working on next. Thanks for all the support, hope you like the latest chapter

Chapter 14

Harry was excited! Christmas break was here, all the presents he had ordered had arrived and he had spent the afternoon studiously wrapping them all by hand. His friends had all made fun of him for this, wondering why he didn't use magic to wrap the presents but Harry had had a lot of fun sprawled on his bed with Zima, the curtains pulled tight as he wrapped all the gifts. A relaxed atmosphere had permeated the castle now that winter break was here. Their teachers were even kind enough to not give out any homework that had to be completed over break, stating that everyone needed a rest, them included. Harry found that he couldn't agree more and was looking forward to the break from classes and schoolwork.

The castle had been decorated beautifully, with huge trees lining the halls and mistletoe and icicles hanging from the roof. Harry had learned quickly to avoid the mistletoe, as anyone could request a kiss if you were caught standing under one. You could of course refuse the kiss, but it seemed doing so was tantamount to a declaration that you were in love with someone else. Harry decided to try to avoid that whole walking catastrophe if he could. Although, he had nearly laughed himself silly when Lukas had been caught under some mistletoe by an eager third year. Lukas had given the enamoured girl a swift kiss on the lips before hightailing it out of there, cheeks burning.

Harry was now making his way outside in the bitterly cold weather at the behest of Professor Boden. The man had gotten in two injured hippogriffs and desperately needed help to clean and bind their wounds. Because of the stubborn nature of hippogriffs, they did not take well to wands being pointed at them, so the wounds could only be cleaned and cared for by people that the hippogriffs trusted. Harry was beyond flattered that he had been the student that Professor Boden had asked for assistance, though come to think of it Professor Boden probably knew that Harry was one of the few students who would be really excited by a task like this. He made his way across the lawn until he arrived at the Care of Magical Creatures building. He walked around the back to the holding pens, for animals to large or unwilling to enter the building. It was here he found Professor Boden already hard at work on one of the hippogriffs. The hippogriff was beautiful, the feathers a soft golden colour, a pair of silvery eyes closely watching Harry's approach.

Harry didn't wait to be instructed just bowed deeply to the hippogriff, head bowed and waiting to see if the hippogriff would bow in return and allow his approach. After what seemed like ages, though was probably only a few minutes the hippogriff bowed and Harry was able to come closer.

"Good afternoon Harry" Professor Boden said brightly. "I'm sorry to have you out in this weather, but you were the best choice to help with a task like this."

Harry blushed lightly at the praise.

"There's actually no place I'd rather be" Harry said truthfully, and Professor Boden smiled happily at him.

"Well that's good, because we may be out here a few hours."

Harry nodded seriously as he moved closer to the hippogriff, running his fingers along the soft feathers and earning a gentle trill from the injured animal.

"It seems that these two got in a bit of a fight, over a female no doubt," Professor Boden said with a fond smile on his face, like he was talking about his little brother and not a large and dangerous creature.

"I'm going to need you to continue cleaning the wounds on this fella here with the solution in that bucket," he said, indicating a silver tub at his feet.

"I will start assessing the injuries on the other hippogriff, he hasn't gotten up since arriving so I fear he may be a bit more severely injured."

Harry looked around the hippogriff in front of him to see another a few stalls down. This one a little smaller and with chestnut colored feathers. He was laying on his side, but his head was up and eyes open and alert.

Harry bent down picking up the clean flannel, dipped in the solution before starting to clean the hippogriffs wounds. There was a lot, some just small scrapes but others were deep and still dripping blood sluggishly. The hippogriff flinch slightly as Harry was cleaning a particularly deep cut.

"Well, this is what you get for fighting Mr," Harry muttered with a chuckle, feeling little remorse for the disgruntled animal.

The hippogriff snorted but continued to stay still as Harry worked.

Harry was amazed to see that as he cleaned, whatever was in the potion was magically healing the wounds. It was very clever magic. He would have to do some research into the potion when he got back to the castle, maybe Anders will want to help, Harry thought to himself as he watched a large cut seal shut.

It took over an hour to get all the cuts and scrapes sufficiently cleaned. Harry realised that the healing magic in the potion wouldn't start unless the wounds were thoroughly cleaned. He glanced up to see Professor Boden still working on the other hippogriff, who was now standing at least. Harry shivered a little in the cold and decided to keep busy by brushing out the hippogriffs feathers, which were all skew whiffed after his fight. It was soothing work and Harry let his mind wander, not noticing when Professor Boden approached him.

"Great work Harry" Professor Boden exclaimed happily, "he looks as good as new! I will keep them both here for a few more days to make sure they are OK before releasing them back into the forest."

"Haha, I doubt you will be able to keep them here that long Sir. This one looks like he's already planning his escape" Harry said cheekily pointing to the hippogriff closest to them, who was indeed eyeing the nearby forest with undisguised longing.

"He'll stay if he knows what good for him" Professor Boden said seriously, eyeing the troublesome hippogriff who promptly turned its back on them. Harry chuckled lightly at the display.

Ah, there's actually something else I wanted to discuss with you Harry if you had a moment?" Professor Boden asked, and Harry was surprised to note that he sounded nervous.

"Sure" said Harry. "Though do you mind if we go inside, I'm starting to get a bit chilly."

Professor Boden nodded, leading Harry back inside the Care of Magical Creatures building.

He hesitated before speaking again and Harry began to feel a bit nervous himself. Had he done something wrong? Had the Professor worked out who he was?

"So, I've noticed that you seem to have a real passion for Care of Magical Creatures."

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that, so he just nodded.

"Now I know you are only in fifth year, but Professors here are allowed to take on an apprentice if they feel that they have a student who is showing particular skill and interest in their subject. It doesn't happen often and I myself have never taken on one, but I thought to offer the role to you if you are interested?"

Harry gaped in surprise, his mouth hanging open. Not once had anyone ever told him that he was good at something other than quidditch and Defence Against the Dark Arts, but here was Professor Boden who thought that Harry had such potential in Care of Magical Creatures that he wanted to offer him an apprenticeship!

As Harry continued to stand mute, Professor Boden rushed to explain. "What it would basically mean is you would become like an assistant to me. It wouldn't change any of your studies here at Durmstrang, but it would mean that quite a bit of your spare time would be here with me learning everything there is to know about the care of magical and non-magical creatures. It would continue for the duration of your time at Durmstrang and upon graduation you would be granted admission to any magical university to complete your degree in magical zoology. So obviously this would only be of interest to you if you are considering such a career path."

Professor Boden paused here, looking expectantly at Harry.

Harry cleared his throat. "To be quite honest Sir, I hadn't given it a lot of thought, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't interested in becoming your apprentice. I love both magical and non- magical creatures and I reckon a career working with them would make me happy. Do you mind if I have a day or two to think about it though?"

"Of course, not Harry, it is quite an important decision. Please let me know by the end of winter break though."

Harry nodded seriously, "thank you Sir, I will." With that Harry left the building and headed back towards the castle in a daze. Him a magic zoologist, he had never thought about it as a career path but the idea of it made him very happy. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't realise he had walked under a piece of mistletoe until a firm hand wrapped around his wrist pulling him to a stop. Harry blinked a few times, clearing his thoughts to look up into the face of a grinning Lukas.

"Uh ah Harry, you're not getting away so quickly. You've been caught under mistletoe, so that means it's time to give me a kiss." He raised his eyebrows and gave Harry his best shit eating grin and Harry just knew this was pay back for laughing at him earlier with the third year.

Harry groaned and rubbed his free hand over his face. "You can't be serious" Harry hissed, aware of the growing crowd around them. He felt himself start to blush as he realised that Anders was there with all his friends watching.

"Oh, very serious Harry."

Harry was torn, he knew it wasn't a big deal but there was a part of him that wanted his first kiss to mean something, to be with someone that he liked, possibly even loved. It was even more difficult with Anders standing there watching everything with narrowed eyes.

"Come on Harry, what's the big deal? Unless there's someone else you would rather be kissing?" Lukas said with a knowing smirk and Harry silently cursed his meddling friends.

He swallowed thickly, throwing another quick glance at Anders.

He felt his heart start racing with what he was about to do. Throwing caution to the wind he pushed past Lukas walking the few steps to Anders. Blue eyes widened in surprise at Harry's approach and he hesitated for just a moment before throwing his arms around Anders neck and pressing their lips together. He could hear catcalls around him but ignored them in favour of focusing on the lips under his. It took him a few moments to realise that Anders was not responding in any way, standing rigidly against Harry. Shame and humiliation flooded through Harry's body so quickly he felt dizzy from it and he felt his face flush a burning crimson. Anders didn't want him. He pulled back so quickly he stumbled slightly before righting himself.

"Sorry" Harry mumbled unable to meet Anders gaze, feeling his own eyes start to burn. He blinked away the tears before taking off at a run, away from the crowd of people and away from Anders.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Anders stood still, shock still coursing through is body. Harry had kissed him – Harry had kissed him! He could still feel Harry's soft lips against his own, the warmth of his smaller body seeped into his skin where they had touched.

A sharp whack to his shoulder brought him out of his haze, and he turned to see Axel staring at him.

"What the hell was that mate?" Axel asked in a confused voice.

"Harry kissed me" Anders said stupidly, feeling like he was struggling to string to words together.

"Yeah, I bloody saw that mate, why didn't you kiss him back?"

"Huh?" Anders asked his brow furrowing in confusion.

Axel let out an exasperated sigh before he was unceremoniously shoved out of the way by Anastacia who gripped his shoulders and gave him a hard shake.

"Pay attention you dimwit" she griped. "Why didn't you kiss Harry back? You've been pining over the boy for months and he gets up the nerve to kiss you and you just stand there like a stunned niffler."

Anders gave his head another shake, clearing the last of the haze from his mind. It was then that his actions caught up with him.

"I didn't kiss Harry back."

"No – No you didn't. You didn't respond in any way," Anastacia said gently. "I thought the poor boy was going to cry" she said, and Anders could hear the worry in her voice. She may not have known Harry that long, but she still cared about him a lot.

Anders hit his forehead in exasperation. "I didn't kiss him back!"

"That's what we've been saying!" Anastacia and Axel both shouted at him.

"He's going to think I don't like him. Oh, poor Harry he must feel so humiliated. I have to go and find him."

"We'll check our common room and dormitory" Lukas and Roman piped up from behind him.

Anders nodded in appreciation before hurrying away to check the hall first.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Meanwhile Harry had found himself back down at the Care of Magical Creatures building. He was currently hiding in one of the stalls petting a baby mooncalf. He knew Professor Boden was around, but the Professor was busy and pretending that he didn't notice Harry's red face and tears when he arrived; for which Harry was eternally grateful. He sat on the ground forlornly, playing the moment over and over again in his head. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there when he heard the door open and a set of footsteps rushed in.

"Harry, Harry are you here?" Anders voice called out. Harry shrunk further into the stall not making a sound, hoping Anders would just leave. Which he did, after having a quick look around. Harry let out a sigh of relief as the door closed behind Anders and felt himself relaxing against the back of the stall, the mooncalf climbing into his lap.

He wasn't mad at Anders; it wasn't the older teens fault that he wasn't interested in Harry in that way. But he just didn't feel he could face the other teen yet. If he was honest, he was mostly just mad at himself, for thinking that he had had a chance with Anders. He just hoped that he hadn't done irreparable damage to their friendship. The thought made him sick to his stomach and he couldn't stop a small tear from escaping. He knew he was being silly, realistically Harry knew that Anders hadn't given any indication that he liked him in that way. Harry had just let all the gentle touches and hugs lure him into getting his hopes up.

He sat there for a while longer before he felt brave enough to venture back up to the castle. It was well past dinner so he knew that most people would have returned to their common rooms by now and he was unlikely to encounter anyone in the halls. He didn't think he could deal with people's amusement, or worse, their pity right now. He had decided while sitting and feeling sorry for himself, that he would apologise to Anders first thing tomorrow morning, and just hope that their friendship could be saved. With that decided he felt a little calmer as he made his way into his common room. The common room went quiet as he walked in and Harry felt himself blushing again. He knew people must be looking at him – must've heard what had happened this afternoon. He kept his head down and ignored Roman as he called out to him, rushing into the fifth-year boys' dormitory and closing the door behind him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he just wanted to crawl into bed and forget this day had ever happened. The problem with that was that when he opened his eyes again and started walking toward his bed, someone was already sitting on it.

Anders. Of course, Anders was in his dorm waiting for him. One of the other boys must have let him in.

Harry looks at the other teen, seeing the intense blue eyes focused on him, he glanced down, embarrassed all over again. He dithered around the door for a moment before slowly walking further into the room. Closer to Anders. Anders watches him closely, eyes tracking his every movement.

"Hey" Harry says, and curses himself when he voices comes out as a croak.

Anders just raises an eyebrow at him before standing from the bed and slowly making his way to Harry. His blue eyes are tracing Harry's face, taking note of the bags and redness of his eyes.

Anders is standing right in front of him and Harry is about to open his mouth and start with the apology, when the other teen practically throws himself at Harry. Strong arms wrap around Harry's chest and waist as Anders pulls him close.

"I'm so sorry Harry" Anders says, and Harry just stares in surprise, wasn't that supposed to be his line?

Before he can process exactly what's happening warm lips are being firmly pressed against his own, and Harry closes his eyes in pleasure as warmth starts to seep through his whole body.

Anders is kissing him! Harry reciprocates eagerly, lips moving against each other and tongues darting out to taste the others mouth. Harry moans quietly as he feels himself pressed against the door and Anders tongue is pushed more insistently into his mouth. He's not even sure how they made it over to the door, he just knows that he loves the feeling of Anders body pressed against his own. Anders pulls back for air, resting his forehead against Harry's as they both try to catch their breath.

"I thought you didn't like me?" Harry asked slightly confused, trying to think now that some blood is managing to make its way back to his brain.

"Of course, I like you Harry" Anders exclaims fiercely, pulling Harry tight against him again. "How could I not, sweet and kind and strong as you are, how could I not like you? You – you just took me by surprise earlier when you kissed me, kinda left me dazed and I didn't have time to respond." Anders said sheepishly and Harry's confusion began to fade, his lips twitching up into a small smile.

"Really?"

"Really."

"I like you to" Harry said with a grin, "though I guess that's kind of obvious."

Anders smile was blinding, made even more special by the fact Harry had never seen him smile quite like that before. This time when Anders kissed him it was soft and gentle, and Harry could feel the emotions that Anders was pouring into it. Large hands came up to his face and thumbs gently traced over his cheek bones as Harry sighed into the kiss. His own hands reaching up to wrap around Anders neck as Harry pulled him impossibly close.