It's been a while, hasn't it?

Unfortunately, I had more than a slight case of writers block about halfway through this chapter, on all my stories, actually. That, combined with college... yeah, I'm busy and can't always update when I would like to.

Just to clear up some apparent confusion, this is not a bashing of Dumbledore. Yes, there will be people angry with him, and he will not be liked by the rest of the readers for a while. But that is because he did something they did not like. He is still going to hold their respect, and when he says something, they will still do it, just... with less of a blind devotion. He is a manipulative old man, that often forgets to look at the little details and the people who get hurt because he focuses too much on the big picture.

But he is also human, and that is acknowledged.

English, Parseltongue or other languages

younger people with an older counter-part, everyone else


Minerva sighed again. Oh, Hagrid.

"And you three are going to get yourselves involved in whatever is going on, aren't you?" Sirius sighed, especially when Harry nodded sheepishly.

"How about two more chapters and then lunch?" Molly suggested, they had snacks, they would be fine. Everybody nodded in agreement.

Chapter 12, the Mirror of Erised

Minerva's eyes widened in horror. "How does he know about the Mirror, when could...?" She asked Severus beside her, honestly horrified that an eleven year old would ever come into contact with such a thing, especially one who grew up without any sort of familial relations with anyone. She'd heard him say once, years ago, that what he always wanted the most growing up, was for somebody to come get him, his parents or anybody else.

Severus was frowning. "I do not know, I didn't even know the Mirror was in the school that year." He was trying to think about where Albus would have even gotten it... wasn't it kept in the Department of Mysteries or something? How would it have ended up in the school? Whoever it belonged to, they wouldn't just loan it out to him, would they?

Albus sat up straighter, he was currently talking to somebody about lending him the Mirror, so he could guard the Stone with it... and possibly using it to test Harry's character. This should be interesting.

(Christmas was coming.)

"I love Hogwarts during the Yule season." Luna said softly.

"Yule? Don't you mean Christmas?" Hermione asked. Sure, they had the Yule Ball, but she'd never really heard it referred to anything but Christmas. Dumbledore gave Luna a warning look to stop talking about it, but she didn't pay him any attention.

"No, I mean Yule. I never understood why it's referred to as Christmas at Hogwarts, witches and wizards as a whole don't celebrate that, it's really only those raised in the Muggle world that believe in Christianity. Wizards have their own holidays, we have Yule, we celebrate magic itself." She said, informing Hermione and Harry. Who blinked in shock.

"I knew about Yule, but all the books I read said that it was an old tradition that was no longer followed anymore, that it fell out of use centuries ago when Christianity came to England." She muttered, looking at Harry in question, but he just shrugged. He didn't know either.

Arthur and Molly looked at each other, looking as uncomfortable as the rest of the Purebloods in the room. "Why don't we discuss this later. Harry, Hermione, we'll talk about it with you later."

"Arthur, I don't think..." Albus started. There was a reason he stopped celebrating Yule at Hogwarts, along with the rest of the wizarding holidays. He couldn't stop what Purebloods did in their own homes, but he could very well keep it out of his school. Arthur silenced him with a glare.

Honestly, Arthur didn't know why they never included Harry and Hermione in their celebrations... the two of them were with the Weasley's for their fifth year, while Harry spent the holidays his sixth year with them...

(One morning in mid... feet of snow.)

Everybody who had seen it, smiled wistfully, remembering how Hogwarts looked in the snow. It was truly beautiful.

(The lake froze solid... back of his turban.)

Severus and the Trio winced again, and glanced at the Twins before looking away again quickly.

Although Severus did suppose that this explained the vendetta the Dark Lord seemed to have carried out against the Twins there. He'd wondered, although he eventually just figured it was because of some of the signs they posted on their shop windows... The only reason the Dark Lord didn't hit their shop long ago and burn it to the ground was because he knew several of his followers actually got some product there that was useful for the war effort.

Like when Draco got the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder there for the Hogwarts invasion at the end of his sixth year.

He made a mental note to speak with the Twins about that later on...

(The few owls that managed... could fly off again.)

Charlie glanced at Hagrid, concerned, but he just got a reassuring nod. The owls were fine, they just needed a bit of time somewhere warm and dry to recover. And, in only a couple of cases, to regrow some feathers so they could still fly correctly.

They were fine after a few days. Those who needed feathers regrown, Severus had long ago, at Hagrid's request of course, modified a potion to encourage quicker growth of new feathers. It just needed administered carefully and in small enough doses that the owls didn't become massive, feathery balls... rather than new feathers just growing back where needed.

Needless to say, Hedwig had not been happy about Harry ordering her to stay inside... until she took one look at the outside and then proceeded to hunker down on his shoulder, where she refused to move until Harry went to bed that night. And even then, she only went to her perch.

(No one could wait... in the classrooms.)

The younger kids shivered just hearing about. The eleven year olds made a mental note to get extra warm cloaks and such... it sounded like winters were going to be extremely cold.

(Worst of all were... to their hot cauldrons.)

Everyone grumbled, but they had all gotten the lecture years ago about it not being safe to use magic around many potions while brewing, so it was better to just get in the habit of not doing magic in the lab at all. Which meant no warming charms.

"You could always order a cloak for use in the dungeons, with heating runes sewn in." Severus said, raising an eyebrow. That was what many purebloods did. Of course, they didn't need to order it, their parents would have already bought them one for everyday use. They usually had a spare laying around.

He was stared at for a few moments before many foreheads found themselves planted in palms.

After a moment, Bill looked at his list for those trunks again and made a note to stock it with plenty of warm clothing and footwear. At least one set of robes and cloak would have heating runes sewn in.

("I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy,)

"No, you didn't." All the Gryffindor's in his year said at once. As soon as the book said who was speaking.

Draco's pale complexion turned a slight pink.

(one Potions class, "for... not wanted at home.")

Harry just shrugged. That statement hadn't bothered him then... much, and it didn't bother him in the least now. He'd found himself a new home, after all.

Harry, on the other hand, was a little bothered by it. But he didn't let it bother him for long.

The adults just glared at the Dursley's.

"Why would we want that little freak in our home?" Petunia sniffed. "It's bad enough we have to put up with him at all."

The glares deepened.

(He was looking over... and Goyle chuckled.)

"It's amazing sometimes, the things some people find to be funny." Harry muttered to his seat mates.

"I don't see what is so funny about not being welcome in a place that should have been your home." Luna said with a glaring frown towards Draco. He grimaced, but said nothing.

(Harry, who was measuring... lionfish, ignored them.)

Harry sighed. "It's amazing how good one can get at ignoring somebody." He grumbled. Draco turned red while everyone else snickered. Severus just sighed at Draco using his classroom as a place to potentially start fights.

Ron turned red too, because no matter how much Harry told him to, or how much he heard it, he never could manage to ignore the blond pureblood.

(Malfoy had been even... as Seeker next.)

"Considering how impressive it was that he stayed on while his broom went crazy and still caught the thing after the ride he had... somehow I doubt anyone cared how he caught the Snitch. Let alone laughed about it." Sirius deadpanned. Draco turned red again while everyone snickered again.

The older Gryffindor's and even a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs made their displeasure at him known. They had not appreciated him mocking an impressive catch and flying skills.

Not at all.

(Then he'd realized that... bucking broomstick.)

Sirius nodded smugly. That was exactly what he said would happen. He smirked when Draco glared and a few others snickered.

(So Malfoy, jealous... having no proper family.)

"Wow, real original." Neville deadpanned. Draco glared at nothing.

(It was true that... Drive for Christmas.)

"Why would I ever want to?" Both Harry's asked at once, genuinely confused about that part.

"All I would do there is cook the Christmas dinner, then sit in my cupboard while listening to Dudley open his presents." Harry said dully. Now that he knew what Christmas could be like... after spending his Christmas at Hogwarts, where Ron and the Twins sometimes stuck around, and they had a snowball fight in the courtyard. Or, those two years he spent it with the whole Weasley family, that one year at the Burrow and the year before at Grimmauld.

Yeah... he was never going back to the way holidays used to be. He had a family to celebrate with now, a family that let him join in the fun.

"If I'm lucky, I might be allowed some of the leftovers. None of the turkey, though. I might be able to get some bread and maybe potatoes." Harry added with a shrug. He didn't sound as dull and dead as his older self. His older self had experienced what Christmas really could be, he knew nothing except but what the two just described.

Some deadly glares were shot at the Dursley's while Dudley shifted uncomfortably. Dudley looked like he was considering something.

Sirius was already mentally plotting to give Harry the best Yule/Christmas ever once he had a place for them to stay. Maybe he could see about having Black Manor cleaned up. There was no way they were staying in Grimmauld. A contractor might take one look at that house and condemn it. Last he heard, his mother and Kreature had been banished there by his grandfather shortly before his death, he had been informed of her death a few years ago while in Azkaban... He was let out of his cell and taken to the Ministry (away from Azkaban and those soul-sucking monsters) only long enough to make funeral preparations as the default Head of the Family.

Draco, for his part, looked slightly abashed at hearing all this. He couldn't imagine all this ever happening to somebody.

(Professor McGonagall had... signed up at once.)

"I think I was the first one to sign up." Harry said thoughtfully.

"You were, I was honestly surprised with how fast you moved." Ron said in agreement.

Harry shrugged. "I hadn't thought we would be allowed to stay over, I was just happy that they weren't going to make me go back to the Dursley's for the holidays." He shuddered just thinking about it, while Harry looked relieved with the news himself.

He didn't want to spend any time with the Dursleys if he could help it, and thankfully in this case he wouldn't have to.

The Dursley's got a few glares directed their way, the wizards were honestly disgusted that they didn't even let the boy enjoy holidays. Then again, the wizards were disgusted by virtually everything to do with the Muggles in the room.

(He didn't feel sorry... he'd ever had.)

"It was." Harry said in agreement with his own young and naive thoughts. Sirius frowned, but he supposed that Harry wouldn't remember that one Christmas he got to spend with his parents.

Now that, had been a fun few days. They'd taken a family trip, all of them except Peter, to the magical side of Disney World in America... apparently the American wizards were more blended in with their non-magical neighbors. Harry spent almost the entire trip as a giggling mess.

Suddenly, he wished that he knew where he put the photo album of the trip, and what happened to it after his arrest. He knew that his flat had probably been emptied out, who knew what happened to all his stuff afterward. Everything not in his vaults or Grimmauld Place was probably burned. He jumped in surprise when the same photo album that he'd been thinking about dropped in his lap, but grinned and gestured for the boys to come closer.

"Is that...?" Remus asked, before a grin spread across his face at Sirius own smirk.

"Oh, yeah. Christmas in America, when Harry was a few months old." Sirius said happily as he opened it and started showing the boys. He quickly made two copies, one for each of the boys.

(Ron and his brothers were... to visit Charlie.)

Harry cocked his head to the side and looked at the Weasley parents. "I always wondered about that, why didn't you all go?"

Arthur shrugged slightly. "Percy wanted to stay behind to use the library for his OWL's, and we didn't want to leave him there on his own. It's also more expensive to take an international portkey the more people are going. Plus fees and such, from both our Ministry and the Ministry for the country we are going to. I actually got a discount with the fees, but it was still expensive."

Draco looked confused. "But, whenever we go to France, we never have to pay fees. Or to another place, but we mostly just travel to France."

"You're a Malfoy, you're native to France." Sirius said with a shrug. "With the way the wizarding system works, your family probably has dual citizenship despite being in the United Kingdom for four generations now. Of course, the Malfoy family also has a spot in the French government, so there is also that. As for other places..." He frowned, thinking back to when his family traveled. He couldn't remember them ever paying those fees, either. "How many of those places were straight to a vacation home already owned by your family?"

"We only have three vacation homes, southern Italy, Japan, and one in the Caribbean." Draco said, looking confused.

"Ok, then you wouldn't have to pay fees to go to any of those places because you own land, the governments will already have all your information. As for other places..." He sat back in thought, trying to remember what he learned when he was a boy. And was becoming increasingly frustrated when he couldn't remember. "I know my grandfather taught me about this, why can't I remember?" He growled.

"Relax, laddie, don't try to force it. Remember, you just got out of Azkaban, those blasted Dementors won't have done you any favors." Moody finally said, gruffly. He'd stayed silent for now, to see how much Sirius could remember on his own, trying to gauge the damage done. He was a little disappointed he couldn't remember, but also not surprised. He turned to the Malfoy heir. "You're father probably has something set up with the bank, so that any travel fees just come straight out of the vaults without him having to deal with it. Or, even Abraxas probably set it up, your father might not know, who knows." He shook his head, muttering under his breath about criminals throwing some money and going free.

After a moment, Severus frowned, thinking about the memory problems Black was having. Potions theories and ingredients lists were rushing through his head, coming up with a viable recipe that just might reverse the damage the Dementors did to prisoners. Of course, it wouldn't be able to do anything for their physical health, but mentally... right now, prisoners who survived to see the end of their sentence, were just a drain on government and family resources. They were so mentally unstable, that more often than not, they ended up being in the permanent psych ward of St. Mungoes, taking up space and resources that nobody really had. Or, they ended up right back in Azkaban because they had nobody to support them and ended up inadvertently breaking the law again to survive.

When that happened, no court official ever had any kind of sympathy on them or considered that they were no longer capable of the thought process necessary to make an effort of following the law.

If he could create a potion to restore their mental function so they don't become a resource drain... and so that Azkaban was the punishment it was meant to be, instead of the end of a person's life (even for the smallest of crimes)... along the way he might even figure out a way to restore Frank and Alice Longbottom's minds to them. He never tried it before, but now that he was thinking about it...

(When they left the... Hagrid was behind it.)

"Oh, dear. Were you alright?" Molly asked, concerned.

Hagrid laughed. He'd been quiet so far, very quiet. "Nah, I was alrigh', Molly. Thanks fer askin. It was the las' tree, an' I had ter drag them all up from the Fores'."

"Trees can get heavy after a while." Harry said sagely, nodding in perfect understanding. Harry nodded his own agreement. The Dursleys never letting him celebrate holidays with them never seemed to extend to shutting him away while they decorated... no. They usually sat around while he did most of the decorating and heavy lifting. With them telling him how they wanted it or where they wanting certain items placed, of course. If he was lucky, he only had to move something a little bit to the left before they were satisfied. They could go for at least an hour with just one decoration, making him run all over the room trying to get it just right, where they wanted it.

The others frowned at how knowing both of them seemed about the subject.

("Hi, Hagrid, want any... through the branches.)

Hermione raised an eyebrow. Offers to just help like that were somewhat rare with Ron. Oh, he would help out, no problem. But he didn't generally like to do any sort of work if he could help it. Hermione just gave Ron a look, surprised that his book self even considered asking.

("Nah, I'm all right... extra money, Weasley?)

"Not everything is about money. There is such a thing as offering to help just to help." Harry said, looking up from the photo album. Draco blinked at him, briefly he wondered why anybody would do something and not expect something in turn. But then he remembered that that was the Slytherin thing to do... none of them were Slytherin's.

(Hoping to be gamekeeper... family's used to.")

"Have you ever even seen our home? It may not look like much, but it is our home." Percy, surprisingly said, annoyed at the constant digs he was hearing in this book. He may not have always been proud of his family when he was younger, especially where he lived and how little they had, but in the end it was his home, and they were his family.

Arthur reached out and patted his son on the knee, mollifying him and avoiding another Weasley blow-up. He'd had to put his foot down and be stern a lot during this reading already, in a way he hadn't really had to be in a long time, or often.

(Ron dived at Malfoy... up the stairs.)

"Aw, bad timing, there." Sirius said with a wince. Severus glowered at him while Draco scowled at the wall. Remus rolled his eyes and whacked his friend upside the head, getting a dirty look for his troubles. Remus merely looked innocently back.

Minerva mentally groaned at the sight of that look on the werewolf's face, knowing that he got out of a lot of trouble with that look back in school. He was the only one that she would ever believe was actually innocent when seeing that look. Of course, now she knew better.

("WEASLEY!"

Ron let go of... insultin' his family.")

This earned Draco several dirty looks from the red-heads in the room.

"Thank you for trying, Hagrid." Harry said softly. Honestly, any other teacher would have reprimanded both sides of the confrontation, but this was Snape they were talking to.

"Sometimes, I really wonder who the rivals really are. Harry and Malfoy, or Ron and Malfoy." Neville muttered to Luna quietly. She nodded in agreement.

("Be that as it may... along, all of you.")

"That is just encouraging horrible behavior." Molly snapped, although she wasn't too thrilled with how Ron had gone to attack. Arthur had barely managed to keep her quiet.

"He received his punishment for his behavior in private." Severus drawled. Molly still glared at him, not quite believing it. Minerva frowned at him, but said nothing.

(Malfoy, Crabbe, and... everywhere and smirking.)

"Rude." Hermione muttered. Luna coughed lightly and hid her smile behind her hand.

"Poor tree." Neville muttered. Harry heard and grinned behind the photo album Sirius was going over with himself and Harry.

("I'll get him," said Ron... Harry, "Malfoy and Snape.")

Sirius smirked briefly, but didn't say anything. Severus scowled at him.

He couldn't really call the boys out on it though, he never exactly behaved in a way to let the boys like him. He didn't regret any of it, except for the blind cruelty.

("Come on, cheer up... Hall, looks a treat.")

"The Great Hall is so beautiful when it's decorated." Luna said, smiling softly.

"Yes it is." Harry said, grinning. "And it is something that the rest of you will just have to wait to see when you yourselves get to Hogwarts." He said with a grin to the eleven year olds in the room. The Great Hall ceiling had already been spoiled for them, this one could wait.

(So the three of them... Hagrid, the last tree-)

"Last?" Hermione asked, curious. "Just how many trees do you put up?" She asked.

"A few. It's a large Hall, after all." Hermione responded to her younger self with a small smile. The kids all glanced around at the older people, slightly annoyed.

They hadn't been doing it that much, but it was annoying when they wouldn't show them something or tell them because they wanted them to see or experience it for themselves.

(put it in the far corner... with hundreds of candles.)

"Oh, that sounds lovely." Hermione breathed.

"It's even better in person." Harry muttered, smiling with pride for his school, his home.

"It was lovely when they went all out for the Yule Ball. But I think I prefer the usual decorations to what was put up to impress." Luna said thoughtfully, thinking back.

"Yeah, I can see that." Hermione agreed after a moment, tilting her head to the side. "Hogwarts does look better when the teachers aren't trying to impress anybody. Especially when the people they are trying to impress don't appreciate their efforts." She shot Bill a dark look at that, since it was his wife who was constantly putting down Hogwarts and complaining about everything she saw in the castle. She liked Fleur now, but that didn't mean she couldn't hold a small grudge over the Veela girls initial attitude.

Bill shifted. "Her attitude got better, you just had to get to know her first, give her a chance." He defended. He wouldn't admit it, but his wife's attitude had caused some problems between them when they first started dating. She put in the effort though, to learn more about British culture, instead of just putting it down all the time. Although, he didn't think her opinion on British cooking would ever change. She was very good at cooking his meat just like he liked it now, though. Especially since he was attacked by Greyback.

("How many days you... be in the library.")

The Twins made a face, "Ugh, why would you need to visit the library, especially so close to freedom?" Fred whined. His brother nodded his agreement.

"We had our reasons for being in the library as often as we were then." Harry murmured, frowning.

The Twins just gave him a strange look, and he gestured towards the book impatiently.

("Oh yeah, you're right,"... of the new tree.)

"Whoa." Hermione, Harry, and Dudley all murmured, impressed. The two magical children couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts and see it, while Dudley wished he could. The Dursley's looked just as disgusted as they had the whole time they were here.

Trust these freaks to take something as special and normal as Christmas, and ruin it with their freakishness.

Filius just smirked a little at the children's reaction to hearing how they decorated.

("The library?" said Hagrid... Bit keen, aren't yeh?")

"Hermione, yes. Ron and Harry? No. Not going to happen." Neville immediately denied.

"Hey!" Harry and Ron protested. They didn't protest beyond that, though. Because Hermione was giving them a dirty look that dared them to keep protesting.

("Oh, we're not working,")

"Why does that not sound good?" Minerva muttered to Severus.

(Harry told him brightly... out who he is.")

All the teachers groaned. "Of course they were. Why not?"

Harry shrugged. "Nobody ever tells me anything. Why wouldn't I try to figure out what's going on on my own?"

"Because it was none of your business. It was the teacher's job, the adults job. You were supposed to do nothing except focus on your schoolwork." Sirius said, he was not happy that his godson was poking around like this, especially not with something potentially dangerous like this.

Harry frowned at his godfather, but didn't say anything. Sirius frowned back, he would have to have a serious discussion with his godson later on.

("You what?" Hagrid... that dog's guardin'.")

Minerva sighed. "Hagrid. Thank you for trying." They all knew it was no use. Harry was his parents child, that was for sure. Hagrid just nodded, leaning back. He was still upset about how much he had let slip this year, and possibly the other years as well.

"Yeah, Hagrid. You tried." Sirius sighed, too.

("We just want to... all," said Hermione.)

"Of course you did." Minerva muttered, while Dumbledore had a strange look on his face.

He was glad that they were looking, but he would really rather that the other two students not get too involved. The only student that needed to be in any sort of danger was Harry, since he was the one that would have to face Voldemort. And he still needed to find out just how Voldemort and the boy were connected, and how it was that the Dark Lord survived that night.

He had his suspicions, but...

Although, he supposed that having those two with him, would keep young Harry on the right path. He was worried about the influence from the curse scar, or the attention from the public. He could use these two to keep the boy with the Light.

("Unless you'd like to... find him anywhere-)

"We should have known we were just looking in the wrong places." Hermione muttered, she was still a little sore that it had taken so long to find the Flamels. Of course, it didn't help that Harry had already had the information...

Harry blinked at her innocently, but didn't say anything.

(just give us a hint... his name somewhere.")

Hermione and Ron groaned again, giving him a dirty look. Everyone else just snickered, while he glowered at the wall.

("I'm sayin' nothin, said Hagrid flatly.)

"Whoa." Everyone who knew Hagrid said at once, blinking. Did Hagrid just... manage to keep his mouth shut about a secret?

"Good job, Hagrid!" Minerva praised.

Hagrid flushed red beneath his beard.

("Just have to find... Hagrid had let it slip,)

"Got to admire the dedication, though. As much as I don't like that you are poking your nose in." Sirius said, grudgingly. He was going to have to have a long talk with Harry later on about that tendency.

The Trio just blinked at him.

(because how else... was trying to steal?)

Harry winced at the glare on his least favorite (understatement) professor's face. "What else were we supposed to think?" He muttered when he caught Minerva and Molly's disapproving frowns.

Neither could deny that he had a point.

(The trouble was, it... himself into a book.)

Now Albus was leaning forward, wanting to hear all about how the trio figured out the trail he'd clearly been leaving for them.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the Headmaster.

(He wasn't in Great... the Twentieth Century,)

Sirius chuckled slightly. "A little too recent, there." Everyone else looked amused, as well.

"I'm surprised nothing was said about him in History. His accomplishments are quite notable, after all." Molly said, frowning. She knew that History classes were more or less nap time anymore (her Percy complained often enough about it), but she remembered hearing about Nicolas Flamel her first year.

Hermione shook her head. "History classes are nothing more than various Goblin wars or rebellions. That's almost all that is ever talked about anymore." She should know, she was the only one capable of staying awake. Her notes were the ones copied and passed around throughout the Houses, except Slytherin. Blaise Zabini had a Dicta-quill just for History class. The other teachers wouldn't allow one to be used.

Minerva frowned, that did sound about right for what she'd heard over the years. Mostly from students complaining to their friends in the Common Room or in the Maze while they were studying.

Albus frowned, too. He was learning all kinds of things about his school that he never really knew before. Well, he knew that students had a hard time staying awake in class, but he didn't know that it was this bad. History was important to know, it was good to know what happened in the past, so you could try to minimize the mistakes being repeated.

He pulled his parchment closer and made a note to look further into classes and how they were run.

(or Notable Magical Names... Modern Magical Discoveries,)

"He's not very modern, either." Remus said, tilting his head to the side.

"We get it, we were looking too recent. We know, now." Hermione huffed, annoyed with the two canine wizards.

Sirius and Remus just smirked.

(and A Study of Recent... size of the library;)

Hermione, and even Harry a little bit, both perked up at the mention of the library.

Libraries had always been his safe haven growing up, it was the one place Dudley would never follow him.

(tens of thousands of... of narrow rows.)

Draco glanced at the younger kids when he heard one of them exclaim in wonder, when he had to do a double take. "Is she... drooling?" He whispered to Severus, gesturing towards Hermione. He looked disturbed.

Severus glanced over, and blinked. "Yes, I believe she is. I knew the girl liked books, but this..." He trailed off, this was just disturbing.

Hermione had noticed her younger self's behavior as well, and merely hid her head in her hands. Had she really been like that? That was... oh, Merlin. Ron and Harry snickered for a moment before patting her on the back consolingly. She had gotten much better about it over the years, much better.

(Hermione took out a... the shelves at random.)

Hermione looked scandalized by such a disorganized and random way of researching. How was he supposed to find anything that way?

"Hmm, that's actually a pretty good method, especially since you don't even know what you're looking for." Remus mused, much to Hermione's shock and confusion. "But, how did you keep track of what you already read?" He asked.

"I wrote it down, and I didn't go to the same row twice." Ron answered, looking at Remus like it was a really dumb question.

"Ah, that would work." Remus mused.

Hermione sighed, but nodded. Compared to her method of searching, with lists and titles, Ron's way of searching was better. After a while, she became more engrossed in the books she was reading, then she was in the search. Not that she would ever tell the boys that, of course.

(Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section.)

Sirius snickered a little, "Well, that didn't take you long, did it?" He mused.

He and the other Marauder's hadn't actually tried for the Restricted Section until their second year. It just hadn't come up, that and they generally tried to avoid the library. While they were all smart (except for Peter) and at the top of their classes (except for Peter, although he did very well in Care of Magical Creatures), they didn't exactly study a whole lot.

Remus sighed and flicked him on the head, which sparked a rather intense silent conversation with eyebrows, grimaces, and the occasional poke in the arm.

(He had been wondering... somewhere in there.)

"He would be, or at least maybe a few alchemy books, which would at the very least mention him." Remus said with a shrug, trying to remember what books he'd read from the Restricted Section. He had no idea if those books would still be there or not, though. He didn't exactly have time for extra reading during that year he taught, after all.

"However, the Restricted Section is just that. Restricted." Minerva said with a frown.

The boys just looked at her innocently. Naturally, she didn't buy it for a moment.

(Unfortunately, you needed a... he'd never get one.)

Ron snorted. "Nah, just depends on which teacher you ask." He said with a smirk. That smirk faded when he remembered that that part would be in the next book, and the teacher would hear all about it.

The Trio glanced at the teachers (especially Severus) warily.

This wouldn't be good.

(These were the books... Against the Dark Arts.)

"Or, students doing independent studies, or special projects." Minerva said.

"Also, students good at sneaking around and tend to show up where they're not supposed to be." Sirius quipped. The others (like him) in the room nodded their agreement and exchanged smirks at her severely disapproving expression.

She would never admit that she was one of those students that snuck into the Restricted Section more than once.

("What are you looking for, boy?")

Harry winced slightly at the word 'boy'. That word would always hold bad memories, he would never like hearing that word. Sirius frowned at him in concern, but didn't say anything, instead he simply wrapped an arm around the boy.

("Nothing," said Harry.)

Sirius and the Twins groaned while Remus shook his head in disappointment. "Come on, pup. You can do better than that." Sirius said with a exaggerated sigh.

Harry shrugged. "I was telling the truth, though. I wasn't doing anything." He said innocently. Sirius tilted his head (like a dog would) and admitted that he had a bit of a point, but still.

"For once, he was really doing nothing, too." Neville muttered to Ginny, who laughed.

(Madam Pince the... feather duster at him.)

Several people shuddered. "It's terrifying when she does that." Somebody muttered.

"A feather duster? Couldn't you clean and dust the books with magic?" Dudley asked.

"Some of those books are ancient. Those ones are being held together with magic itself, magic use on or around them could damage them further. There are times when magic is safe to be used on or near something, and there are times when it isn't." Minerva explained.

"Contrary to what some believe, magic is not an 'end-all be-all' solution." Severus added, glancing at his godsons as he said it. Mostly, it was those raised in Pureblood houses that thought that way.

("You'd better get out, then. Go on- out!")

"Wait, why did she just kick you out? You weren't doing anything." Ginny said, confused.

"It's Madam Pince. Who knows why she does anything in that library of hers." It was Percy who answered, to everybodies shock. "What?" He asked when he saw everybodies looks. "Not even I was immune to her feather duster."

(Wishing he'd been a...they could find Flamel.)

"But she would be able to tell you exactly where to go." Percy said, somewhat confused about why they wouldn't use such a valuable resource.

Harry grimaced slightly. "It probably mentions something about our reasons, if not I'll explain." He said.

(They were sure she'd... they were up to.)

Everybody 'ahh'd'. That did make sense. They didn't know (they thought they knew) who the real thief was, after all. There was no use in possibly alerting whoever it was that somebody was onto them, even if that somebody was two eleven year olds and a twelve year old.

"We would have probably been better off. He might have actually believed us." Harry muttered to his friends.

"Except we thought he was the thief." Hermione reminded. Harry and Ron both shrugged but knew she had a point.

(Harry waited outside... looking for two weeks,)

"I knew they were spending more time in the library, but I put it down to getting work done before the holidays, that way they wouldn't have to worry about it." Minerva said, furious with herself.

"It's not your fault, these three are quite sneaky with their activities at times." Pomona comforted. Filius nodded his agreement.

(after all, but as they... down their necks.)

"Not going to happen." Everybody denied all at once.

"Depends on what time of day you go in." Sirius said instead. He didn't say it was impossible, because it wasn't. Minerva glared at him in response.

"Although, I would be very surprised if you had already found anything, since you've just been sneaking the occasional look." Remus said, shaking his head.

(Five minutes later... away, won't you?")

"Er..." Ron said, glancing at Harry.

"Sorry, again." Harry said, sheepishly. Hermione just sighed while everyone else shook their heads.

"Boys." Ginny muttered.

"The Nargles must have been especially active that year, Harry is not usually so forgetful." Luna commented.

Harry grinned at her, "Thanks, Luna." He liked this Luna better, not the serious one that they had seen over the last few days.

(said Hermione. "And... know who Flamel is,")

"How would they know anything about him, their Muggles." Draco said, slightly condescending.

"Same way they know about Merlin. He's such a legendary figure, that even the Muggles have heard about him. Alchemic techniques are considered by Muggles to be primitive and unreliable now, but they used to be the cutting edge of science. Well, some of them might still be used today, but science is much more advanced now." Remus answered.

"I was hoping that they would at least know what he was known for, so we would actually know where to look." Hermione explained.

The Purebloods looked thoughtful, were they really not that isolated, that Muggles knew so much about them? Suddenly, it was very comforting to know that the Muggles thought most of what they knew, were simply bedtime stories and myths.

(said Ron. "It'd be safe... dentists," said Hermione.)

"And didn't know anything about what was going on at the school, or any way of really communicating with the teachers." Hermione added under her breath.

"How much have you told your parents about what happened over the years?" Harry asked quietly. He'd never asked, he'd been curious, of course. But he never asked and she never said.

"As little as possible." Hermione said. "I didn't want them to decide Hogwarts was too dangerous and pull me out." She explained when she caught sight of Minerva's disapproving frown.

(Once the holidays had... much about Flamel.)

Hermione just sighed while her younger self looked indignant. Neither said anything, though.

This time.

(They had the dormitory... by the fire.)

"Lucky." All the Gryffindor's grumbled. Those were the best seats in the House, and also the most difficult to get. It was first come, first serve, and you usually had to really hurry to get them.

Fred and George looked disgruntled. Those three had somehow managed to claim those seats as solely there's. It was to the point where, if the Trio entered the Common Room, those chairs were automatically vacated. They didn't know how they did it, either. Those were the most coveted seats in the room, mostly because they were the comfiest in addition to being right by the warmth of the fire.

Said Trio simply smirked at the Twins, but didn't bother saying how they managed to claim the seats. Harry in particular, wasn't revealing his secrets.

(They sat by the hour... muffins, marshmallows-)

"Where did all that come from?" Hermione asked, curious. "They don't have marshmallows in the Great Hall."

"Hey. Getting marshmallows and..."

"... stuff is child's play." The Twins said, slightly offended that she felt the need to ask where something came from. Especially when they were in the area.

"Oh, right. I should have known." She said after a moment. Harry snickered slightly.

(and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled,)

"Hey!" Both Draco's protested.

"What, you weren't doing the same thing about me? Or Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. Draco didn't say anything, instead his pale skin turned pink and he looked away while his younger self watched curiously.

(which were fun... they wouldn't work.)

"I also put the exercise rooms in the Maze to good use. I don't always have time during the school year, unless we're in there for Quidditch workouts." Harry added. He happened to like running, unless, of course, he was running from Dudley and his gang.

"Just what were some of those ideas of yours?" Draco asked, curiously, wondering what on earth Potter could have dreamed up, especially if it was something that wouldn't work.

Harry and Ron just turned red. "Er, well... let's just say that we were eleven, and they wouldn't have worked." Ron said, embarrassed.

"But what were they?" Draco asked again.

"Didn't I overhear you two debating something about whether or not making him tap dance down the hall, singing obnoxiously and making a nuisance of himself, would be enough to get him expelled?" Percy asked his youngest brother and his best friend. Their red faces turned redder.

"While that would have been amusing to watch, it wouldn't have gotten him expelled." Severus said, hiding his smile at his godsons expense. Everyone else was also chuckling at the mental image.

"Uncle Sev!" Both boys protested. He merely patted them on the leg, hiding the amusement in his gaze from everyone else in the room.

(Ron also started teaching Harry wizard chess.)

"Tried to, anyway." Ron corrected, shaking his head.

"Hey!" Harry protested. "I've gotten better over the years."

"Eh. Somewhat. You're still pretty hopeless at it, although it did get somewhat better once you got a set of your own and broke it in a little, but you're still pretty terrible." Ron said apologetically. The other Weasley boys all nodded in agreement.

Watching Harry play chess could actually be painful at times.

"We'll have to play a game sometime." Draco said, looking at Ron. He looked surprised, but nodded his acceptance of the challenge.

(This was exactly like... figures were alive,)

"'Except'?" Draco asked, confused.

Harry and Hermione sighed in annoyance. "It is a Muggle chess set. Therefore, it does not move. There is no magic to make it move, why are you still surprised by the idea that things in the Muggle world don't work like they do in the wizarding?" Harry asked, annoyed that he was once again explaining something like this.

The Purebloods in the room all blinked at him, slightly confused about why Harry was so worked up right now.

"They grew up with things like that moving and interacting. They don't think about it." Sirius murmured to him, trying to calm him down.

"I know, I know. I just..." He trailed off and shook his head with a frustrated sigh. He couldn't even begin to describe how much he hated it when wizards were so clueless about Muggles in general, or talked about them like they were mentally challenged.

Sirius sighed. "I know, kiddo. I know." Lily had certainly given him and, even James, enough lectures about it. After she made them all live like Muggles for a month, he and James earned a new appreciation for the way they lived, and their general intelligence.

(which made it a... this case, his grandfather.)

"And his father, and his father before him... and so on down the line, starting when chess first became known in England." Arthur said proudly. "I gave it to him when he started Hogwarts, every single one of my children was taught how to play on that board, Ron was just the only one who showed any interest in it beyond an occasional way to pass the time."

"It's one of the few Heirlooms that the family managed to keep when we lost everything." Molly said quietly. The Weasley's looked proud of that accomplishment.

One thing they used to be known for, was their strategic thinking. They weren't really, anymore, not since they lost everything and were labeled blood-traitors. Now, they were just known for having red hair, freckles, and more children than they could afford; as Draco Malfoy put it once upon a time. Oh, and their fierce tempers, of course.

Speaking of Draco, he and his younger self were both wondering what they would do if they lost everything, to the point where an old chess board was considered a valuable artifact. What would they consider important enough to try to save for future generations?

(However, old chessmen... a drawback at all.)

"Eh, depends on which side you are on, and whether or not your the one that owns the set." Sirius disagreed. "The chessmen would naturally have more of a loyalty to the one who owns them. A consequence of the enchantments on them that give them a degree of sentience."

All the Weasley's blinked at him, they'd never really thought about it. Chess was just chess, the family set was so old, and therefore had been in the family for so long, that the pieces were 'loyal' to all of them equally.

(Ron knew them so... very good player yet)

The Weasley's snorted, and Harry pouted.

Harry still wasn't a good chess player.

(and they kept shouting... can afford to lose him.")

Sirius started chuckling out of nowhere, causing everyone else to look at him strangely, while Harry looked a little offended. Remus hid his smile at the fact Sirius was so carefree right now, managing to rearrange his face to look annoyed instead.

"That sounds about how our chess games always went, Moony. Although, I think your chessmen were even less helpful." He said, shaking his head. Remus scowled.

"Shut up," He grumbled. "Just because you Blacks are all chess geniuses."

"I'm pretty sure the chess geniuses are the Weasleys. Although, we Blacks are good with chess." Sirius said with a shrug. "Besides, it wasn't just me you were always losing to. You even lost to Pettigrew a few times, and he couldn't play chess to save his life." He pointed out, and both of them ignored the rage and pain that flared up at mention of the traitor.

(On Christmas Eve, Harry... any presents at all.)

Sirius and Remus looked like their hearts broke at that admission, that their boy wasn't expecting to get anything for Christmas. They may personally celebrate Yule instead, but that didn't mean they didn't still exchange gifts.

"This year, you are going to get more gifts than you know what to do with." Sirius promised under his breath. And he would make it happen, it would of course be easier to do when Moody came and got him out of Azkaban. Harry looked at him, startled. He shrugged it off, though, and dismissed it as Sirius just saying things in the heat of the moment. He wasn't going to get his hopes up about getting presents.

"Well, you should have received at least one, because I sent something." Remus said, shaking his head after a moment while he glanced at Sirius in faint amusement.

"I don't think I ever got anything from you, except in fifth year..." Harry said slowly, thinking back to past years.

"What? I sent something for your birthday and Christmas every year since your parents died." Remus said, annoyed. Harry merely looked at him. Nobody noticed that Dumbledore was watching in satisfaction. He didn't feel like it would be a good idea for Remus and Harry to be close, not if Harry was going to do what he needed to do.

Bill frowned and made a mental note to search Harry's magic for any spells or wards blocking owls from a specific sender.

(When he woke early... the foot of his bed.)

Harry's eyes widened in shock at hearing he got presents. Sirius and Remus smiled slightly, even while their hearts broke even further at the fact that getting presents was a surprise.

Their pup/cub should have grown up as the most spoiled boy on the planet. He certainly was when he was a baby. He had more toys and such than he knew what to ever do with, but more importantly, he was more loved than anything. To think he grew up not getting presents, or love... They were going to spoil Harry as much as they could.

("Merry Christmas," said... got some presents!")

"You know, I missed it then, but now... I've never heard anyone sound so amazed about getting a present." Ron said in disgust, glaring the Dursleys, who were spontaneously turning different colors and sprouting different objects. Nobody bothered to ask if it was Remus or Sirius doing it, although they were pretty sure that those two weren't the only ones.

"Can you blame me for being so surprised?" Harry muttered, red.

("What did you expect, turnips?")

"Heh. You aren't far off, there." Harry mumbled, burrowing further into his blanket at Sirius's side.

"Even turnips would have been more than I expected." Harry hissed in parsel. Sirius glanced at him in worry.

(said Ron, turning to... To Harry, from Hagrid.)

"I never got a chance to thank you, did I?" Harry asked Hagrid, tilting his head. Then he frowned. "I never got anybody anything for Christmas that year, come to think of it."

"Don't worry about it, you'd never had anybody to get presents for before this." "Don' worry abou' it." Ron and Hagrid both said at the same time.

"You got the hang of it all the next year." Ron said after a moment. "We were the ones who should have included you in our family celebrations." Ron said. He, the Twins, and Percy had found a room in the Maze to use, to celebrate Yule. Now, though, he regretted never including Harry in the family celebrations. Looking at his parents and siblings, he could tell that they all felt the same way.

(Inside was a roughly... a bit like an owl.)

"I still play it on occasion, I found a music book so I could learn how to really play it." Harry said with a smile. Hagrid beamed.

"It also came in handy keeping us alive." Hermione muttered to Ron, to Sirius and Remus' alarm.

"I remember, it used to drive Hedwig nuts until she got used to it, she tried to take off with it all the time." Ron said with a grin. The owl in question hooted in question and puffed up her feathers. Everyone had to grin.

(A second, very small... received your message)

Harry suddenly frowned and looked up. "Wait a minute. I didn't send them any messages." He glanced at Minerva, who grimaced.

"It is standard to message the parents or guardians of students who are staying over break, to make sure everything is alright and make sure the student remembered to let them know. It has been that way for the last three hundred years, a student stayed over break, and the parents had no idea he was planning on that, so they came charging into the school demanding to see their boy, thinking something was wrong with him and they hadn't been notified like they should have been." She explained, and Harry frowned. He didn't know how he felt about that.

(and enclose your Christmas present.

From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.)

"Wait, what?" Harry asked, confused.

"Wait and see." Harry answered under his breath.

Albus looked up hopefully, maybe he could use this...

(Taped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.)

Albus wilted. He didn't know much about the Muggles, but even he knew that wasn't much.

"Did they just willingly give me money?" Harry asked, shocked. He was blinking rapidly and staring at the Dursleys as though he had never seen them before.

"That's not very much." Hermione said, indignant.

"That might as well be a fortune considering where it came from." Harry told her, tiredly. "And I'm not sure how much of it was willing, and how much was just trying to keep up appearances. Aunt Petunia, despite pretending otherwise, does know quite a bit about the wizarding world from Mom. Including, I'm willing to bet, how little wizards know about Muggles. So, she probably figured that if they sent such a small amount, that any wizards who saw it, would assume it was worth a lot more than it really is. Less questions that way." He explained to his younger self.

Judging by the look on Petunia's face, he was correct.

("That's friendly," said Harry.)

"No, that's not." Hermione grumbled.

"Actually, that's very friendly for them." Harry commented to his new friend. She just looked at him in disbelief.

(Ron was fascinated by... shape! This is money?")

Harry cleared his throat and glanced at his younger self, who looked like he was trying not to laugh at how quickly Harry's point was just proven.

"Hey, I know a lot more now. I'd never seen Muggle money before!" Ron protested.

"Which is actually pretty strange, considering how obsessed your father is with Muggle things." Hermione mused, tilting her head.

Arthur turned red. "Molly doesn't like it when I bring my Muggle objects in the house, and the kids don't come out to my shed very often, where all of it is kept." He explained. Molly simply raised an eyebrow and nodded.

("You can keep it,")

Petunia and Vernon puffed up indignantly at how the Freak just gave away their money like that, after they went through all the trouble of sending it in the first place.

What an ungrateful little Freak!

(said Harry, laughing at how pleased Ron was.)

"It was pretty amusing how amazed he was to be seeing money." Harry said with a shrug.

("Hagrid and my... who sent these?")

"I didn't know of anyone else who would want to send me presents." Harry said with a shrug. "Well, I suppose other than Ron and Hermione, but I wasn't expecting presents at all, so..." He shook his head.

"You can expect more presents than you know what to do with, from now on." Sirius promised quietly, mostly talking to Harry, but he was talking to Harry, too.

("I think I know who... expect any presents)

Harry turned red, while Harry sighed. Ron noticed, "I didn't mean it like that..." He muttered. He hoped that didn't make it look like Harry needed charity.

Harry just offered him a small smile.

"Thank you, Molly." Sirius said quietly, still holding onto his boys. She just smiled softly at him and waved him off. She was happy to include Harry.

(and- oh, no," he... a Weasley sweater.")

"I think I still have that somewhere, too." Harry mused. .

"Wouldn't it be too small by now?" Ron asked. "I mean, you're still pretty small for your age, but you did grow since you were eleven."

"Gee, thanks mate." Harry said dryly. "It may be too small, but I can still use it to cushion stuff in my trunk or as a pillow every now and then." He muttered. Ron just quirked a smirk while Molly smiled.

(Harry had torn open... sweater in emerald green)

"It was nice and warm. It and my winter cloak were the only things I really had." Harry said with a shrug.

"Why didn't you buy a better cloak? Or even a winter jacket?" Hermione asked, exasperated. Harry shrugged again.

"Come on, 'Mione. You know how Harry is about money, especially when it comes to spending it on himself. You saw the state of his shoes." Ron muttered to her, actually annoyed about it. She sighed, not even bothering to say anything. Harry just raised an eyebrow at them.

(and a large box of... "and mine's always maroon.")

"Which, Mrs. Weasley, is wonderful and well made, but that color clashes horribly with his hair." Hermione said, looking both apologetic and faintly amused at the same time. Draco nodded his agreement. The first, and only, time he had ever seen Ron Weasley wearing a maroon sweater, he had to resist the urge to change it to a different color, one that actually suited the other boy. Since then, he merely didn't look.

"Not to mention I hate the color." Ron mumbled beside her.

"I thought you liked maroon." She said, concerned that she did it again.

"No, mom. That's me, again." Charlie said, raising his hand. This was the thing with the corned beef all over again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I didn't..." She started to apologize.

"It's alright, mom. They are nice sweaters, even if I don't like the color. You're probably going to hear me complain a lot in these books, but I don't always mean it." Ron apologized in advance, trying to make her feel a little better. She still looked troubled again.

Draco was silent. Normally, he would go off on how they couldn't afford proper presents, but right now, he was thinking that it must be nice to know that your mother worked so hard to make something herself, just for you. Somehow, it sounded more meaningful.

("That's really nice of... which was very tasty.)

"As always." Harry said with a smile towards the Weasley Matriarch, who beamed at the compliment.

She enjoyed it when others appreciated her cooking.

(His next present also... Frogs from Hermione.)

"Those were good. That was a good one, too." Harry said, grinning at Hermione.

"Huh?" She was confused. He just shook his head with a secretive smile. She glared, but didn't say anything. She hated it when he got that look on his face, she hated it when she didn't know something, and that look meant that he wasn't going to tell her what she wanted to know.

Everyone else was just as confused, except for Neville. He was the only one who looked like he had any clue what Harry was talking about.

(This only left one... He unwrapped it.)

"Wait, who's it from?" Sirius asked, confused.

"It didn't say." Harry said, sending a small, suspicious glare towards Dumbledore. He knew the old professor was the one to send it, he just didn't know why.

Why then, why not say it was him, why did he even have it in the first place? Why would his father give something that could help his wife and son hide, away? He didn't understand. His mother might have survived that night, and been able to raise him, if she'd been able to hide with the Cloak.

(Something fluid and... lay in gleaming folds.)

Sirius and Remus gasped and leaned forward. "Is that..."

"It sounds like it." Remus answered.

"Why is he getting that for Christmas, that should have been in the vault. Who had that?" To say Sirius was not happy, was an understatement.

"What is it?" Harry asked, confused.

"You'll see. In fact, it should have been in the pile that we put in the trunk over there." Remus gestured towards it. Sirius nodded his agreement, the Cloak was in there.

(Ron gasped.

"I've heard of... rare, and really valuable.")

"Yes, especially that one." Sirius said in agreement. He didn't know the full story, but James had told him enough to know that particular cloak was one of a kind and ancient. Most Cloaks only lasted a few years, ten to twenty at most, before they got worn out. The Cloak owned by the Potter family, on the other hand, was centuries old and hardly looked any older than the day it was made. In fact, most cloaks only hid a person from physical sight. Spells and such would still detect a person hidden under them, and spell-fire would get through them, tearing holes in them as they went.

The Potter's Cloak, on the other hand, hid you from all tracking and locating spells, as well as shielding against spell-fire. It was truly one of a kind.

"How did you recognize it?" Remus asked Ron.

"I read about it in a book of Bill's." He said with a shrug. "And he showed me the one he got from Gringotts."

"Huh?" The rest of the Weasley's asked, glancing at the oldest son. Ron nodded while the rest looked confused. They never knew Bill had an invisibility cloak.

Bill shrugged. "Standard issue for Curse Breakers, it's part of the kit we get once we are hired."

"You never said anything about having a Cloak. We've been borrowing Moody's everytime we needed one." Minerva said, frowning at him.

He shrugged again. "No point in mentioning it, the Goblins were very clear that the cloak is only for the use of the one it is assigned to. Besides, if somebody in the Order had lost or damaged it, I would have been the one having to replace it. Gringotts only replaces a cloak if it's loss is related to or because of bank business. Or when it gets old and worn out, of course."

"What on earth do you need an invisibility cloak for, most of your work is done in tombs." Molly said, confused. Bill just glanced at her and grinned, but didn't say anything. Gringotts was sort of like the Department of Mysteries. Nobody really knew what they did, although most liked to think they did know.

Neither Draco had any clue what they were talking about, what did invisibility cloaks have to do with anything right now?

("What is it?" Harry... of awe on his face.)

"I'd only seen Bill's, and it was only for a minute. And of course I was in awe, my best friend had just gotten one for Christmas." Ron said in defense.

Both Draco's were watching Harry with awe and envy. An invisibility cloak for Christmas, when he was eleven? Where on earth did he know those kind of people? Actually, he probably didn't know them, since he'd grown up with those two despicable Muggles sitting across the room from him. Of course, Draco had already known Harry had an invisibility cloak, all the Death Eaters did. But he didn't know the other boy got it in first year!

("I'm sure it is... "It is! Look down!")

"It was pretty freaky to see the first time." Ron said seriously.

Harry gave a short laugh. "You're telling me."

"Yes, it can be a bit unsettling the first time." Sirius said with a small, tight smile. He was still unsettled by the fact that the Cloak was in somebody else's possession.

(Harry looked down at... suspended in midair,)

"It was very, very spooky. Just saying." Harry commented again. A few people laughed or chuckled. Draco narrowed his eyes, thinking about what happened in Hogsmeade third year. Severus narrowed his own eyes and glared at Remus, thinking of the same incident.

(his body completely invisible... fell out of it!")

"Oh, are we finally going to find out who sent it?" Molly asked hopefully. Wanting to know who would send such an artifact to an eleven year old. Whoever sent it, was very irresponsible.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other before shaking their heads. She huffed, but narrowed her eyes.

(Harry pulled off the... possession before he died.)

"What?" Sirius and Remus both demanded. "James would never do that. Not when it could have aided in the survival of his family, and especially not with something like his families most treasured Heirloom." Sirius immediately denied.

Dumbledore didn't say anything, and neither did Harry, although Harry was staring at him.

(It is time it was... Merry Christmas to you.)

"Who on earth thought it was a good idea to give such an item to an eleven year old?" Molly asked, annoyed at whoever it was, and hoping that they signed it.

"I didn't find that out for years." Harry said, shaking his head. He didn't say anything about who sent it, he was going to let that be something of a surprise.

(There was no signature.)

Molly frowned in concern. "You should have been more careful with that. You had no idea who sent it, and just because it said that it belonged to your father, doesn't mean whoever wrote that note was telling the truth. We know now that it really did belong to your father, and nothing was wrong with it, but you didn't know that then." She fretted.

"Molly, they were eleven and they had just been handed a rare and valuable item." Arthur said with a small smile. Hermione gave Ron and Harry a somewhat smug look when Molly talked about being more careful, thinking about when Harry got the Firebolt.

Harry and Ron just glared slightly, not wanting to get into that again.

(Harry stared at the... of these," he said.)

"Well, maybe not anything. I'll settle for borrowing Harry's every once in a while, if he still lets me." Ron corrected his past self. Ron looked at his older self in surprise.

"As long as you ask before borrowing it, and I know what your doing." Harry said with a shrug. Ron grinned at his best friend.

("Anything. What's the... had sent the cloak?)

"A very good question." Molly almost growled, scowling at the wall. Sirius and Remus really were growling, they wanted to know who had the Potter family heirloom, and what right they thought they had, to have it in the first place.

Sirius shot a suspicious glare towards the Headmaster. He wouldn't have had it, would he? There was no way James would have given it to him to look at, no matter how much they respected the man.

(Had it really once belonged to his father?)

"And his father before him, and his father, and so on down the line. It's been passed down for centuries." Sirius murmured, frowning in thought.

(Before he could say... quickly out of sight.)

"Thank you!" Molly and Minerva cried at the same time. Imagining the kind of chaos those two could cause, with that cloak... No, it was better that the twins not know about it or have access.

"Ah, come on, Harry."

"I thought we were close."

"Yeah, man. I thought we were brothers." The Twins complained. Sure, they knew about it now, but if they had known about it then, oh, the amount of chaos they could have caused.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I preferred the school standing, thank you." He said dryly. They merely pouted at him, but everyone could see the amusement dancing in their eyes.

(He didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.)

"That too." He said with a shrug. The Twins looked at each other before shrugging and nodding their understanding.

("Merry Christmas!"... on it, the other a G.)

"Surprisingly, they were wearing the right ones, too." Harry said, glancing at the Twins in question.

They shrugged. "They were a gift." They said together. And they did take gifts very seriously. Both in giving them, and receiving them. The Weasley parents smiled proudly at their twins. Harry nodded in understanding.

("Harry's is better than... you're not family.")

"I do not! I put the same amount of effort into everything I make for everybody!" Molly said, somewhat offended that her sons would think something like that about her.

The Twins looked alarmed. "We know, mum."

"We were joking, besides..."

"... we could see how touched Harry was with the gift." The Twins hurried to say. They had not, in any way, meant to imply that their mother made substandard presents for her children as opposed to other people. She narrowed her eyes at them, but didn't say anything else. Arthur put an arm around her shoulders and sent his twin sons a warning look, letting them know that they better make it up to her later.

("Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?")

"Because we were distracted by the Invisibility Cloak that Harry got. I hadn't had time to otherwise." Ron said, shaking his head.

"We didn't know that." The Twins said. Ron shrugged with a small smirk.

(George demanded... lovely and warm.")

"They are." All the Weasley's and Harry agreed. For some reason, Hermione never seemed to get one... She usually got scarves or something, at least, she did now. Mrs. Weasley didn't send anything along for her until Fourth Year, and that was only a tiny Easter Egg.

Harry suspected that she only sent that at all, was because Skeeter wrote in that article, that Harry and Hermione were going out. But because she also wrote about Hermione and Viktor... he still couldn't believe that Molly believed what that cow of a woman wrote. After everything she had written about Arthur earlier that year?

Molly beamed at the compliments, happy that her family appreciated and enjoyed them.

("I hate maroon," Ron... Gred and Forge.")

Molly groaned half-heartedly while everyone else either snickered or scowled. Not that, again! Although, she also didn't want to admit that she put the letters on in an attempt to be able to tell the two apart. She had always struggled with that, and it made her feel awful that that was the case, no matter how much the Twins tried to tell her otherwise. She knew how much it hurt them that their own mother couldn't tell them apart.

("What's all this noise?"... looking disapproving.)

"Disapproving about what?" Bill asked, confused. "It's not like there was anybody else in the Tower for them to be disturbing. You boys were the only ones there. Besides that, it was Yule. Let them make some noise." Charlie nodded, watching his younger brother with amusement.

Percy blinked at his brothers, then turned red. "I... forgot that we were the only ones there." He muttered. He had been thinking about not disturbing everyone else, only to remember when they got to the Great Hall that nobody else was around, that everyone else had gone home.

Everyone else exchanged amused looks.

(He had clearly gotten halfway)

"Did you managed to actually unwrap them all? Or did the Twins keep you too busy along with your studies?" Harry asked, amused. He couldn't remember Percy having a moment to himself that entire break.

"Yes, I managed to find a moment after they went to bed. Although I did have to, ah... use various methods to escape them so that I could actually use the library like I had planned." Percy said, scowling when he thought back to what he'd had to do. The Twins only grinned proudly at him, they knew that he had a mischievous streak in him somewhere!

(through unwrapping his... "P for prefect!)

"More like 'P' for Percy." Percy grumbled. They teased him way too much sometimes.

"Boys." Arthur said, frowning at his twins. He felt like they were really teasing too much right now, and without switching to a new target. Bill cleared his throat and looked at the Twins pointedly to reinforce what their dad was saying.

They glanced at each other. "Sorry, Percy." They said. He looked at them before sighing and muttering for them not to worry about it.

(Get it on, Percy, come... his glasses askew.)

Both Harry's, Percy, and even Arthur all raised a hand and adjusted their glasses, reflexively making sure they were on straight. It was so annoying when their glasses were knocked around. Their vision would get all screwed up, and it was even more annoying when they couldn't fix it right away because their hands were full.

Not to mention they found it extremely rude when somebody else knocked them around and then didn't even bother to try and fix it.

("And you're not... prefects today, either,")

"What few prefects were still there, anyway. There were only three there in total." Harry said with a shrug.

(said George. "Christmas is a time for family.")

"Here, here!" All the Weasley's cheered happily. Neville and Luna grinned, too. Because it was true, very true.

"Even my family all gets together over holidays." Draco said with a shrug. As much as his father argued with his sister, even they put it aside for Yule and other family centered holidays.

(They frog-marched Percy... by his sweater.)

"If you had given me a few minutes to properly get dressed." Percy snapped, red with embarrassment. The Weasley's snickered at the 'middle child', while Arthur hid his smile at his sons teasing and Molly shook her head.

"Aw, come on Perce! You know you wouldn't have actually put it on without some encouragement." Fred said, while George nodded beside him.

"Yes, I actually would have." Percy said, haughty. Although his face was still red.

(Harry had never in... fat, roast turkeys;)

"Which was overkill considering there weren't that many of us still there." Harry said with a laugh.

"I think there were only fifty students still there, from all four houses. But the only Gryffindor's were Weasley's and Harry." Percy said, tilting his head and agreeing with Harry that having that much food was a bit of a waste. What happened to all the left-overs? He supposed the House-elves would probably eat some of it, but elves didn't really eat a lot, they mostly lived off the ambient magic of the 'house' they lived in and the magic they got from their bonded family.

"That is such a waste! What happens to all the food that doesn't get eaten?" Hermione asked, unknowingly voicing Percy's concerns.

"Some of it, is put under stasis and preservation spells to keep it good, and then served again once all the student body is back. The rest of it, the elves give it out under glamours and such to Muggle charities and shelters. Some is also delivered to werewolf and other magical creature communities anonymously." Dumbledore answered. "Not to worry, it does not simply go to waste."

Remus was silent, but thankful that the Headmaster still did that. He had been the one to present the idea, and he enjoyed watching the cubs on Yule, he was just sad that Yule was the only time of year that many of them got to eat a proper meal, despite the efforts of the (good) pack leaders. Although, he supposed that even Fenrir made an effort to ensure his pack was at least properly fed, even if he would never win the 'pack-leader-of-the-year' award.

(mountains of roast and... and cranberry sauce-)

Most of the Weasley boys were slack-jawed and theirs eyes were glazed at the thought of such good food.

Molly sighed and rolled her eyes fondly. "We will eat after the next chapter." She reminded everyone else, and gestured towards the table, where some of the Weasley boys dived into the snacks that were either still there, or the fresh ones that reappeared.

Everyone else shook their heads in exasperation. Dudley eyed the food, too, and Dudley shot him a warning glance. He made sure not to gorge himself.

(and stacks of wizard crackers... Dursleys usually bought,)

The Dursley's looked offended. They happened to buy the best quality ones they could find, thank you very much. They were also horrified that these Freaks had the same things. Dudley and his younger self leaned forward, wanting to hear the differences.

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of hearing all the references to the Dursley's." Fred muttered to his twin, absently setting off a wizard cracker (provided by the room) with his brother. George nodded in agreement, and exclaimed with joy when he saw the box of chocolate frogs inside. When George enlarged it, they were happy to note that the box was actually a large one, with a dozen inside. Unlike the small boxes that only had five.

(with their little plastic... paper hats inside.)

"Ugh, those things break so easily." Dudley said in disgust. Not that he really cared about them all that much, to be honest.

Harry shrugged. "I enjoyed playing with those little army men you got that one year. And broke, and threw away..." Harry nodded his agreement. They had been entertaining enough to keep from getting too bored in the cupboard. Everyone else looked at him horrified, he had to go through the trash, just to get such a small, simple toy to play with?

"You went through our trash?" Petunia shrieked. "You ungrateful child! After everything we've given you!" She spat, and would have continued had she not been interrupted.

"Given him what?" Sirius demanded, standing up and pulling his wand out. It sparked in his rage. "You barely even provided the most basic of necessities for survival! You call yourselves generous, when you took all that money you were provided with, solely for Harry's use and upkeep, and spent it on your own overweight son?! While my boy starved! Don't sit there and act like you gave him the world, when you didn't even give him a proper bed!" He would have continued, but Remus silenced him and Harry took his wand, while Harry pulled him back down to the couch, sitting him back between the two green-eyed raven heads. Both boys planted themselves at his side and leaned into him, letting their presence calm their godfather.

Next time, they might not be so generous as to stop him from going off on them.

Fred and George glanced at each other, and offered a wizard cracker to each Dudley. When they were pulled, Dudley got a wizards chess set, while Dudley got a box of chocolate frogs for his own.

The noise they made was enough to draw everyone's attention away from Sirius' glaring at the Dursley's, and back on the story.

(Harry pulled a wizard... several live, white mice.)

Hedwig perked up and hooted hopefully. Harry chuckled and three white mice came scurrying out from underneath the couch, causing both Petunia's to screech and jump onto their chairs, still screaming silently (they had been silenced after the initial screech). Hedwig winged off the back of the couch with a delighted bark, and went on the hunt, following the mice out of the room. Harry silently asked the Room to keep them all in one area, that way they didn't have mice running around unchecked.

Although he figured Hedwig would appreciate it, didn't mean the rest of them would.

Harry smiled when he saw her go.

(Up at the High Table... for a flowered bonnet,)

Albus tilted his head at the thought, but then nodded in satisfaction at the thought. Yes, he would look forward to the wizarding crackers this year.

Everyone else looked mildly disturbed, but figured that when people get that old, they can get away with wearing whatever strange things they like.

(and was chuckling... had just read him.)

"What was the joke?" The twins asked.

Flitwick blinked at them, before he chuckled nervously and glanced at Molly. "Er, I don't remember it, boys. Sorry." He apologized, face slightly red. The twins pouted and would have kept asking, but Molly cleared her throat and stared them into silence. They sulked slightly, they were twenty years old! Whatever it was, they were old enough to hear it by now! For that matter, they were healthy, twenty year old males. They probably heard worse in the Common Room.

(Although, the older kids tried to keep inappropriate conversations away from the younger ears in the Tower. It didn't always work, though. Kids could be sneaky when they wanted to be.)

Some more of the tension bled out of the room.

(Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey.)

"The 'flaming' part actually freaked me out." Harry admitted with a shrug. Ron burst out laughing. Seeing him in such a good mood lightened the rest of the lingering tension in the room, even Sirius was able to crack a small smile.

"That was hilarious. The look on your face was priceless." He said, shaking his head. The Twins chuckled, too.

(Percy nearly broke... embedded in his slice.)

Percy grimaced and rubbed the tooth in question, remembering how that one felt. Bill and Charlie patted his back in sympathy. It happened to everyone at least once. Sometimes, several times during one meal.

(Harry watched Hagrid... McGonagall on the cheek,)

Fred and George wolf-whistled, while Minerva and Hagrid both turned red and wished Harry didn't have to be so observant. The other adults glanced at each other and chuckled.

(who, to Harry's... top hat lopsided.)

This time, Sirius and Remus added to the wolf-whistles. Minerva shot them a dark look and forced Sirius into his Animagus form, he would stay like that until she decided to release it. Unfortunately, she couldn't do the same with Remus.

Sirius barked indignantly at her, she just smirked. Everyone else who ever played a prank at school looked at her in shock and horror. Also, awe.

(When Harry finally... luminous balloons,)

"I don't think I ever used those." Harry said, tilting his head to the side.

Ron shrugged, he didn't remember Harry ever using them either, but he also didn't remember Harry having those.

(a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit,)

"That, I used." Harry said with a smirk at the Twins.

Their jaws dropped. "That was you?!" They demanded. He smirked and rose from his seat to bow dramatically. Padfoot gave a few barking 'laughs', and nudged Harry with his nose, wagging his tail. Harry grinned at his dogfather before he ruffled his fur along his neck.

The Twins looked at each other for a moment before nodding decisively.

This was war.

Everyone else in the room looked between Harry and the Twins in fear when they caught sight of the looks on their faces.

(and his own new wizard chess set.)

"That I broke in by spectacularly losing." He announced to the room, breaking his stare-off with the Twins to shoot Ron a dirty look. Ron merely shrugged with a smirk.

Padfoot barked, and Remus smirked. "I think you got your mother's talent with chess, she wasn't any good with it either, although your dad was pretty good at it, not near as good as a Weasley or Black would be, but still pretty good by normal standards." He explained. Of course, they'd already said that Sirius was pretty good, and Sirius already explained how horrible Remus himself was. Both boys looked glad to hear abou their parents, and Sirius and Remus resolved to share more stories later.

Once Sirius was human again, of course.

(The white mice had... Norris's Christmas dinner.)

"They got away before I could catch them, they would have made a nice dinner for Hedwig. She loves white mice." Harry said with a shrug. It was a good thing he had already owl-ordered some for her, otherwise she probably wouldn't have been happy for a while if she learned he had mice, and let them get away.

Bill frowned and made a note on his list to make sure Harry's trunk had a mouse cage so he could keep his own mice for Hedwig. Maybe he could even breed his own or something. She could hunt well enough on her own, and preferred it actually, from what Harry had told him and what he'd observed in the short time he'd known the owl. But it might be nice if Harry kept a supply handy for times when she couldn't hunt. Or, kept a handful of her favorites on hand as well.

Maybe he could section off part of the library or something.

"I'm sure Mrs. Norris enjoyed them, though." Minerva said.

(Harry and the Weasleys... fight on the grounds.)

"Our annual snowball fight." Harry said with a cheer. The Twins and Ron grinned. They loved their holiday snowball fights. Harry and Ron glanced at each other, already looking forward to it.

Padfoot barked happily, looking forward to joining them sometime.

(Then, cold, wet, and... spectacularly to Ron.)

"Nothing new." He muttered, while Ron smirked.

(He suspected he... to help him so much.)

Percy flushed, while the other Weasley's snickered, even Arthur had to hide a grin.

"He's the only one of us..."

"...who's never been all that great at chess."

"But he still beats most everyone he plays." The Twins said with a shrug.

"His mind is too analytical, too logical. To truly be good at chess, sometimes you must throw logic out the window." Arthur said with a small smile.

(After a meal of turkey... stolen his prefect badge.)

"Again." All the younger Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione all said at once. Bill and Charlie frowned.

"Fred, George, what have I said about using a 'joke' too many times? It might be funny once, but anymore is overkill and boring. Not to mention, it starts crossing the line." Bill said sternly to his twin brothers. They looked down, ashamed. They always tried very hard not to cross the line from pranking to making fun and bullying.

"Sorry, Perce." Fred said.

"Just saying now, but we... messed with his badge a lot over the years." George told his older brothers, Bill frowned at him.

(It had been Harry's best Christmas day ever.)

Sirius barked, and Remus quirked an eyebrow before nodding in agreement to whatever he said. "Agreed." He said out loud.

"You can understand him?" Hermione asked, Harry just looked at her, wondering how she didn't already know this.

Remus looked at her and blinked. "Of course, he's a dog right now. Wolves are canines, too. We speak the same language, more or less. Of course, wolf has its own dialect, compared to dog, but..." He shrugged.

"Just like I can speak with cats, although, I personally, have to be in my Animagus form to understand them. Same with Sirius, unless he has gone through the extra... steps..." She trailed off, looking at Remus, who shrugged. He didn't know if this Sirius was quite to that point yet, or if it would even really count because he'd been in Azkaban at the time. He knew his and Harry's Sirius was.

"Steps?" Hermione asked, curiously.

Surprisingly, it was Luna who answered. "If an Animagus spends more time in their animal form than they do in their human one over a long enough period of time, they will start gaining more and more traits and qualities of their animal, traits that stay with them whichever form they are in. There have been documented cases of an Animagus being in their animal form so much, that their bodies and magic forgot how to turn back human." She said, quietly.

"Yes, an Animagus will begin to understand their animal forms language even while human, if they have spent too much time in their animal forms. It can be cause for great concern." Remus said, eyeing Sirius in worry.

Harry stared at his godfather with worry of his own, before forcing a slight change in topic. "But that doesn't apply to Remus, because he is technically a wolf. Sort of. So, he doesn't need to be in his other form to understand other canines."

"What did he say, anyway?" Charlie asked, curious, but mostly he was just curious if Bill could understand them, too. He didn't actually turn, but he was still infected. Remus only smiled mischievously and winked.

(Yet something had been... whoever had sent it.)

"Yes, try to figure out who sent it before using it. Please." Molly muttered, wishing he would be more careful. Harry merely blinked at her.

(Ron, full of turkey... of his four-poster.)

Hermione shook her head fondly. As long as Ron had food in his stomach, he was pretty satisfied with just about anything. Well, assuming the food was actually to his tastes, otherwise he refused to swallow it down, and ended up starving.

(Harry leaned over... had been his father's.)

"It's the only thing I have of my parents." Harry said softly. Sure, he had his photo album from Hagrid, but those were just pictures, nothing personal of theirs. And, now that he knew more about the Cloak in general, he knew that it wasn't necessarily just his fathers. It was his families. There was a difference.

Padfoot whined and laid out over the boys laps, trying to offer as much comfort as possible. He and Remus both resolved to find something of James or Lily's and give it to the boys.

Severus frowned and thought about the small box he had hidden in his rooms, the small box full of treasures and keepsakes from Lily. He didn't know if he could really part with any of them, though.

Everyone else looked at the Harry's sadly, did he really have nothing of his parents, they already knew he had no memories of them because of his young age at the time. The adults all resolved to find something belonging to his parents that he could have.

(He let the material... silk, light as air.)

"It's impressive, alright. Normally, they're made out of Demiguise hair, but I have no idea what the Potter Cloak is made out of. It's not Demiguise hair, I know that for sure." Bill said, he'd seen the results from several studies the Goblins had done on it, the few times it was locked in the vaults when nobody was around to claim it. Or, the one time they were asked to take a look at it.

"Then what is it made of?" Harry asked. Even Moody looked interested in the answer.

"No idea." Bill repeated. "The Goblins were never able to figure it out, either. They've done several studies on it over the years. But they have no clue what exactly it is." He said. Harry pulled a corner of it out of his pocket and looked at, thinking back to his suspicions that it was a Deathly Hallow. If it really was...

Hermione frowned at him, knowing what he was thinking about but knowing that trying again to convince him that it was just a story was useless. Something like the Hallows just wasn't possible! Death wasn't an actual person, death was a concept of what was after life itself.

(Use it well, the note had said.)

Remus smirked. "Oh, I'm sure he'll use it well enough." Then he frowned. "Although, I'm sure that I won't like some of the other things you used it for." He was thinking of all the 'adventures' Harry had been part of over the years. Harry glanced at him and turned slightly red. He knew that Remus didn't approve of everything he did while at school. Although, it wasn't so much what Harry did, as much as the fact that Harry did it, and didn't bother finding an adult to help him out.

(He had to try it... very funny feeling.)

"It can be, but you get used to it eventually." Remus said with a small shudder. The Trio nodded in agreement. It had taken a while to get used to, but they had eventually. Padfoot barked once, and Remus remarked that the Animagus agreed.

(Use it well.

Suddenly, Harry felt wide-awake.)

Minerva and Molly groaned, of course. Just the thought of roaming around and possibly getting in mischief would wake him up.

The Twins, Remus, Padfoot, and both Harry's smirked. Causing mischief like they did was fun, and if it made people laugh... although part of the fun was in trying not to get caught. Sometimes, they got caught on purpose just to keep it from becoming boring.

(The whole of... to him in this cloak.)

"I've done a lot of exploring in that Cloak. I found places in Hogwarts that even you've never seen before." He directed this statement at Remus and Padfoot. Padfoot woofed softly.

Remus glanced at him. "He wants to know where." He translated.

"Secret passageways to and from different places, that aren't on your map, old rooms that I never have been able to figure out what they were used for, and the indoor garden the House-elves use for most of the food they serve, year 'round. They do use the fields and gardens that Hagrid maintains, but they only get so much food from there, and once harvest season is over, they only have what was harvested. So, they use their own garden to supplement the food supplies. I also found a room with a gazebo and extensive rose gardens. The fairies there are nice enough... if you are on their good side and don't harm the plants."

"Is that why you asked me how to add rooms and such to the Map?" Remus asked, while Padfoot looked as proud as it was possible for a dog to look.

Ginny looked put out that he never showed that rose garden to her. That gazebo sounded like such a good date spot... and it was private. Very, very private. With less chance of being found and interrupted, or spied on (as was common when with Harry) than if they were on the grounds or by the lake.

Harry nodded, and turned to the Headmaster when he nodded and spoke. "Yes, the House-elves take great pride in their garden, and I have heard from some of the past Headmasters about a rose garden inside the school, but never could find the time to look for it myself." He looked at Harry in interest. "According to them, however, it will only show up when the finder has the most need of somewhere quiet. There are many such rooms in Hogwarts, that will only show up at specific times, or when there is a specific need for them." He informed the room, he was quite glad that he actually knew this about this school.

He'd been quite embarrassed during earlier discussions where it was made clear he didn't know nearly as much about his school as he thought he did. The security precautions and safe rooms, for instance. He, as Headmaster, should have known about them.

"Being able to explore and discover is part of the wonder of living in Hogwarts. If we knew all the secrets Hogwarts holds, then the castle would no longer hold as much wonder as it does now." Luna said, dreamy expression holding a sense of knowing as she gazed at the Headmaster, like she knew what he was thinking. He thought her to a slightly unsettling girl, very sweet and probably a good student, but unsettling.

(Excitement flooded through... would never know.)

"Maybe Filch wouldn't, but Mrs. Norris has an uncanny sense of smell, even for a cat." Remus translated for Padfoot. "And, she is also his Familiar, he has enough magic available to him for that. So, what she knows, he most likely will, too." He added, speaking for himself this time.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Those rumors about him and his cat having a mental connection of some kind, are true." Remus informed them. "However, being able to form Familiar bonds is about all the magic he has."

Ron glanced at Harry, who was eyeing Hedwig sadly, and he knew that Hedwig and Harry had formed a Familiar bond. Why hadn't Harry ever mentioned that?

Harry agreed with them about her having an unusual sense of smell, though.

Molly narrowed her eyes, about to scold Harry, but Arthur's hand on her arm and the warning look in his eye stopped her from saying anything.

(Ron grunted in his sleep. Should Harry wake him?)

Minerva sighed. "I would feel better if you had somebody else with you when you roam at night." She muttered, already wishing she could take the words back, but at the same time not really wanting to. "Of course, I would also prefer if you didn't roam at all." She looked at Harry and Ron sternly, they both nodded quickly while looking innocent. She snorted.

Both Harry's glanced at each other, knowing that that wasn't likely to happen.

Ever.

They didn't say anything, though.

(Something held him... to use it alone.)

Minerva sighed. "I suppose that is understandable." She mumbled. She still wasn't happy about him wandering the halls, though.

(He crept out of... squawked the Fat Lady.)

Remus and Ron snorted. "You'd think she would be used to stuff like that. After how many generations of Potters have gone through those walls? And how many parents let their child take the Cloak to school with them?" Remus scoffed. "James especially." Harry smirked and Sirius barked twice in amused agreement.

Minerva growled low, and shook her head in exasperation. Severus twitched.

(Harry said nothing...

Where should he go?)

Bill snorted. "Shouldn't you have figured that out, before you left the Common Room, at least?" He asked, lightly teasing.

Harry turned bright red, especially when Padfoot let out a bark that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "I was excited, ok?" He mumbled. Everyone chuckled, some more reluctantly than others.

(He stopped, his heart... out who Flamel was.)

"That's... actually a very good idea. And one of the safer options for using that Cloak at night in a large, magical castle. Except, of course, for the security wards around the Restricted Section." Pomona said, raising an eyebrow.

Harry blinked at her. Security wards?

Hermione blinked. Then shook her head, well, at least he thought about searching sometime during the break. She was going to assume that he hadn't made it very far though, because he hadn't mentioned it to her when she came back. Just that he'd been given a Cloak that belonged to his father, and that he'd already been using it.

(He set off, drawing... along in midair,)

Remus snorted. "If you were going to do that, then you might as well have just taken the Cloak off." He said blandly.

Harry blinked, then turned red and buried his head in Padfoot's fur. Everyone else chuckled or shook their heads.

(and even though Harry... gave him the creeps.)

"I think it would give anyone the creeps." Ginny muttered. Several people nodded in agreement with her.

(The Restricted Section... the rest of the library,)

Minerva threw up her hands in exasperation. "Why were the wards around the Restricted Section down?! They are supposed to stop exactly this from happening!" She cried.

"There are supposed to be wards around the Restricted Section?" Harry asked, surprised. Was that what Professor Sprout had been talking about earlier? He didn't know that, and this wasn't his first time sneaking in there to look for something. Although, he did avoid going in there again until after he figured out how to get around the screaming books.

Minerva merely slumped in defeat. Padfoot tilted his head to the side and eyed Harry. Then, he turned and whined at Minerva.

Remus glanced at him. "He wants to know when your going to change him back so he can talk to his godson again." He informed her. "And, I don't want to translate for him the whole time we are here." He added as an afterthought.

She looked at him and sighed in exasperation before pulling her wand out and changing him back. Both Harry's grunted as they suddenly had Sirius' full weight (although he was much lighter than a fully grown man should have been, Azkaban made him almost skeletal in appearance, it would take a while before he was at a healthy weight. Harry wasn't going to tell him that he had been putting nutrient potions and stomach soothers in his food) resting on their laps. Sirius rolled off them onto the ground and apologized.

"There are supposed to be wards keeping unauthorized individuals out of the Restricted Section, however, I read something in the Black Library about the castle being open to the Founders bloodlines. Their blood is supposed to 'cancel' wards designed to close an area off." He explained, sitting back down in his seat. Albus looked curious, while everyone else looked at Harry, slightly awed.

Harry, for his part, merely blinked. Although, the Sword of Gryffindor came to mind, and how he was able to summon it. Could that...?

(he held up his... Harry couldn't understand.)

"Ancient languages, some of them are probably considered dead or extinct." Remus said, almost reverently and wistfully. Sirius looked at his best friend in fond exasperation. He could never understand Moony's passion for studying. Of all things to be so passionate about... But, that was Remy for you.

Harry snorted. "And how many of those languages are you almost fluent in? Or can at least read them easily enough." He asked, causing Remus to flush slightly.

"Most of them, probably." A few snickers rang through the room at Remus' muttered admission, Sirius being the loudest. He didn't mind, he was proud of his accomplishment. And he knew Sirius was, too. Even if he did like to tease, and didn't understand at all. He was the kind that would rather be doing things, than sitting around and studying.

(Some had no title at... horribly like blood.)

"Probably was." Sirius said with a shrug. This was the Restricted Section after all. "If I remember right, Hogwarts did not have a Restricted Section until my Great-Uncle, Phineas Nigellus Black was Headmaster. The Restricted Section was 'built' by his successor to put the books Phineas had bought for the library. He didn't want to just get rid of them, as there was some educational value to them, but at the same time, he didn't want them so accessible by the students in general." He explained. "So, considering my uncle, it does not surprise me if some of them have blood on them, knowing him, he might have actually killed their owners for them, he was a Black." He muttered the last bit darkly.

Hermione looked at him, horrified, just what kind of family did he come from?

Everyone else understood, though.

(The hairs on the... there who shouldn't be.)

"That one, was probably just your imagination, because you were somewhere you weren't supposed to be. I don't doubt, though, that you could feel the magic in the air. Some of those books..." Sirius shuddered slightly. He hadn't said anything, but some of those books were on loan to the Hogwarts library from the Black Library. Phineas Nigellus had lent them, and when he died, the Black family either didn't care, or didn't even notice some of their books missing.

Harry blinked at him, startled. Harry was amazed. He'd forgotten about that, honestly. They were surrounded by so much magic here... he was going to have to hone the skill, so the magic he sensed didn't become 'background noise'.

(He had to start somewhere... interesting looking book.)

"Be careful, sometimes the most interesting looking books are actually the most dangerous." Sirius warned lightly. Remus grimaced, but nodded his agreement. He'd once picked up a book that looked interesting, only for it to try and eat his face. Why Hagrid thought the Monster Book of Monsters was a suitable textbook for third years... once you learned the trick it was no problem of course. But how many people would expect a book to try and eat you! That was only one example, of course. Another book, his hands were cursed off when he opened it, it took three tries to find a Healer willing to reverse the curse and put his hands back on... before it was too late.

(Werewolves weren't allowed within two hundred meters of the hospital, in the country he was in at the time.)

"He should be careful period because those books are restricted for a reason." Minerva finally snapped, annoyed that her student was here, doing this. Those that considered the rules to be 'suggestions', glanced at her, startled. They had actually forgotten where exactly Harry was, and the part where it was his first time in there.

Honestly, it was kind of like the Forbidden Forest, once you learned the areas to avoid, there wasn't much of a problem.

"Of course, though, this is a section of the Hogwarts library, I doubt anything in there is going to be cursed, especially with anything that could harm students." Remus said after a moment with a shrug.

Sirius blinked at him, "Oh, yeah, I suppose that is true. Still, be careful." He warned one last time. The younger kids nodded their understanding while Molly and Minerva shot them all warning glares. That they promptly ignored.

(A large black and... split the silence-)

Everyone flinched and grabbed their ears when the book let out the same shrieking noise as what Harry heard that night.

Remus howled in pain, while Sirius grimaced and quickly cast spells to shield the Werewolf's ears from the noise. Hopefully he moved fast enough to prevent damage.

(the book was screaming!)

Everyone sighed in relief when the book continued reading, because it meant that horrible screech was gone. They really hoped that didn't happen again.

A few glanced at Harry, but he was looking just as pale and wide-eyed with shock as the rest of them, and he, too, was rubbing at his ears just like they still were. Sirius and Harry's heads snapped around when they heard a small whimper, everyone else's attention followed soon after.

Sirius cursed when he saw blood dripping from Remus' ear, and Poppy was out of her seat and at the Werewolf's side in an instant. After a few diagnostics, she led him out of the room so he could recover where it was quieter. She would get the potions she needed in the other room.

Sirius went with her to make sure his friend would be alright, and to see if he could help at all.

It wouldn't take him long to heal, on a normal wizard, it would take about an hour or two for the potions to do their job (it was a tricky potion, too, because the bones and such in the ear were so small and delicate). Remus was a werewolf, they had an increased healing factor. So, he would probably be back out in roughly a half hour.

(Harry snapped it shut... unbroken, earsplitting note.)

Harry rubbed his ear again in remembrance. That was loud, and it lasted quite a long time.

"Huh, I was wondering what had Madam Pince in such a bad mood when I went in there in the morning." Percy said, blinking. "I just remembered, she was muttering something about screaming books. I don't think it stopped screaming until she woke up to cancel whatever spells are on it." He tilted his head to the side in thought.

Filius nodded. "Yes, she was up most of the night after that, as well, trying to figure out who was in her sanctuary so late at night." He confirmed. Harry turned red in embarrassment.

Both Dudley's were staring, at the book, shocked. They hadn't moved beyond covering their ears, since the book shrieked.

(He stumbled backward... the corridor outside-)

"Uh, oh." Nearly everyone muttered. Harry looked up when Sirius came back into the room, flashing a quick, reassuring smile at his boys.

"He'll be fine, he just needs a little bit where it's quiet." He said. The room seemed to release a breath of relief.

(stuffing the shrieking... in the doorway;)

Most sucked in a breath and looked at Harry in worry, but he grinned mischievously. The teachers frowned, they didn't remember hearing about this, although Severus was glaring at Harry now, reminded of how he spent all night with the bitter caretaker, searching for a student out of bed.

He'd been in such a foul mood by the time they were done, that Filch had avoided him in contempt for the rest of the semester. Which was a shame, because Snape was the only member of the staff that Filch really tolerated beyond 'they are my employers, I need to be nice to them'.

(Filch's pale, wild... off up the corridor,)

The younger crowd all sighed in relief. Fred and George looked at each other before staring at Harry, amazed. He just walked right by!

That was an unheard of feat, and this was coming from two boys who made it a point of learning the Disillusionment charm before the end of their First Year, just for the purpose of escaping Filch.

(the book's shrieks still ringing in his ears.)

Sirius and Harry glanced at the door Remus was behind in concern, but they knew that if anybody could fix him up, it was Poppy. He would be fine. Sirius himself had said he would be alright.

(He came to a sudden... where he was going.)

"Bad idea."

"Especially in a place as large..."

"... and difficult to navigate as Hogwarts can be." The Twins said. Unsaid, were the creatures that sometimes lurked, especially at night.

(They meant the teachers, they knew which areas of the castle to avoid at night.)

Harry looked sheepish while ignoring the disapproving looks from Molly, she had been giving them the entire time his book self was out of the Common Room. Hermione looked like she wanted to say anything, but Pomona wouldn't let her. The Professors looked resigned, while Albus looked expectant.

(Perhaps because it... where he was at all.)

"Also, I'd never been in that part of the castle by that point." Harry said with a shrug. Sirius just gave him a strange look.

(There was a suit of armor near the kitchens,)

Ron snorted. "Harry, mate, I hate to tell you this, but there are suits of armor, all over the castle. And it's a big castle." He informed his friend, who blushed.

"Shut up, it was late at night, and I was eleven." Harry protested. Everyone snickered.

(he knew, but... floors above there.)

"Actually, I was only two." Harry said, thinking back to his First Year, and retracing his steps in his head. He knew the castle well enough by now to be able to do that, easily. He got some snickers, but not much else.

("You asked me... Restricted Section.")

"Busted." The Twins and Ginny chorused at once, Harry stuck out his tongue while Hermione sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. She couldn't say anything, though, because she did want them to look up information on Flamel, and that's what he was in there for.

"Not quite." Harry said, somewhat smug. They looked confused before they remembered he had the Invisibility Cloak. Then they grinned, and Severus scowled.

(Harry felt the... know a shortcut,)

"I think Filch knows every shortcut that ever existed, even the ones that no longer exist because the castle changed over time." Sirius said, amused. "Although, I am surprised that you didn't know every shortcut by then." He said, raising an eyebrow at his pup. He'd wanted to ask earlier, but didn't. Because it sounded like Harry had explored much of the castle, and got into just as much, if not more trouble than he, James, and Remus ever did.

Harry blushed. "Before I got the Invisibility Cloak, I tried to limit my night-time wanderings to the Maze. I didn't really know how much trouble I could get in for being out, and I really did not want to find out. Nor did I want to risk being expelled and sent back to the Dursleys."

Fred and George grumbled. "We should have known something was up when the other houses started becoming more common victims of his prank." Fred mused to his brother. Harry smirked at them.

"Yes, before that Christmas, Gryffindor was the most victimized house." George agreed. Minerva scowled at the reminder of the string of pranks that hit Gryffindor House once Harry joined them, and then suddenly tapered off after the new year. Everyone who looked, though, could see the amused glint in her eyes, and how her lips were trying to quirk up into a smile.

(They were quite ingenious, after all. Although, she had no idea which pranks were his, and which were the Twins. The first few, she could safely say were Harry, but after that... it wouldn't surprise her if he started copying the Twins style specifically to divert attention away from him.)

"And after getting the Cloak?" Sirius asked, eyebrow still raised, although now it was in amusement.

"Wandering the halls is a good way to pass the time when I can't sleep, and don't feel like going to the Maze to work or practice spells." Harry shrugged.

"Oh, yeah. He's a bit of an insomniac." Neville informed the room. "If he's not in his bed, it's guaranteed that he's either in the Maze getting some last minute studying or homework done, or wandering the school somewhere."

"I never leave the castle, though. The only time I was ever out on the grounds at night was when I was helping Hagrid with something." Harry hurried to inform the staff. They only relaxed marginally. Not all of the castle was safe for students to wander. Many of the unused portions of the castle, had different pests and creatures move in and make their homes there. It wasn't usually a problem, though, because generally the students stuck to the occupied areas of the school. They seemed to be quite good at finding holes in the wards, though.

If they remembered right, they had a Chimera try to move into the deeper part of the dungeons the summer before Harry's first year. While the Dursley's were trying to outrun Harry's school letter, they were dealing with that. It only got in at all because Albus had temporarily lowered the wards around the school that kept creatures like it out. He never said why, either.

(because his soft... Snape who replied,)

The pranksters in the room, who were taught by Snape, all groaned while Sirius shot Severus a somewhat dark look.

"Of course it would be him."

"Why is it that he always shows up at the worst times?" The twins wanted to know. Severus smirked, honestly proud of the achievement.

("The Restricted Section?... we'll catch them.")

There was some muffled laughter (and some not-so-muffled laughter), at Severus' expense. Severus merely glared at Harry.

Of course the brat would be right there when he was talking about 'them' not being far, and catching 'them'. Of course.

The laughter died somewhat when Remus came back in, still rubbing his ears and grimacing, but they were healed now.

(Harry stood rooted... from being solid.)

Sirius and Remus sighed. "That was one of the worst features... and one that Uncle Charlus took full advantage of... all the time." Sirius groaned. Remus chuckled.

"Maybe if you and James weren't always trying to sneak out at night to do who even knows what, Uncle Charlus wouldn't have had to." He teased. "You two were way too predictable with it sometimes." He shook his head when Sirius stuck out his tongue. Minerva sighed in irritation, wishing her old friend had seen fit to warn her about his son having an Invisibility Cloak, of all things.

"Charlus?" Harry asked, Harry's head was tilted to the side, silently asking the same question.

All the adults blinked at the two boys. "Yes... your grandfather." Minerva said slowly, with a frown. "Did you not know your grandparents names?" She asked, horrified.

Harry shrugged. "I didn't even know my parents names until I started Hogwarts." He reminded them, "I didn't even know my grandparents names on mom and Aunt Petunia's side of the family, and I lived with her." He jerked a finger towards Petunia, who didn't even look ashamed.

Dudley blinked. "Now that you mention it, what are their names?" He asked his mother, it was the first time he spoke to her since they arrived in this room. He knew that they had been told what his grandfather's name was earlier in the book, but he didn't know his grandmother's name.

She pursed her lips in irritation for a moment before answering. "Dad's name was Harold, although he allowed close friends and family to call him Harry." She shot a nasty look at Harry, she blamed him for 'tainting' her father's good name, even though it was Lily who gave it to him and Harry had no say in what he was named (being a newborn at the time, and all). "Mom's name was Grace."

"They got sick, roughly a month after Lily announced she was pregnant." Severus said sadly, even though he was sure Petunia had mentioned something about it earlier. He and Lily may not have been talking at that point, hadn't for years, but he'd still been invited to the funeral. And he'd gone, despite his Death Eater status. They were the only decent Muggles, he thought, in the world. They had always cared for him as if he were their own, and Grace had always come around his house at least once a week to check on him, even after his and Lily's fight at the end of fifth year.

Both Harry's, and Dudley's looked at each other, in interest. They wanted to know more, although they were also more curious about why Petunia never talked about her own parents. Dudley knew his father's parents, and they lived in Australia. His grandfather had been transferred there, years ago for work and they just never left.

(He backed away... as he could.)

"Which is pretty quiet." Ron muttered, Harry smirked.

(A door stood ajar... their noticing anything.)

"Which is impressive, considering this is Severus we're talking about." When Minerva got confused looks, she huffed. "He hasn't survived this long, spying on the Dark Lord, by being unobservant." She said.

Severus nodded in agreement, almost smug, before he glared at the wall, just thinking about how much this brat managed to hide from him. He had a feeling these books wouldn't even cover a fragment of everything he failed to notice over the years.

(They walked straight... footsteps dying away.)

"Man, why can't your luck be that good all the time?" Ron whined. Harry smirked, and leaned his head back against the couch.

"Who knows? Who knows." He murmured.

" luck like that must be a Potter thing, James was the same way." Remus said, shaking his head fondly. Sirius snorted in agreement.

(That had been close... he had hidden in.)

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody suddenly snapped out, annoyed that the usually observant boy had taken so long to take in his surroundings.

Everyone jumped, and Moody found himself having to shield against two stunners and a disarming charm. He looked at the Trio in approval.

Harry took a moment to catch his breath, before he scowled. "I was savoring the moment of not getting caught by Snape, and I was eleven."

"You have also shown yourself, by this point in the book, to be much more observant." The old Auror countered. Harry only narrowed his eyes and didn't say anything else. Sirius was silently laughing, knowing exactly how Moody could be, having been trained by the man during the Academy.

(It looked like an unused classroom.)

"Probably is, there are hundreds of them in the school, after all." Minerva said, sadly.

"The school used to house many more students than it does now. Two wars within a small time frame did not do the British community any favors." Pomona agreed.

"No, although Grindlewald actually stayed out of Britain, he still caused plenty of damage within our borders." Filius shook his head. Albus looked down sadly, thinking about his old friend, and wondering again where they went so wrong.

(The dark shapes of... belonged there,)

"Because it probably doesn't." Minerva muttered, all of her good mood from Harry and Moody's bickering, disappearing. She was thinking back to the chapter title, if young Mr. Potter was going to run into the Mirror, he was quickly running out of chapter space to do it in. It would have to be soon.

"I don't think I really want to know what he sees in the Mirror," Severus muttered to her, and she nodded in agreement.

Sirius looked concerned, and both Harry's pressed in on his sides, although Harry had no idea what was going to happen next.

Most of those in the room leaned forward in curiosity.

(something that looked... it out of the way.)

Now, those that weren't in the know, were even more curious.

(It was a magnificent... on two clawed feet.)

"That sounds beautiful." Ginny murmured.

"Be careful though, sometimes it is the most beautiful of things, that can be the most dangerous." Luna cautioned.

Harry smiled softly at the girl, knowing just how right she was. Several teachers nodded in agreement with the girl, as well. Filius looked proud of his Raven.

(There was an inscription... cafru oyt on wohsi.)

"I'm sorry, what?" Sirius asked, confused at the gibberish. Why did it sound so familiar?

"You know, I never found out what exactly it meant." Harry said, tilting his head to the side.

Hermione sighed in frustration before grabbing the book and searching for the gibberish. The teachers didn't say anything, wanting to see if she could figure it out on her own. She muttered to herself for a few minutes while she worked it out, and eventually gave a short laugh of triumph. "I think I got it! You need to read it backwards, like in an actual mirror. It says 'I show not your face, but your hearts desire'." She translated.

"Yes, very good, Miss Granger." Minerva said, proud of her Lion, but also very not happy that Harry was in front of this mirror. She hadn't even known the mirror was in the school until the year was over, and Albus told her some of what happened down in the room they hid the Stone in.

Sirius was frowning, where did that inscription sound familiar? He gasped when he remembered. "The Mirror of Erised." He breathed, then he frowned. "My family... acquired that- years ago. That should be in our vaults at the bank. How is it there?" He asked, his eyes glinted like steel as he narrowed them at Albus, wondering how it got from his families vaults, to the school. He was going to have some words with his account manager when he got out of Azkaban.

Albus didn't say anything, merely sank back into his seat.

Sirius glared at Dumbledore. "I will be having my families property back. I may not have ever liked them, nor do I like the idea of that mirror, but it does belong to us, and now holds family secrets that I will not have getting out." He muttered. Moody frowned, and scribbled on his parchment again.

"Now, Sirius, that is a very dangerous artifact, I cannot just let you have it. It is safest where it is." Albus chided the Black Lord.

Sirius leveled a steel-eyed glare at him. "It rightfully belongs to me, Albus. If you try to keep it from me, I will simply have to charge you with theft of an Ancient Family Heirloom. You will not be letting me do anything, you will be standing there as I take it back. Besides, it was safest in the vault, guarded by Goblins and other creatures." He carefully avoided saying dragons, not wanting Charlie to go nuts again.

Albus continued to try and protest, but Sirius wasn't hearing it, and eventually he had to quiet down so they could continue the reading. But, he resolved that he and Sirius were not done with this discussion.

"Why do I not like the sound of that inscription?" Harry asked himself quietly. Hermione was still trying to figure out just what kind of family Sirius had.

(His panic fading... reflection again.)

Sirius smirked slightly, "Not seeing your reflection can be interesting."

"Like a vampire?" Dudley said, interested.

"...Huh?" All the Purebloods asked at once. What was he talking about?

Hermione coughed. "One of the Muggle legends surrounding vampires, is that they don't have a reflection, in mirrors, or any other reflective surface."

"Where on earth did they get that idea?" Draco asked, extremely confused. Why would vampires not have a reflection?

"Well, most of what Muggles know about magical creatures and beings, they know from Squibs or Muggleborn who wrote about it and passed it off as fiction. Then, they take that, and they add their own ideas." Harry answered. "There could even be first hand 'accounts' of a Muggle who had an encounter with a magical being, and either weren't Obliviated at all, or it wasn't done properly. Of course, they aren't seen as being very sane after that..."

"What else do they know?" Draco asked, curious.

"About... vampires or magical creatures and beings in general?" Hermione asked.

"Both, I guess."

"We'll have to go over it in more detail later. Right now, we should keep reading." Sirius answered. He'd been fascinated with Muggle ideas about magic, at least after he met Lily and overheard her and Snape talking about it in school.

(He stepped in front... himself from screaming.)

"What?!" Those who didn't know about the mirror exclaimed.

"It wasn't anything bad. It just caught me off guard." Harry rushed to calm people down. It didn't really work that well, although Sirius looked like he had an idea what startled him.

(He whirled around... standing right behind him.)

"What?!" Molly demanded to know. "Who could possibly be there with him, and where did they come from? The room was empty a moment ago."

Harry swallowed, while his younger self looked at him in concern, the look on his face was not a good one. "If you could listen. It will probably explain." He said, quietly. Sirius was concerned and pulled him into a hug. Whatever he saw in that mirror, and he had a pretty good idea what Harry would have seen, he was clearly still a little shaken about it.

(But the room was empty.)

There were some dawning looks when people realized that all those people in the Mirror, were just that. In the Mirror. But, why was it showing reflections of people in an empty room?

"Heart's desire." Hermione murmured, remembering what little she'd been told about the Mirror or Erised, and what she knew about Harry. All he'd ever wanted when they were younger, was to have family... Harry glanced at her, and sighed.

Neville bit his lip, and looked like he understood what was going on. After all, he and Harry were the only two orphans (he may as well be, his parents were never leaving those hospital beds) in their dorm room. The one thing they both wanted the most... that their hearts desired the most.

Family.

(Breathing very fast... over his shoulder-)

"There won't be anyone there." Luna murmured.

Dudley and his younger self were starting to look a little freaked out, wondering what on earth was going on. Sure, they knew now that ghosts were real, but this was a little... off.

(but still, no one... all invisible, too?)

"It doesn't work that way." Severus murmured, frowning.

"Constant vigilance." Moody muttered, frowning.

(Was he in fact in... the air behind him.)

Now the Dudley's looked really creeped out. What on earth was this mirror?

Everyone else looked confused, as well. Although, a few looked suspicious. Everyone was silent, though.

The more that was read, the tighter Sirius and Remus held the boys. Remus had never been told about any of this.

(If she was really... in the mirror.)

"Creepy." Dudley muttered with a shiver.

Harry smirked slightly, but didn't say anything.

(She was a very... are just like mine,)

Dawning looks crossed most of their faces as they realized what was going on.

"Hmm, actually, I think yours are a more vibrant green, but the shape is from your mom." Sirius said, looking at Harry's eyes thoughtfully, he was trying to hold it together, right now. Both Harry's smiled slightly.

Severus looked pained for a second before he schooled his features. He started thinking about getting an eye-correcting potion for the boy. Eyes like that shouldn't be covered up.

(Harry thought, edging... to the glass.)

Moody scowled. "Constant Vigilance. You don't know what that mirror is, at least have your wand out if you're going to get closer to it." He said, glaring at Harry.

"I was eleven!" He said in defense. Moody just grunted.

(Bright green- exactly... at the same time.)

"It's wasn't real, I know, but..." Harry said sadly, looking down. Remus and Sirius were silently crying as they held the boys.

This was the first chance Harry had ever had, in his memory, to see any kind of affection from his parents. To see that they loved him. Even if this wasn't real, it was still something he'd never had before.

(The tall, thin, black... just as Harry's did.)

Those who knew the Potters, snorted. "The typical Potter hair has been the bane of Potter women for generations. Dorea was forever complaining about it when we met up for lunch." Minerva said with a small smile.

Sirius barked a short, wet laugh while Remus snickered. "You should have seen Aunt Dorea when they were getting ready to go to a formal event. She must have spent an hour trying to get their hair to lie flat for more than five seconds." He shook his head fondly.

"Finally, she gave up and dumped a mess of Sleekeazy's on both their heads." Remus smiled. A few people laughed, relieving some of the grief in the room.

(Harry was so close... he whispered. "Dad?")

"It was the first time I'd ever seen them." He said softly, Remus and Sirius breathed shakily before Remus switched, taking Harry and depositing Harry on Sirius' lap.

Everyone else was silent.

(They just looked at... first time in his life.)

"How I thought they might look, anyway. I don't know how accurate that was." He muttered, almost too low for anyone to hear him.

"It probably was. Those descriptions sounded about right." Sirius muttered.

Everyone was silent at the thought while Harry found the edges of the blanket to be very interesting while Harry studied his shirt as if he'd never seen such a thing before.

Luna got up and pulled both boys into a teary hug before going back to her seat beside Neville, grabbing his arm in comfort.

Sirius and Remus looked like they were about to start crying harder while Severus looked pensive and thoughtful. All those times he accused the boy of being his father... and he hadn't even known what his father looked like until he was eleven years old.

Luckily for everyone, the book didn't stop since nobody else had spoken, so they didn't have to dwell on it long.

(The Potters smiled... hungrily back at them,)

Sirius made a worried noise. The Mirror already had him entranced. Harry glanced at him and grimaced before he reached out to hold Sirius' hand, squeezing it to remind the Dog Animagus that he was right there, he obviously didn't waste away in front of the Mirror.

The teachers looked at each other, concerned. Minerva wrote a note to herself. If Albus wouldn't hand the mirror over to Sirius when the Black Lord came to collect it, then her younger self would.

(his hands pressed flat... it and reach them.)

"And there is part of the danger, especially for those who see lost loved ones." Sirius murmured to Remus, who nodded in agreement. Both men eyed the boys next to them in concern. Everyone else, Molly in particular looked heartbroken. She was silently crying while her husband and oldest sons tried to comfort her.

Both Petunia's only looked mildly disturbed and bothered by this.

(He had a powerful... he didn't know.)

"Oh, no. He's not going to move from that spot unless something else gets his attention, and the longer he stands there, the harder that will be." Remus said, worried. Harry sighed and squeezed both their hands, reminding them both that he was right here. Sitting right here beside them.

Now, Ron looked even more concerned. So, he'd been right about how dangerous it was, he should have tried harder to get Harry to stay away from it.

(The reflections did not... him back to his senses.)

"Yes!" Both Sirius and Remus said, relieved. The teachers looked relieved too, they didn't want Harry near that mirror any more than Sirius and Remus did. That thing was dangerous.

Harry still didn't say anything, he was just sitting there, letting the two men hold onto himself and his younger self in silence.

(He couldn't stay here... hurried from the room.)

"No!" Sirius yelled suddenly. "I don't want you anywhere near that mirror." He instructed sternly, with a hint of worry and fear in his voice. When he got confused looks (they knew it was a dangerous artifact, but Harry was away from it now), he growled in frustration that even had to explain this. Didn't he already explain that the Mirror of Erised was owned by the Blacks? That should be enough explanation.

"That mirror has killed countless people, because of the visions it shows, it makes them obsessed. They literally waste away to nothing, just sitting in front of it, staring at what it shows them. They don't eat, they don't sleep, they don't move. They just sit there, the Mirror is all they think about, all the time. That's part of why it's one of the most dangerous magical artifacts in the world, because it uses the victims own wants, desires, and dreams against them." He explained. "The longer you sit in front of it, the harder it is for anybody to pull you away."

Now they understood the worry. Harry may have been able to walk away right then, but if he kept going back, that may change, very quickly.

"Magic is dangerous." Dudley whispered to his older self.

Dudley nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is. But, I don't think it all is." He said, looking around the room they were in.

("You could have... said Ron, crossly.)

Everybody blinked in confusion.

"Is this the next morning?" Remus asked the boys, who nodded. Sirius was relieved. It wasn't that bad yet, Harry could walk away from and stay away for at least the rest of the night. Now, how long it was until he went back again, was another story.

("You can come... show you the mirror."

"You will not be going back! And you," Molly yelled, and turned to Ron, looking stern. "You will not be going near that Mirror, either!"

"Mom, this has already happened." Ron defended, confused why she was telling him this.

She pulled back and blinked at him. "Right." She turned to Ron. "You will not go anywhere near that mirror." Eyes wide, his head shook up and down quickly.

"Don't worry, Molly. That Mirror won't be anywhere near that school, it will be in the vaults, where it should be." He reassured the mother.

("I'd like to see your... see all your family,)

"If only that was what the Mirror really did." Sirius said, smiling sadly. He was glad that Ron would be there, but at the same time, very worried for both boys.

(all the Weasleys... brothers and everyone.")

"But you already know most of us. The only ones you hadn't at that point, are Bill and Charlie. Well, and our dad, I suppose." Percy said, tilting his head. Harry blinked, but shrugged.

Meh.

("You can see them any old time,")

"Not really, two of us live and work outside the country." Bill said, shrugging. Charlie nodded in agreement.

"I do wish you two would visit more often, though." Molly said with a frown. She liked having her family home, and being surrounded by her children.

"Sorry, mom. The Goblins don't give many vacation days." Bill apologized.

"And the reserve has a policy, the Handlers with children of their own get first pick and priority for vacation days." Charlie said, equally apologetic. She merely frowned.

(said Ron. "Just come... dead people.)

"Wow, Ron. Can you be any more tactless?" Hermione asked, incredulous.

Ron glanced at her and blinked, confused about what he said. Then, he paled slightly. "Sorry, mate." He tried to apologize, but Harry waved him off.

(Shame about not... you eating anything?")

"Of course you were more focused on the food." Hermione said, shaking her head fondly, even while she had a worried glint in her eyes. When Harry stopped eating, it was bad.

"He usually at least ate something, even if it wasn't much." Ron said, shaking his head. The amount Harry ate, had also been slowly getting better as the school year went, and then for him to suddenly stop eating again?

He was more than a little confused.

Sirius looked worried again. Harry was already going off his food. That wasn't good.

(Harry couldn't eat... important anymore.)

"Oh, this is just like his obsession with the Hallows, all over again." Hermione groaned. Ron looked at her, reproachfully, because she still refused to even consider the possibility.

Although, "Mate, you need to learn how to let something go." He shook his head. Harry blinked at him, he wasn't that bad, was he?

"The Hallows?" Ollivander asked, confused. One of the Hallows was the reason he was kidnapped by Death Eaters, after all.

Hermione huffed. "Ever since Luna's dad told us about the Deathly Hallows, Harry has been obsessed with them, even though they come from a fairy tale, and are not real." She glared at him.

"But they are real. They do exist." He said, confused about why she was so vehement about it.

"Oh, please. Death came and gave these objects away?" She scoffed. "And the Resurrection Stone?" The disdain was dripping from her voice. Hermione looked confused about what they were talking about, but didn't say anything. She would figure it out herself over the next break.

"Historical record says otherwise, Miss Granger." Ollivander said, frowning at her. "Now, how the brothers came into possession of the objects, whether they somehow created them, or stumbled on some ancient ruins somewhere and found them, that is unknown. Whether or not Death was really involved, that may have been later added to the tale. But, the facts are clear. Three brothers came into possession of three powerful objects. A wand, a Cloak, and a Stone capable of letting the user communicate with the dead." He lectured.

He didn't like that she was so dismissive of something like that. She was a witch, she was still thinking too logically. Magic, however, wasn't logical.

She merely stared at him, Albus watched her silently.

(Who cared what the... stole it, really?)

"Oh, it being stolen would only mean the earlier rise of Voldemort. It wouldn't matter much at all." Ron said, sarcastically.

"We didn't know all that, at the time. We didn't find out until later." Harry defended.

Severus just rolled his eyes at the reminder that he was the top suspect.

("Are you all right?" said Ron. "You look odd.")

"And now I know why..." Ron mumbled.

"I told you what I saw in that mirror." Harry said, confused.

"You didn't go into all that detail, or mention that you'd never seen them before. All you said was that it was your parents." Ron countered. Harry blinked, then shrugged.

(What Harry feared... mirror room again.)

"Why couldn't you find it again?" Neville asked, confused.

Harry flushed. "It was in a part of the castle I wasn't familiar with, and I wasn't paying attention when I found the room in the first place. I wasn't really paying a whole lot of attention when I was going back to the Tower, either. I'm not quite sure how I got back to the Tower at all, come to think of it..." He muttered to himself.

"Constant vigilance, laddie. Never lose track of your surroundings." Moody scolded with a scowl. This boy had good instincts. But, at eleven, he was very inconsistent with paying attention to what was around him. Harry just glanced at him, and quirked a smirk.

(With Ron covered... it and go back.")

"Yes, please." Most of the room agreed.

Ron grimaced. "Sorry, guys. This is Harry I was with." They sighed or groaned in disappointment, but they knew he had a point. Harry was very, very determined to get what he wanted sometimes. And right now, he wanted to show Ron the Mirror, and by extension, his family.

("No!" Harry hissed.)

"Obsession." Sirius said, repeating what he said earlier about the visions it showed causing an obsession. "It works fast." That was not good, not good at all.

Harry sighed, he could hear the worry in his godfather's voice.

("I know it's here... were dead with cold,)

Ron grumbled and glared at Harry while his mother made a worried noise. Harry scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"What is this?" Sirius asked, letting himself feel amused, even through his worry.

"He didn't let me get my shoes on before dragging me out of the dorm. I barely managed to grab my slippers." Ron explained why his feet were so cold. His shoes had warming charms on them, they were hand-me downs from Bill, and he drew (or sewed) Runes on most of his clothes, with keeping warm in mind. His slippers, on the other hand, were handed down from Percy, who didn't.

"Oh, dear." Sirius said, shaking his head. He couldn't decide whether to be horrified, or amused by that. Mostly, everyone else looked amused, though.

(Harry spotted the... just here- yes!")

"Uh-oh." Ron suddenly said, eyeing his family warily.

"What?" Neville asked.

"I just remembered who I'm in a room with, and what I saw in the Mirror." He'd honestly never really thought about it again afterwards. He'd almost forgotten this night even happened.

(They pushed the door...

There they were.)

"It's not real." Harry muttered again.

Sirius held onto him tighter, wishing that this Mirror was never even invented, while also cursing the Headmaster for ever (somehow) removing the blasted thing from his vaults.

Everyone else was silent.

(His mother and...

"See?" Harry whispered.)

"No, he won't." Remus murmured. Ron would only see what he most desired.

Despite themselves, the Weasley clan all leaned forward, curious about what Ron would see as his 'heart's desire'.

("I can't see anything."... can only see you.")

"Only the person the vision is intended for, can see it. And it is different for everybody." Sirius said, shaking his head.

Ron grimaced, his parents were going to hear about this, along with his brothers. His brothers were never going to let him live this down.

("Look in it properly... his paisley pajamas.)

Draco shuddered at the thought, paisley, with his hair color? That just sounded... ugh. No. Draco didn't bother hiding his disgust at the thought, while Ron turned red.

Those were one of the few clothing articles he owned that were store-bought. Second hand, store, maybe. But, still store-bought.

(Ron, though, was... at his image.)

The Weasley's became even more attentive, if that was possible.

The Twins had a bad feeling that his insecurities would come out in full force with this vision.

("Look at me!" he...

"No- I'm alone-)

Molly looked disappointed, whatever her son wanted most, it didn't involve his family. She was also concerned, because family was important. Did this mean he wanted nothing to do with them?

Ron grimaced, but was glad that nobody stopped the reading. He wanted to get this over with.

(but I'm different... I'm head boy!")

"Hmm?" Bill hummed, considering. "While being Head Boy does have its perks, it can also be very annoying. You have to take care of the younger kids, and you're in charge of the rest of the Prefects, while also trying to keep up with the course load of your seventh year." He grimaced, along with Percy.

"It was difficult to keep up with both. But, that's part of why it looks so good to potential employers." Percy agreed with his brother.

Ron shook his head. "I don't think I would want to be Head Boy anymore, anyway. Just being a prefect was enough responsibility for me." He disagreed with his younger self's hearts desire. Hermione tried to hide her smile, along with Minerva.

She had actually been considering Harry for the Head Boy position.

("What?")

"I was so confused. I was expecting it to show either one of our families. Not him as the Head Boy." Harry said, shaking his head.

("I am- I'm wearing... Quidditch captain, too.)

"Head Boy like you, Quidditch captain like me. He sees himself as doing both, where we only did one. He's on his own, without anyone around to over-shadow him, or share in the achievements." Charlie murmured to his brother. Bill nodded in agreement.

Yes, with Ron's insecurities, that sounded about right.

(Ron tore his eyes... shows the future?")

"Not when it shows dead people." Draco muttered. When he received a pointed look from his godfather, he simply shrugged. Severus only glared harder.

He hated shrugging, and his godson knew it! "Sorry." The boy muttered quietly when he realized what the glare was for.

"Ronald, are you ever going to learn how to show tact?" Hermione demanded on the other side of the room. "Think before you speak next time!" After all, Harry just got done telling him that the mirror showed him his family, his dead family! Molly nodded in agreement. Ron simply stared at her, eyes wide before he turned to Harry and apologized for not thinking.

"Perhaps we should start working with Ron while we're here, try to get him to think before speaking, and consider other people's feelings and such before opening his mouth." Bill muttered to Percy and Charlie.

Percy snorted. "I've been trying to do that since you left for Egypt." He said, dryly. Bill only grimaced.

("How can it? All my family are dead-)

Sirius and Remus frowned, not sure how they felt about Harry saying that so casually. He never knew his parents though, they were taken from him before he was old enough to really remember them. At this point in the book, they were nothing more to him then names and a vision in an old mirror.

Albus frowned. Not all his family were dead. The remainder of his family was sitting right here, in this room. Did he truly not consider them family, at all? Things at Privet Drive were worse than he thought.

(let me have another... me a bit more time.")

"Uh-oh." Sirius murmured. This mirror was also good at breaking apart relationships. The intense obsession it caused... more than one murder had been committed in front of it, one person got in the way of another when they were ensnared.

"Don't worry, we didn't fight about it for long." Harry reassured his godfather. Sirius didn't look any less concerned.

("You're only holding... about that?)

Fred and George snorted. "Don't let Wood hear you say anything like that." Fred joked, trying to relieve some of the tension in the room.

Harry grimaced. "That would be a nightmare." He groaned, thankful to the Twins. The room chuckled.

(I want to see my parents.")

All the light-hearted attitude from Fred and George disappeared at the reminder of where exactly Harry was, and what else was there with him.

("Don't push me-")

"And, now they're fighting." Hermione muttered. She hated it when those two fought.

(Despite the fact that the boys didn't argue nearly as much as she and Ron argued, so she really had no room to talk.)

(A sudden noise... had been talking.)

"Rookie mistake." Fred and George both said at once, shaking their heads in disappointment.

"Don't worry, I learned silencing charms by the end of the year." Harry said, dismissively. "It didn't happen again." He chose not to mention the incident with fake-Moody in fourth year, the night he figured out the egg clue.

In his opinion, that never would have happened if that egg didn't fall open.

("Quick!"

Ron threw the... round the door.)

"Won't work." Remus, Sirius, and the Twins all said. Harry scowled.

(Ron and Harry... work on cats?)

"Yes, and no. They can't see you, but they will still hear and smell you." Remus said, with a grin. Sirius grimaced. "Sirius learned that one, the hard way."

"What happened?" Harry asked, eagerly.

"No." Sirius groaned half-heartedly.

Remus grinned again. "So, you all know that Mrs. Norris was given to Filch, by Lily. Well, before Mrs. Norris, there was Callie. That cat and Sirius were enemies from day one. And no, Sirius didn't do anything to her. At first."

"That cat was evil! I could barely go anywhere without that cat on my heels." He grumbled. Minerva hid her smile.

"Anyway. James told Sirius about the Cloak about halfway through the second semester our first year, and Sirius got it into his head, that he was going to get that cat if it was the last thing he did. So, he put it on, and snuck out to find her during the night. He had a prank planned out, but as soon as he got within her sensing range..." He smirked at Sirius.

"I still have the scars." Sirius grumbled, rubbing his legs where the claw marks had sat for years.

"She smelled him coming from half-way across the school." Minerva said, Callie had told her the story when she went to find her. Sirius scowled while everyone else laughed at the dog animagus.

(After what seemed... out of the room.)

"Wow, usually Harry is the one having to pull Ron away." Hermione said, surprised.

"Hey!" Ron protested. "I'm not that bad."

"Ron, most of the adventures I went on, that wasn't just mischief related, was because you pushed me into it, somehow." Harry reminded him. And it was true, whenever something came up that Harry was reluctant to go check out, it was usually Ron that pushed him into it.

Ron pouted while his mother glanced at him, suspiciously.

(The snow still... Harry?" said Ron.)

"No. It's not fun when your constantly the one losing." Harry muttered. Most of the time, the only reason he agreed to play chess was because the only other alternative was homework, and his brain needed a break from that, or it was liable to explode (not really, but close enough.) If he wasn't taking a break from homework, then he really didn't want to play.

"Hey, you've gotten better at it over the years." The Weasley's encouraged, again. Didn't they already have this discussion?

Ron shook his head, he was never going to understand how on earth somebody could be that bad at chess. Although, like his family said, Harry had gotten better over the years.

"These sudden scene changes can be confusing." Bill muttered to Charlie. Charlie muttered in agreement.

("No.")

"See?" Harry agreed with his book-self. Although, he had to admit, that at the time, he was too busy thinking about the mirror.

("Why don't we... visit Hagrid?")

"Yeah, ya hadn' been down in a while." Hagrid said, frowning.

"Sorry, Hagrid. I meant to go down on Christmas, but..." Harry shrugged sheepishly.

"Ah, it's alrigh'." Hagrid waved a giant hand. "Don' worry 'bout it." Harry still frowned, disappointed with himself for neglecting one of his best friends.

("No... you go..." feeling about it-)

"Whoa." Hermione said, impressed and proud. "Good job, Ron. Didn't know you had it in you." She praised. Ron turned red, but the book kept reading before he could say anything.

(and anyway, you've... knock something over?")

"Wow." The Weasley siblings all said at once.

"Ron is being sensible." Percy said, surprised.

"Hey! I can be plenty sensible." Ron protested to his family. His siblings merely blinked at him, knowing that Ron was known for saying whatever he was thinking, he had no brain-mouth filter.

"Boys, Ginny, leave your brother alone." Arthur scolded lightly. His sons and daughter blinked innocently at him.

("You sound like Hermione.")

"And how is that a bad thing?" Hermione asked, indignant. Hermione looked hurt, while Harry was staring at her older self, eyes wide.

"I didn't say it was bad. Just that he was sounding like you!" Harry said, his own eyes wide. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything, merely turned away with her head up and her nose slightly in the air. Harry winced, and glanced at Ron for help, but he made a gesture to indicate that Harry was on his own.

Harry narrowed his eyes and shot him a rude hand-gesture while carefully watching Molly to make sure she wasn't watching at that moment. The rest of the Weasley's noticed though, Arthur looked more amused than anything else, though.

("I'm serious, Harry, don't go.")

Ron sighed. "Why did I even bother? Everyone knows that when Harry gets something in his head, he doesn't let it go. Ever."

"We were still young. We didn't know any better, yet." Hermione tried to reassure him.

"I'm not that bad." Harry grumbled with a frown. Ron and Hermione both patted him on the back, or shoulder in consolation while everyone else snickered or shook their heads fondly.

(But Harry only... going to stop him.)

"That's not good. He's only seen it twice, and he's already considering anybody to get in his way, as an enemy." Sirius muttered to Remus, who nodded in agreement.

(That third night... didn't meet anyone.)

'It's made him reckless.' Sirius thought to himself, worried.

"Harry, this is no time to be losing your head." Fred scolded his fellow prankster. Harry just grinned sheepishly.

He was really anxious to see his parents again.

Hagrid was concerned, if he'd known Harry had never seen his parents before, he would have gotten the photo album together sooner. It would have made a nice present for Christmas, although he was pleased that the boy enjoyed the flute.

(And there were... Nothing at all.

Except-)

Sirius looked up hopefully, but also with some dread. What was there that could stop Harry from sitting in front of that horrible mirror? He hoped it wasn't anything bad or dangerous. He just wanted Harry away from that thing, that mirror was dangerous.

Harry shifted uncomfortably.

("So- back again, Harry?")

"Again?" Sirius asked himself. Whoever it was, they hadn't been sitting there the whole time, just watching his pup sit in front of such a dangerous artifact, were they?

(Harry felt as though... Albus Dumbledore.)

Sirius narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Albus himself was looking concerned, but didn't look at Sirius.

While Sirius was relieved that somebody was there to get Harry away from that mirror, at the same time, he was suspicious about how long the Headmaster had been there before saying anything. Or, whether he knew that Harry was there multiple times.

(Harry must have... hadn't noticed him.)

Moody growled, disappointed, but didn't say anything this time. He supposed that the boys inattentiveness wasn't entirely his fault this time. At least it was only Albus, and not somebody liable to hurt the boy.

("- I didn't see you, sir.")

"That was clear." Fred and George said dryly, not at all impressed.

"I think I jumped at least a foot." Harry muttered to Sirius, who had to hide his grin.

("Strange how nearsighted... he was smiling.)

"That's good, him smiling means you're not in trouble." Remus told the younger Potter, who tilted his head in consideration.

Minerva gave him a withering look. Only one of the Marauder's, the Twins, and Harry would know something like that. Most others would be terrified of the fact the Headmaster had caught them out of bed, no matter his facial expression. But no, these boys had been caught by him so often, that they knew all his tells! Albus received a dark look of his own, he encouraged the mischief way too much.

("So," said Dumbledore... Mirror of Erised.")

"'Delights' isn't the word I would use." Sirius grumbled, still wondering how the Mirror got into the school in the first place.

("I didn't know it was called that, Sir.")

"Well of course not, many don't even know something like that exists, if the Ministry knew the Black's had it, you can bet they would do everything in their power to have it confiscated. If I had my way, you never would have seen it, let alone discovered it's 'delights'." Sirius ranted.

Harry thought it was impressive, how he could make one word, sound so sarcastic, so easily.

Also, Sirius really disliked that mirror.

Understandable, though, really.

"Then why don't I just turn it over to the Ministry, my boy? Less fuss that way, and it never turns up where it shouldn't be?" Albus suggested, glad to have a way out of giving the mirror back to Sirius.

Sirius glared. "And why would I trust the Ministry with an object like that? No, it goes right back in my vaults where it is supposed to be. You're the one who took it out, it turning up where it shouldn't be is your fault." He accused. Besides, Albus had a habit of 'hoarding' objects that were rare, valuable, and could be considered by most to be dangerous.

In the interest of the 'Greater Good', of course.

("But I expect... me my family-")

"I had no idea what it could do. All I knew, was that it showed me with my family, and Ron by himself." Harry said, holding up his hands and shaking his head.

Hermione scowled, "Why didn't you at least go and try to look up what it was? That mirror was obviously all you could think about, why not try to find out more?" Honestly, it was like she had to do all the work around there.

"Um, because I wasn't thinking about it like that? I could care less what it was, as long as it kept showing me my parents." Harry replied, giving her a funny look.

Hermione looked scandalized, and went to say something when Hermione only huffed. "Not everybody has your passion for research and knowledge." Pomona whispered in her ear.

("And it showed... as head boy.")

"How do you know something like that?" Sirius asked, suspiciously and with a dangerous growl.

"I'm sure I merely overheard them in the hallways. Or felt the monitoring alerts go off and gone to investigate. I would not have sat there and merely listened while two students were near such a dangerous object." Albus said, eyeing Sirius in disappointment.

("How did you know -?")

"That's what I want to know." Sirius said, eyes narrowed.

("I don't need a... Dumbledore gently.)

"You weren't just sitting there, watching this whole time?" Sirius asked, incredulous.

"I would not have been." Albus said, sharply. At least, he hoped he wouldn't have. That mirror was dangerous, especially for an eleven year old, (neglected at best, abused at worst) orphan. "I was probably in there to look at it, myself that night. And before that, the monitoring wards on the room would have alerted me that somebody was in there with the mirror, leading me to investigate." He hoped so, at least.

Sirius sat back, eyeing his old Headmaster in suspicion.

("Now, can you think...

Harry shook his head.)

"I just couldn't figure the thing out. On the one hand, it showed Ron something that could have been the future. On the other, it showed me something impossible, because all the people it showed me, were dead. Well, I suppose it could have been possible, but…" He shrugged and shook his head, smiling at Sirius in reassurance when he whimpered and held onto both boys just a little tighter, at the thought of such a thing happening.

"That is why you go to the library and research!" Hermione said under her breath. Harry just blinked at her, amused.

("Let me explain. The... Does that help?")

"It helped a little." Harry assured the Headmaster. Who nodded, pleased.

He always loved imparting knowledge on younger generations.

"I would prefer it if he would just give a straight answer for once, though." Ron grumbled to Hermione, who shrugged. She liked the riddles, she liked solving things, or figuring out what something meant on her own.

(Harry thought. Then... whatever we want...")

"Yes and no." Both Sirius and Albus said at the same time. They looked at each other, surprised.

Before they could say anything, though, Hedwig winged back into the room, landing on her humans lap with a satisfied hoot. Harry laughed quietly and pet her wing. "Have a good hunt, girl?" He asked. She rubbed her head against his shirt in reply, and used her beak to form a small nest in his lap so she could settle down.

("Yes and no," said... overshadowed by his brothers,)

A few of the Weasley brothers made wounded sounds. "Ron, you know you are just as important, besides," Bill directed his next statement to Ron alone. "You are still eleven. There's plenty of time for you to make a name for yourself, however you wish." He was a little hurt, that Ron thought he had to be just like his brothers, or better, in order to make something of himself.

Ron looked down and shrugged while Ron mumbled something. Charlie scooped Ron up, and deposited him on the couch between himself and their oldest sibling. The Weasley parents looked at their oldest two, proud.

Although, they couldn't help but feel it was somehow their fault, if they could just pay all their children some more individual attention...

(sees himself standing... neither knowledge or truth.)

"Eh, in a manner of speaking. It does give truth, in that you can tell a lot about a person by their deepest wants and desires, but no. It doesn't really help otherwise, and is mostly just a dangerous artifact that really never should have been created." Sirius said, disagreeing with the Headmaster on that point.

Albus tilted his head to the side, but conceded that the Black Lord had a point.

(Men have wasted away... been driven mad,)

"Men. Not school children. Older, more experienced men. Who should have known better, or been more mentally prepared to resist mind magics. And yet, it's sitting in the middle of a school." Sirius sneered under his breath.

Severus was honestly (reluctantly) impressed at this point over just how sarcastic the Black could be when he felt like it. Not to mention, how he could carry on about something for so long. He honestly had never noticed that before.

(not knowing if... home tomorrow, Harry,)

Harry frowned. "Why wasn't it in that 'new home' to begin with? Why have it out of that chamber at all?" He asked himself in parsel. Sirius glanced at him and agreed wholeheartedly.

He had a feeling, though, that they were going to have to wait until closer to the end of the book, to find that out.

He didn't think he was going to like the answer, at all.

(and I ask you... will now be prepared.)

"What?" Sirius asked, not liking how that sounded. Not at all. Harry frowned.

That made it sound like the Headmaster wanted him to find the Mirror. Of course, he already suspected that the Headmaster wanted him to save the Stone, but this was ridiculous. He really hoped that it was just him the Headmaster manipulated and put in danger like this, because if he did this with other people…

Well, let's just say Harry's temper was legendary at Hogwarts for a reason.

(It does not do... you've just done so,")

Harry and Sirius grimaced. "Why do people think doing that is amusing? It's not." Harry muttered. Dumbledore did it all the time with him, he just saw it as patronizing, and annoying. What was so bad about saying, 'ask away'? Or something along those lines.

(Dumbledore smiled... you look in the mirror?")

"Harry!" Hermione and Molly both said, shocked. "That is highly personal!" Hermione continued scolding.

"I was eleven!" Harry defended. Why were they always on his case like this? Honestly, he was eleven at the time! What eleven year old didn't ask first, and consider how rude it was later?

("I? I see myself... woolen socks.")

"Liar." Sirius and Remus both muttered in the Black language. Harry glanced at them, wishing he knew the language himself. If it was part of his heritage, he wanted to know it.

They told him that his parents spoke it around him, just as much as they spoke English, so he should have grown up knowing it, anyway.

Albus glanced down, sadly. He hadn't looked in the Mirror yet, but he knew what he would see when he did. Himself, his brother, and his sister. All alive, all well, all getting along and not constantly fighting. Arianna in full control of her magic, and a powerful witch in her own right. His parents would be standing behind them, proud of their children's accomplishments.

His family had fallen apart the day those Muggle boys caught his sister doing Accidental magic, and tried to force more out of her, only to get scared and try to force her to stop. She had never been the same after that, and neither had their family.

(Harry stared... said Dumbledore.)

All the younger people dismissed it and put it down to old age, while the older people just shook their heads.

Honestly, no wonder many people thought Albus was getting too old, when he said stuff like that!

The Draco's glanced at each other. Their father always said the Headmaster was getting old and going senile. Many things their father said, they took with a spoon of Skele-gro*, but he seemed to be right in this case.

("Another Christmas has... giving me books.")

"Oh, that's why I caught you wrapping socks every year. I was wondering what they were for." Ron said, tilting his head to the side. Harry grinned, while Albus smiled happily and gratefully at the boy.

Hermione muttered something about what was wrong with getting books for Christmas. Ron and Harry smiled in amusement.

(It was only when... been quite truthful.)

"Well of course not, that was a very personal question." Hermione scolded lightly, repeating herself from earlier. Although she was frowning, and it seemed the scold was more out of habit than anything else.

"Yes, Hermione." Harry said, dutifully.

(But then, he... off his pillow,)

There were several growls and noises of concern from those in the know about the rat. If Sirius had been in dog form at that moment; his hackles would have raised, his teeth bared, and he would have been growling ferally.

What was that rat doing, sleeping on his godsons pillow?

(it had been quite a personal question.)

Harry cleared his throat, and glanced at Hermione, who just raised an eyebrow at him.

Molly glanced at the time after a moment. "Do we want to eat now, or after the next chapter?" She asked the room at large.

"Now." All of her brood said at once, looking at her like she was growing multiple heads. She rolled her eyes fondly and looked at everybody else in the room.

"Why don't we eat after, and take a bit of a break." Minerva said instead, looking around. She glanced at the next chapter title, and her eyebrows shot up before she glanced at the three children this book was mostly about.

Molly nodded, before she left the room to begin lunch, her boys and Ginny complained, but made do with the snacks on the table.

Chapter Thirteen: Nicholas Flamel


* Instead of a 'grain of salt'