The rest of the term passed quickly. The Weasley's were taking Ginny to Romania to see Charlie, so plans were made for the twins and Ron to spend Christmas at Potter Manor with Harry, Sirius, and the family. Percy had decided to stay behind at Hogwarts, hoping to get a headstart on O.W.L.s study session, or at least that's what he said. Fred allowed it had something to do with a girl. George allowed there was a chance it was a bloke. Ron refused to comment on Percy's love life, knowing it really could go either way.

Harry woke up Christmas morning just like he had many other Christmas', with a pile of presents at the end of his bed and Padfoot licking his face. Mrs. Weasley had sent the boys their sweaters. Harry's was a lovely maroon and Ron's was a navy blue that didn't clash horribly with his hair, a first for him.

"What? Yours don't have letters on them? It's like she thinks we don't know who we are. I'm Gred and he's Forge. We all know that!" Fred said, wearing gold sweater with a green 'G' on it. George showed up in a green sweater with a gold 'F' on, nodding his agreement.

With that, they were herded down to the parlor where Hestia kept the Christmas tree. Adhara and Rigel were allowed to open their Santa presents- a muggle tradition brought by Moony- before Harry, Ron, and the twins were unleashed on the unsuspecting pile of gifts.

When the flurry of paper subsided, Harry was holding a silvery, slippery piece of material, staring at it in confusion.

"What have I done to deserve this?" Harry asked, curious.

"It's your father's cloak, and his father before him, and his father before him, and so on for as long as anyone can remember," Sirius explained.

"Wait… you're giving me the invisibility cloak?" Harry asked, praying it wasn't a trick.

"Yes, Sirius, are you giving an 11 year old boy, who's in a boarding school, a cloak of invisibility?" Hestia asked.

"Well… it is a family heirloom. And we had it in school and we didn't get in any trouble," Sirius explained.

"We got into plenty of trouble, Pads. Just none that had to deal with the cloak," Remus reminded him, smiling softly at the memories.

"And we get to take it to school with us?" Ron asked, rubbing the cloth between his fingers.

"Yes you do," Sirius said, just as Hestia exclaimed, "No you don't!"

"Prongslet, take it for a test run around the Manor before you worry about school," Remus said, gesturing out the door with his head.

"Really?!" Harry and Ron exclaimed.

"Harry, you'll let us borrow it, won't you?" Fred and George asked, giving him puppy eyes.

"You have the map, I have my cloak. We'll share custody… until you graduate," Harry said with a shrug.

"YES!" Fred and George shouted, causing Adhara and Rigel to cheer as well.

"Daddy?" Rigel asked as Harry and Ron disappeared under the cloak and out of the door, "what are you going to give Addie and I when we go to school?"

"Well… I don't know," Sirius said, looking lost.

"Rigel, by that time Harry will have graduated, hopefully, and you can have the map. How does that sound," Remus said, causing them to cheer.

"Did you send us to get that map just so we could give it to your kids?" George asked.

"Yeah," Sirius said, very seriously.


The new year was being brought in by the whole gang. It had been decided that, because the Weasley's hadn't had Christmas together, there would be a large New Year's party to make up for it. Fred and George were attempting to sneak fireworks into the Black Manor. Sirius and Remus had starting to open the firewhiskey an hour before lunch. Severus had locked himself into a room that Harry, Draco, Neville, and Ron dared not enter.

Hermione had arrived right at eighth, as planned. Draco greeted her with a hug and a tour around the house, including the kitchen where Sirius and Remus were singing to the radio while banging on pots and pans.

"So, this is nice." Hermione smiled. "Where are the other girls?"

"Finishing getting the food at the Burrow. Molly cooks there because the house elves try to take away her pleasure of cooking. Sirius and Remus will eat a little, drink a lot. Hes will threaten to hex them when they leave if they wake up the little ones upstairs. They will fall asleep about ten minutes after midnight and Severus will mess with them in the morning until they leave. Last year he set their trousers on fire. We took a bet to see if they were flammable."

"Clearly neither of them were," Hermione responded as they were back in the living room. Harry, Ron, and Neville were all playing a game of exploding snaps. Draco went to join them as Hermione watched Fred and George from the window, taking advantage of the lack of parental supervision.

When the fire blazed in the fireplace, the voice of Molly Weasley was already yelling at the twins and she couldn't even see them yet. She marched out of the fireplace and into the kitchen. Three seconds later, Ginny came running out of the fireplace with a plate of cookies that she sat on the table.

"I know you missed me," Ginny teased as Draco rushed to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Hermione couldn't help but notice the look Harry's face as Ginny wrapped her arms around Draco.

"How was Romania?" Draco asked in her hair, still holding her tight.

"Wonderful," Ginny told him, pulling away to hug the other boys. "Charlie says hello."

"Come on, Ginny, you can be on my team," Harry said pulling her away from Draco and to his side.

Draco glared.

"Well, all of this makes sense now." Hermione said to herself.

"Of course it does, Granger." George said putting an arm on her shoulder.

"Been this way since they learned that Ginny was a girl." Fred added on, leaning on her other shoulder.

"I've got five galleons on Potter." Fred said putting his hand out to make a deal.

"Malfoy. It's going to be Malfoy." George agreed, shaking his twin's hand.

"Care to join the wager?" Fred asked, leaning on Hermione's other shoulder.

"I don't know her so I don't have enough evidence to come up with a logical choice of where her affections might lay." Hermione said logically.

"Pick Granger," George egged on as Harry and Draco stared at each other from across the table. A exploding snap exploded in Neville's face, breaking the tension in the group.

"Hey," Ginny said looking up. "You're Hermione, right?" She said leaving the boys.

"Yes, I am." Hermione said stepping away from the twins.

"I'm Ginny. Draco's written about you. He said you like to study."

"I hear you like Quidditch." Hermione said cautiously. "I'm not too big of a fan."

"I was just going to ask if you could help me figure out what I needed for next year. Unlike my brothers, I want to be prepared for my Hogwarts education."

Hermione took a step back, impressed. "I think we can work something out."

Harry, Neville, Ron, and Draco watched Hermione and Ginny hover around three floating books, talking about Quidditch and how to improve flying. Midnight was approaching and the adults were all a little tipsy, even Severus was being clingy, holding Narcissa in his arms, whispering in her ear, making her blush.

"Well, to a new year," Neville said, putting his pumpkin juice in the air for a toast. "Whatever trouble we get into, at least it is together."

"We are in this together, aren't we Draco?" Harry asked raising his cup.

"Why wouldn't we be?" He asked, as the adults started to count down.

"Let's promise, no matter what, we'll all be best mates." Harry said taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"Promise," The boys all said together following Harry.

Harry stood up when the countdown was down to five.

Four. He walked across the room.

Three. Fred and George found Hermione and Ginny laughing.

Two. Remus and Sirius were in each other's arms.

One. Harry pulled Ginny into his arms, kissing her.

Fred and George placed a chaste kiss on either side of Hermione's face.

Sirius and Remus were told to get a room...by Hestia.

Draco, wide eyed, was pulled to his room by Neville and Ron.

Harry pulled away from Ginny, as the fireworks squealed outside.

Hermione looked to the twins. "Draco. I bet Draco."


It was decided that Harry would have a solo trip with his cloak when they returned to school. He left after curfew, being careful to stay silent and keep his feet hidden. He wandered for a while before going into the library to check out the Restricted Section, purely at Hermione's request and not for any reason that would interest him. He was going good, avoiding a few books that he remembered Sirius warning him about. That's when he grabbed a book that started screaming at him, alerting Filch to his location.

He ran as fast as he could, dodging in and out of secret passages, finally ending up in an unused classroom with a giant mirror in it. There was a weird inscription on the top, but he didn't bother to stop and read the words. Instead, something in the mirror caught his eye. He thought he saw himself, but it couldn't be right. He looked older… and had hazel eyes. That caused him to move in for a closer look. What he saw made his heart clench.

There, in the mirror, were his parents. His real parents. The ones he lived with before Sirius and Hestia. He saw James and Lily staring back at him and he saw what Sirius meant. He had seen pictures of his parents through the years, but not like this. Not in full size, technicolor. And never with a small, redheaded girl with hazel eyes. Or with Lily all pregnant in the background. He pulled the cloak off and let it fall to the floor, silvery side up. Silent tears streaked down his cheeks. He didn't understand, how could his parents be there, with his little sister? The one thing he really wanted, a family and a little sister. Draco, Ron, Neville, and even Rigel- technically- had a little sister. He was the only one who didn't have a sister…. except Hermione, but she didn't count because she was a girl and girls didn't need sisters. They needed brothers.

He sat and stared for what turned into hours. He just wanted to be there with them. He tried speaking to them, but the best they could do was wave. He watched them, not wanting them to disappear. Eventually, he knew he had to sneak back to his room. He memorized the route so that he could show Ron the next night.

Harry barely kept his mouth shut during classes, not wanting to tell Hermione in case she got all righteous and told Minnie… or Severus. He didn't know which would be worse, and he wasn't willing to find out. Finally, the day came to an end, and Ron and Harry slipped under the cloak and down to the abandon classroom.

"See?" Harry asked, stepping up to the mirror. "See my family? See my little sister?"

"No…" Ron said, shaking his head. "All I see is…. I see me! I'm holding up the Quidditch cup! I've won it for Gryffindor! And I've got a head boy badge! Say, do you think this shows the future?"

"How can it? There's nothing that will ever bring my family back. If there was, Sirius would have done it years ago, no matter how Dark or Black the spell. No matter the consequences," Harry said, sulking.

Ron had nothing to say to that, so he said nothing, respecting Harry's moment of mourning. They stayed, staring at their different desires in the mirror until Mrs. Norris found them and they were forced to run back to the common room while carrying the cloak because wearing it would only hinder their progress.

"I'm going back tomorrow, want to come?" Harry asked, resolved.

"Mate, we almost got caught tonight. She'll be waiting for us there. You really shouldn't risk it. I'm not going back. I don't fancy getting caught. Mum'll have my head," Ron said, going back to bed.

The next night, Harry refused to take Ron's advice. He slipped out alone and went straight to the mirror. He sat, staring at his parents, his sister, for over an hour.

"Harry, you really should be in bed," Minerva said, startling him.

"Aunt Minnie, what is this mirror?" Harry asked.

Minerva pointed to the inscription Harry hadn't bothered to read. "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. It means 'I show not your face, but your heart's desire' in the language of mirrors."

"So, basically, if I had brought Dad's mirror down, I would have known that?" Harry asked, confused. "Is that why Ron saw himself holding the House Cup?"

"Yes to both. It's a very dangerous thing, this mirror. I believe Dumbledore was planning on moving it in the near future. Many, many wizards have died in front of this mirror, looking at what they desired and forgetting to live. I will tell him in the morning to speed his plans up," Minerva informed him.

"What do you see, Aunt Minnie?" Harry asked.

"The same thing you do, in a way. I see all my former students, the ones that died, alive, well, and with large families. So, yes, I see James and Lily with you and the redheaded girl and a third one on the way," she told him, stroking his hair.

"Aunt Minnie... how did you know I was down here?" Harry asked, still staring at the mirror.

"How do you think? I had Remus make me a copy of the Marauder's Map just after Argus confiscated it their seventh year. But you can't tell Sirius, it's our little secret. Now, you go to bed. This summer, if you're still worried about this, I'll take your memory of the mirror out so you can see it in Sirius' pensieve at home. How does that sound?" Minerva said, doing her own fair share of staring.

"Okay, Aunt Minnie," Harry said, getting up and hugging her. "I love you just as much as Padfoot, even if I can't tell you that here at school," he added before scurrying out under his cloak.

Minerva felt she could have curse Sirius for giving Harry the cloak so soon. She was banking on a few years peace without it before Harry was gifted it in his fifth year, as was family tradition. She stared at her students for a bit longer before remembering her own advice and turning her back to the mirror.


Gabs: This is your advanced warning. We're going to the football game next weekend so there will NOT be an update on Saturday. We'd feel bad, but we don't.

Kat: You will get your chapter on Tuesday, we just have been waiting for this event since...2008? I'd say 2009, but we didn't get to go then…

Gabs: And the 2010 game was just crap.

Kat: Yes it was! As always REVIEW! Please? I'm pouting. You don't want to see me pout. I'm very convincing when I do. Aren't I, Gabs?

Gabs: Well I grew up with a sister with longer eyelashes than a Kardashian, so really no one has better pouting skills than her…. but that's beside the point. Review, even if Kat's internet pouting isn't very convincing since no one can see her.

Kat: Sorry to those of you who did review and we didn't get the teasers to you. But we did give you all an extra chapter this week, so I think it makes up for it.

Gabs: Yeah… we literally wrote this chapter in the last four hours. That's going to be our excuse. As always, we own nothing, especially anything that was said in The Cannon.

XOXO

Gabs & Kat