Chapter 7

The first few days of the break had been a lot of fun for Harry, since he had decided to take a break from practicing he ended up having fun playing with Ron, Fred, and George. Harry was able to talk to the twins about some of the pranks they have pulled over the years, from what Harry was told he saw the twins mostly focused their prank ideas around potions. Harry listened to the stories they told and many times found himself laughing at the pranks they pulled and he saw they mostly focused their pranks on students who bullied others while they played more harmless pranks on other students.

Harry found himself joining Ron in many of the games he wanted to play and Harry was having a lot more fun, their friendship had a few rough spots in the beginning but now the two were having fun. The two had a snowball fight outside that quickly escalated when the twins joined them, Harry ended up practicing one spell during the fight, he told Ron to make as many snowballs as he could while Harry would point his wand at them and cast "Locomotor snowball!" Harry launched many of their snowballs at the twins making them take cover but soon Harry and Ron had to take cover since the twins started doing the same.

Their snowball fight quickly escalated again when some of the students that stayed had joined in, soon students from all the houses were on both teams. One of the Ravenclaw first years, Anthony Goldstein, had joined Harry in firing the snowballs and even managed to hit Fred in the face. Fred and George had charmed their snowballs to launch themselves at the other team but when they saw Professor Quirrell come by they charmed some of them to hit Quirrell, some of the snowballs followed after him and hit him in the back of the head as he ran off, this caused many of the students to laugh. The snowball fight eventually came to an end and many of the students didn't mind that there wasn't a declared winner since they all had fun.

Harry had even spoken to Percy and asked him about how he became a prefect and asked for advice on becoming one, Percy was more than happy to talk to Harry about becoming a prefect. Percy saw even though Harry did like to have fun playing games he was also serious about becoming a prefect in his fifth year so he gave Harry plenty of advice that should help him, although Harry was thankful for the advice he had a feeling he wasn't going to follow the rules the same way Percy did. Their conversation changed and Harry was able to learn more about the Weasley family, how their oldest sibling Bill was a curse breaker and he was head boy when he went to Hogwarts, and the second oldest Charlie was a prefect and quidditch captain and was now a dragon handler. Harry felt that even though Percy was someone who held rules and authority above everything else he wasn't that bad to talk to.

One day Harry had decided to wander the castle after breakfast but when he got to the dungeons he was met with Blaise Zabini and Lilian Moon, with most Slytherins gone for the holiday the two had saw this as their chance to approach Harry, when they met him in the hall Lilian asked "Potter, can we talk to you?"

"Sure."

Harry followed them to an empty classroom, even though he hoped they could be friends he was ready to take out his wand in case they planned to do anything to him. Once they were inside the classroom Lilian spoke "Listen Potter, Daphne and Tracey told me about how you three became friends and they said I can trust you, I want to ask, why do you want to become friends with Slytherins?"

Without hesitation Harry answered "I'd like to make friends with different people, it doesn't matter to me which house they are from, if I can see us becoming friends then I'll be your friend."

The two stared at Harry for a moment before Lilian spoke "That's it, you want to become friends just because you want to have friends, you're not just trying to get close so you can form an alliance?"

Harry shrugged "I don't really know much about alliances, Daphne is helping me understand that but for me I really just want to make some friends, for people like Malfoy and his group I doubt we can ever become friends but so far the rest of you haven't done anything to me so I'm hoping you can be someone I trust."

Blaise spoke up "We aren't friends so why did you protect me from those two Gryffindors, I heard many of them are calling you a traitor so why defend me?"

Harry answered "I hate bullies, they had your wand and kept attacking you, if Slytherins are supposed to be cunning then I don't see any benefit you could get for attacking two second years so I doubt you're the one who started that fight."

Blaise glared, not at Harry but at the memory of those two and said "No they apparently thought they'd celebrate Gryffindor beating Slytherin by attacking me, one of them walked up behind me and grabbed my wand from my pocket and when I tried to grab it the other one hit me with a stinging jinx." Blaise calmed down before continuing "Look Potter I'm not sure about becoming friends but I'd like to form an alliance with you, I don't mean an alliance between our houses I mean an alliance between the two of us, my mother isn't exactly your biggest fan after what happened to you-know-who so it's for the best we keep this between us."

Lilian spoke next "I would like for us to form an alliance but for now I'd like for us to be friends first, Daphne and Tracey told me good things about you so I'm hoping they're true."

Harry was surprised to hear Blaise's mother was a possible follower of Voldemort but here he was asking to be allies. Lilian seemed more cautious but wanted to become friends as well, smiling Harry held out his hand and said "I'd be glad to become your friend and ally."

Harry shook their hands and soon Blaise and Lilian left, as the two walked away Lilian said "You know your mother is going to be pissed if she finds out about this right?"

Blaise smiled "Let her be pissed, I'm tired of her deciding everything for me, you know she wanted me to become friends with Malfoy."

Lilian snorted at that "Malfoy doesn't have friends, the only reason they listen to him is because their fathers kiss the ground Malfoy's father walks on, if you tried to be his friend he'd expect you to do the same."

"Exactly, I'd rather take my chances with Potter than become one of Malfoy's lackeys."

Back in the empty classroom Harry smiled seeing he had managed to become friends with all the Slytherins that weren't against him, he remembered how Daphne told him a while back that Pansy and Millicent had started to become friends so it would be for the best to avoid her. Harry had returned to the common room and was again pulled into a conversation about quidditch with Ron, Ron had told him about many quidditch teams and even how his favorite team was the Chudley Cannons even though they never win. Harry listened to Ron go on and on about quidditch and he wondered how Ron would react to seeing his Christmas gift.

Neville had returned to Longbottom manor in Yorkshire and was told by his grandmother to go unpack and that they will have dinner first before they have a talk. Dinner was awkward since his grandmother hadn't asked about anything, when they were done Neville was told by his grandmother to go and retrieve both of his wands and to meet her in the sitting room. Neville returned to his room and dug out his dad's wand and gulped wondering what his gran would tell him, as he walked to the sitting room however Neville looked at his actual wand and remembered how Harry went through all that effort to help him, he even asked Ollivander to come visit during potions to get Neville out of his least favorite class. Neville took a deep breath and tried to put on a brave face, no matter what his grandmother said he wasn't giving up his wand.

Neville and Augusta sat across from each other before his grandmother started "Neville, a few days ago McGonagall and Ollivander had come to see me and informed me that you had a new wand, would you mind explaining to me why you are no longer using your father's wand?"

Neville steeled his nerves and said "I don't want to keep being a burden to my friends and keep being held back, when Harry found out the wand I was using wasn't mine he went out of his way to help me get my actual wand, it's thanks to him I can develop as a proper wizard."

Augusta seemed surprised Neville spoke without his usual stutter, she could see Neville was a bit nervous but he looked like he wasn't backing down, Augusta asked "Why do you believe you can't develop as a proper wizard with your father's wand, don't you want to carry a part of him with you?"

Neville winced at that, he looked at his dad's wand and wondered if by switching he was abandoning him, however Neville remembered what Ollivander told him about not being his father, Neville placed his dad's wand on the coffee table before facing his gran, he imagined this conversation several times and knew what he wanted to say, Neville said "I don't need it because I'm his son as much as my mum's son, I don't need to try and become like them instead I want to make them proud and become the best wizard I can be. Ever since I got my wand my magic has been working properly, I'm no longer the last student to get a spell, I don't have to practice the same spell long after class just to finally use it." Neville thought about the training he had done with his friends and how they supported him, he smiled at the thought and looked Augusta directly in the eyes and said "I have friends who help me as much as I help them, I know if mum and dad could see me like this they'd be proud of the wizard I'm becoming."

Augusta's eyes widened at that, for a moment she wondered what happened to her grandson since he never acted like this before, normally Neville would retreat to the greenhouses for some peace but now she saw he was different after being gone for a few months. Augusta looked down at her son's wand and thought about the day Neville was born, Frank looked so proud and excited to see Neville grow up, Frank believed Neville would become a great wizard one day.

Augusta remembered when McGonagall told her Neville wasn't his father and she needed to stop trying to make him into his father, Neville was himself and ever since he made friends he had made improvements, especially after Ollivander delivered his wand to him at Harry's request. McGonagall told her she believed Neville will become the best wizard he could be, especially since he had friends that supported him, something Augusta realized she never did. Augusta reached over and picked up Frank's wand and called out "Shiny!"

An old house elf popped in and bowed before Augusta held out the wand and said "Please take this and place it with Alice's wand."

Shiny shakily took the wand and stared at it for a moment before bowing and popping away. Neville was surprised by what his gran did before he noticed Augusta take a deep breath and looked down and said "Neville, I want to… I want to apologize."

Neville's jaw dropped, he hadn't expected his gran to apologize, Augusta continued "Ollivander explained to me why you needed your own wand and why I shouldn't have given you your father's wand, I wanted to hear it from you though so that's why I asked for us to talk. You've changed more than I thought you would in just a few short months and I do believe your parents would be proud to see you like this." Augusta looked at him and smiled and said "Just like how I'm proud of you."

Neville was left stunned, he had never heard those words from her, normally she would tell him to act more like his father and she looked disappointed when he couldn't, now though she finally said she was proud of him. Neville couldn't help it and a few tears started to come out, Augusta got up and approached him and placed one arm around him and hugged him, Neville didn't flinch or try to pull away instead he leaned into the hug, the two knew this was the start to healing their damaged relationship.

Hermione was walking around Diagon Alley with her parents to do some last-minute shopping. The day before, she had returned home and she told her parents about Hogwarts and the new friends she had made, she left out Harry nearly being killed by a professor and how they were almost killed by a troll since she didn't want them to panic and try and pull her out of Hogwarts. Both her parents listened and a few times looked at each other when she talked more about Harry Potter, the two parents were happy Hermione had made some friends and she was happy at her new school.

When Hermione told them she wanted to buy some gifts for her friends they had taken her to Diagon Alley and converted some pounds into galleons, just as they expected Hermione had spent most of her time in Flourish and Blotts looking for books her friends would like. Hermione had found a number of books she thought they would like however when it came to shopping for Harry she was having trouble, while she could see a few books she thought he'd like she felt like she wanted to do more with his gift.

Hermione had gone to different shops and tried to feel what kind of gift would be right for Harry, Hermione had ended up at Madam Malkin's shop and looked around for what she should buy for Harry but she wasn't sure what would be the best gift. Madam Malkin approached her and asked "May I help you find anything dear?"

Hermione shook her head "I'm just looking for something I can buy for a friend."

Madam Malkin noticed she was looking at robes for boys and thought of an idea, she asked "Is the friend you're buying for possibly a boy?"

Hermione nodded "Yes but I'm not sure what I should get him."

Malkin smiled and said "Might I make a suggestion, how about you make something for him, I can show you a knitting spell that could make whatever you want to make."

"But I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school."

Malkin leaned in and said "I'll let you in on a little secret dear, in Diagon Alley you can use magic if you want since the ministry can't tell who it is, as long as you don't cast a spell in front of someone from the ministry you won't get in trouble."

Hermione looked conflicted, she would normally follow the rules and refuse but the idea of making a gift for Harry sounded like a good one, Malkin noticed Hermione was hesitating and asked "Tell me is this boy special to you?"

Hermione snapped out of her internal debate and looked at her, when the question registered in her mind she blushed but slowly nodded, Malkin smiled and said "Then I think the best gift you can get him is something you've made for him, anyone can walk into a shop and buy the same thing for him but the best gift he'll love is one that was made by someone that cares about him."

Hermione thought about it, she thought of something she could make for Harry but she considered buying something else for him, in the end she made her decision. Once she was done shopping Hermione paid to have her gifts delivered on Christmas, the Grangers returned home and Hermione hoped that Harry would like his gifts.

Hermione woke up early for Christmas and she rushed downstairs to see her parents were already up, they wished each other a happy Christmas and started on the gifts, Hermione noticed she had more gifts than before and she saw one that was from Daphne. Opening the gift Hermione saw it was a book on advanced potions, Hermione looked excited and wanted to read it right away but she decided to finish opening the rest of the gifts first.

Hermione saw the majority of her gifts were chocolates from her friends, she had to ease her parents' worry about her teeth by promising she'd save the rest for another time and she'd brush her teeth more, she shared some of the chocolates with her parents and they had to admit the chocolates were delicious. The only friends that didn't send her sweets were Neville and Harry, from Neville she had gotten a book on plants and their uses in potions. Her last gift was from Harry and she wondered what he could have gotten her, when she unwrapped her gift Hermione saw it was a book called Famous Muggleborn Witches.

Hermione smiled and opened up the book and saw a piece of parchment fall out, picking it up she saw the parchment was for an expansion to be added to her trunk so she could add more books to a new compartment and for her trunk to be made featherlight. Hermione felt a wide smile spread across her face at seeing she could now carry more books with her, she ran back upstairs to write a letter to Harry thanking him, she knew Hedwig would come by to visit soon so she hoped Hedwig would deliver the letter.

Neville woke up early Christmas morning and saw a huge pile of gifts by his bed, opening the gifts Neville saw a majority of them were from his relatives and family friends and they were either clothes, books, or money, however Neville felt joy when he saw a pile of gifts from his friends. Tracey had sent him a bunch of sweets he'd enjoy and Daphne sent him a book of foreign plants he was excited to read. Susan had sent him dragonhide gardening gloves and Hannah had sent him brand new gardening tools. Hermione had sent him a book on muggle plants and a book on how muggles grow their own gardens, Neville was excited to read it and see if it gave him any ideas. Lastly was Harry's gift, opening the box Neville saw packets of seeds for nonmagical plants, Neville didn't know some of the plants but was excited to try growing them, he wondered if Hermione knew Harry was sending him seeds so that's why she chose those books.

Unknown to Neville he was being watched by Augusta and Shiny, the old house elf had a smile spread across his face at seeing how happy the young heir was. Augusta couldn't help but give a sad smile at seeing how Neville paid more attention to the gifts his friends sent him while the pile of gifts sent from family friends were left ignored in a pile. Augusta never saw Neville smile like that during Christmas before, she knew when they went to St Mungo's later Neville had a lot he wanted to say.

Back in Hogwarts Harry was woken up by a cheerful Ron "Wake up Harry it's Christmas, happy Christmas, we've got gifts!"

Harry sat up almost panicking for a moment before he remembered he was at Hogwarts and calmed down, for a moment he thought he was back at Privet Drive. Looking over Harry saw Ron was cheerful, this was a first for Harry to see Ron was the first one awake. Harry finally registered what Ron said and said back to him "Happy Christmas Ron!"

Ron ran back to his bed and started to unwrap the pile of presents he had, Harry glanced at the foot of his bed and was surprised to see he had gotten gifts as well. Grabbing a gift Harry saw it was from Oliver, opening the gift Harry saw it was a practice snitch that wouldn't fly too far away from him. Harry couldn't help but smile at seeing Oliver got him something he could have fun with and practice with, now excited Harry started to open more gifts.

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie had gotten Harry some new winter clothes, Harry felt touched that they got him clothes that actually fit him. Harry had gotten tons of sweets from Dean, Seamus, Ron, Tracey, and Hannah. Harry was shocked to see he had gotten something from the Dursleys as well but was left unsurprised to see it was just a toothpick. Harry had just opened a gift from Hagrid to see it was a hand-made wooden flute when he heard "Bloody hell!"

Looking over Harry saw Ron was holding a poster, smiling when he recognized it Harry said "Happy Christmas Ron!"

Ron stopped staring at the poster and closed his open mouth and turn to Harry before a huge smile spread across his face, Harry was glad to see Ron liked his new poster of the Chudley Cannons. Ron thanked Harry and immediately hung up his new poster where he could see it. Chuckling, Harry grabbed another gift and saw it was from Daphne but there was a note attached to it, the note read

Dear Harry

Happy Christmas, I hope you have been having fun at Hogwarts, I told my family about us becoming friends and they all seemed happy to hear the news. My little sister Astoria wouldn't stop bugging me about hearing stories about you, she was a fan of the adventure books about you but I think she likes hearing about the real you more than those books. My sister wanted to send you something as well and asked me to include it in this, my mother also found something she wanted me to give you, it should be underneath my gift. The first one is one my sister made for you and she hopes you like it, again happy Christmas Harry and I can't wait to see you when we return.

From Daphne.

Harry opened the box and saw the first thing was a drawing, Harry saw the drawing was of himself and a little girl with the name Astoria written next to her, he saw the two of them were holding hands and the word friends was written above them. Harry smiled at seeing the drawing and carefully put it aside to put somewhere safe. Looking inside the box Harry found a book on defense, Daphne knew he liked the subject but couldn't stand the teacher so she had gotten him a book to help him. Harry set it aside to read for later and looked back in the box and froze at what he saw, slowly Harry reached into the box and pulled out a picture frame. Inside the frame Harry saw two girls, one looked like an older version of Daphne and Harry thought she looked pretty but he noticed the red headed girl standing next to her, when Harry looked at her he saw a pair of familiar green eyes looking back at him.

Harry looked in the box and saw a piece of parchment, picking it up Harry saw it read

Dear Harry

Thank you for befriending my daughter, my husband and I have been happy to hear how much you have been helping her and Tracey. When my daughters wanted to send you gifts for Christmas I thought I should give you something too, your mother and I had been friends when we went to Hogwarts, she was the only Gryffindor who could keep up with a Ravenclaw like me although we didn't become friends until our second year, I hope you like the photo I gave you from our sixth year. From what Daphne has told me it seems you inherited her brilliance, I'm sure she would be very proud of you, I hope you have a happy Christmas Harry and I hope we can meet one day, take care of yourself.

From Isabel Greengrass.

Harry realized this was the first time he ever saw a photo of his mother and he couldn't help but smile, he thought his mother was really beautiful. Harry placed the frame in his trunk to keep it safe, before he closed his trunk he looked at his mother and thought "I'll make you proud mum, you and dad."

Harry closed the trunk and returned to the rest of the gifts but he was certain he was going to write a letter for Daphne, Astoria, and their mother thanking them for the kind gifts. Next Harry opened Susan's gift and saw she had sent him a book on spells aurors would need to know, Harry knew the spells would be helpful. Next he opened a gift from Neville and saw it was a book about potions made by the Potter family, excited at more information about his family Harry set it aside to read for later.

Harry picked up another box and opened it up and saw inside was a sweater with the letter H on it, wondering who sent him this Harry checked and saw it was from Molly Weasley. Harry called out to Ron "Hey Ron I think your mum sent me this."

Ron looked over and saw the emerald green sweater Harry was holding and said "It looks like mum sent you a Weasley sweater, each year she gives us hand knitted sweaters, I told her you weren't going home for the break so I guess she wanted to make one for you too."

Harry was surprised Ron's mum made him something, still it was a nice gift he was glad to receive, Harry noticed something else in the box. Putting the sweater aside Harry reached into the box and found a small wrapped gift, opening the gift Harry found a pair of emerald green gloves, at first Harry thought Ron's mum made them for him but when he looked at who sent them he saw the name Ginny Weasley.

Harry called out "Hey Ron, I think your sister sent me something."

Ron came over and saw the gloves and seemed surprised "I know mum has been showing her how to knit but I didn't think she'd make you something, I know she really likes you."

Harry glanced at Ron and asked "What do you mean?"

"Ginny always loved reading those adventure books about you, I think she has all of them, I've been telling her about you and I think she wants to meet you since you're basically her hero."

Harry resisted the urge to groan when Ron mentioned those books, Harry wanted to get rid of those books and thought the money they were making him wasn't worth it. Harry looked at the gloves and still thought they were a nice gift so he put them somewhere safe.

Harry got to his second to last gift and saw it was from Hermione, seeing that she wished him a happy Christmas made Harry smile. Opening the box Harry saw inside were two gifts, the first were seeker gloves made to keep his hands warm, Hermione knew in his latest practice he mentioned his hands were freezing. Harry saw the second gift was a hand knitted scarf with Gryffindor colors but Harry noticed at both ends were the letters HP, Harry had no idea Hermione could knit, smiling Harry wrapped the scarf around his neck and felt how warm it was.

Harry got to his last gift and found a note with hand writing he didn't recognize, the note said it belonged to his father and it was time it was returned to him. Harry looked at the gift and saw it was a fluid-like silky silvery cloak, Harry wondered if it really belong to his dad, he put it on and heard a gasp from Ron before he said "Bloody hell Harry, who sent you an invisibility cloak?!"

Harry looked down and saw his body was gone, opening the cloak he saw his body and was shocked to see it was a real invisibility cloak. Harry tried to remember if his dad ever mentioned the cloak but nothing came up, James rarely wrote about his past in the journal and Harry figured if Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all still alive they probably would have told him about their time at Hogwarts with his dad. James had mostly wrote about spells he knew and personal messages he wanted to tell Harry but he rarely mentioned his own life so Harry still had a lot of questions.

Shaking the thought from his head Harry realized he could use the cloak to sneak into the restricted section of the library and try and find any information about Nicolas Flamel. Harry quickly stored away the cloak so no one else would know about it, as soon as he put it away Fred and George came in with a protesting Percy and Harry saw they all had their own sweaters and they told Ron to put his on. Fred and George thanked Harry for the gifts he got them, Harry had to promise Hedwig plenty of bacon so she could get the gifts in time, he saw the books on pranks he gave the twins and knew they were going to cause more trouble when everyone returned. Percy thanked Harry for the amazing gift he got him, Harry saw Percy was already reading the book about a previous student who became a prefect, head boy, and eventually became the minister. Fred and George told Harry how they swapped sweaters and were now Gred and Forge, Harry chuckled and decided to put on his sweater as well and join them. When the twins saw Harry got his own they started calling him their new little brother and soon all five boys went downstairs to eat.

Harry had enjoyed the feast and was able to finish writing letters to thank those that sent him gifts, Hedwig came to Harry knowing he'd want her to deliver them, soon she took off to deliver them. Harry was left alone as Percy went back to reading his new book, Fred and George were somewhere in the castle with Peeves, and Ron was busy admiring his new poster so Harry decided to close the curtains around his bed and summon the journal to read.

Harry flipped to the personal messages and found a part his mum wrote about his first Christmas, even though they were in hiding his parents wanted to make his first Christmas special so they went all out with the decorations. His uncles had sent him gifts, from Sirius he was given a stuffed dog, from Remus a stuffed wolf, and from Peter a toy rat. Harry read about how his dad pretended to be a reindeer and let Harry ride on his back, Harry imagined his dad wearing fake antlers and crawling around on all fours while his mum made sure he didn't fall off, the thought made Harry wonder what their Christmases would have been like.

The day passed and soon Harry saw it was dark and everyone in the tower was asleep, grabbing the cloak Harry snuck out and went to the library. Harry felt the castle was a lot creepier at night and a few times he spotted a ghost and hid before remembering he was invisible and continued on. Harry arrived at the library and entered the restricted section, once he knew there was no one there Harry took off the cloak and looked at the books. Harry noticed some of the books looked old to the point that they could easily fall apart, some were written in languages he didn't understand, and some of them even had dried up blood on them, feeling more nervous Harry looked and found one that seemed normal and picked it out.

Harry opened it and was about to start reading when suddenly the book let out a loud scream, frightened Harry panicked and dropped the book and backed away only to then back into another bookshelf and cause many books to fall over and many of them started screaming too. Harry tried to silence them but then he heard someone yell "Who's there!?"

Harry quickly grabbed his cloak and covered himself and made a run for the exit, he saw Filch showed up and was heading to the restricted section so Harry quickly left however Harry forgot about Filch's cat. Mrs. Norris stopped following Filch and focused on Harry, Filch noticed she stopped and started to follow someone so Filch followed after her. Harry was running down the halls and he heard Filch call out "Where are you, you can't get away!"

Harry was panicked, he knew he'd be in big trouble if he got caught, Harry wondered how did Mrs. Norris know he was there when he remembered his neighbor Mrs. Figg once told him how cats have a good sense of smell. Quickly thinking of something Harry realized he was wearing one of Dudley's old damaged shirts and started to tear pieces off, Harry dropped a few pieces and when he reached some empty classrooms he threw the rest in one before moving to the next door and quickly hiding in there.

Harry tried to calm his breathing as he listened, he heard Filch stop at the other door and ask "Is the student in here?"

Harry heard the sound of the other door opening before hearing Filch curse, they must have found the other pieces of his torn shirt. Harry heard the footsteps continue and come close to the room he was in, he thought he was about to be caught when he heard Filch say "Whoever it was must have left these to throw us off, come on they couldn't have gone far."

Harry heard their footsteps leave and he breathed a sigh of relief, Harry turned to look in the classroom and saw it was mostly empty except for a huge mirror. Harry approached the mirror and saw himself and how his shirt was badly torn up so he knew he would have to get rid of it, suddenly in the mirror two people appeared and Harry quickly turned around thinking he was caught only to see there was no one there.

Turning back to the mirror Harry saw two people appear and he froze when he recognized one of them, he saw the same red head from the photo he received only this time she looked a bit older, standing on his other side was a man who looked like an older version of him, Harry made the connection and asked "Mum, dad?"

The two smiled at him and nodded, Harry realized this was the first time he ever saw both his parents. Harry saw his dad reach over and put a hand on his shoulder but Harry didn't feel anything, he reached over and placed his hand on the same shoulder but didn't feel anything there. Harry slowly reached over and touched the mirror almost hoping he could reach in and finally hug his parents but all he felt was the cold surface of the mirror.

Harry let out a shaky breath at seeing his parents were so close yet he couldn't feel them at all, suddenly Harry noticed two more people appear in the mirror and stand behind them. Harry again looked back but saw once again there was no one there, turning back to the mirror he saw the two looked quite old but they were both smiling down at him. Harry noticed the man looked like a much older version of himself and James and his hair was just as messy as theirs, it clicked and Harry whispered "Grandpa Fleamont, grandma Euphemia?"

The two nodded and their smiles widened, Harry realized he was looking at his family. Harry again noticed two more people showed up in the mirror, this time he didn't look back but instead focused on the two and saw one man had long black hair and his face looked handsome and full of laughter, the other man had a few scars on his pale face and he had light brown hair but he wore a bright smile. Harry looked at the two men and tried to remember who they were but nothing came up, he felt some comfort when he saw them but that was it.

Harry was again distracted from the two men when he noticed more people begin to appear in the mirror however this time he recognized them immediately, Harry saw in the mirror he was surrounded by his friends. Hermione was standing right next to him, Ron and Neville were on his other side, Daphne and Tracey appeared along with Susan and Hannah, Harry saw he was surrounded by his friends and family.

Harry stood there for a moment seeing himself surrounded by many, finally he managed to tear his eyes away from the scene in front of him and looked around the mirror and saw writing he didn't understand. Harry turned back to the people in the mirror and he felt some pain in his heart, he looked at the parents that died protecting him, the grandparents who were killed in their own manor, all because Voldemort was after him. Harry felt his eyes tear up and he placed his hand on the mirror and looked at his family and said "I'm sorry."

Harry saw in the mirror Hermione moved over and hugged him and for a moment he almost felt as if she really hugged him, Neville and Ron placed a comforting hand on him and the rest of his friends reached out to him. When Harry saw this he realized if they were here they would actually do this, he smiled at seeing he had people that cared about him. Harry didn't know for how long he stood there watching the mirror but he realized he had to go, he felt like he wanted to stay but he knew if he stayed any longer he'd risk getting caught, he reached over and placed a hand on the mirror and said "I'll be back."

Harry walked over and picked up the invisibility cloak and covered himself, making sure he didn't hear anything he quickly left and returned to the tower. During the walk back Harry thought of the people he saw in the mirror, about how he finally got to see the family he lost. Harry wondered how the rest of his friends were doing during the break and hoped the break would come to an end soon so he could see them again, maybe he could bring Hermione, Neville, and Ron to come see the mirror when they all returned.

Arriving back at the tower Harry entered the common room and saw the fireplace was still burning, taking off his damaged shirt Harry threw it in the fire before heading up to his dorm. In the dorm he could hear Ron's loud snoring, quickly getting changed Harry crawled into bed and stared up at the ceiling. Harry thought "I need to wait for Neville and Hermione to return so I can show them the mirror, maybe Hermione will be able to figure out what the mirror is."

Thinking of Hermione, Harry realized he still needed to find out about Nicolas Flamel so he intended to head back to the library the next night and hopefully he can find out who he is. Yawning, Harry closed his eyes and went to sleep but he dreamt about his family and those two men he saw in the mirror.

Please comment and let me know what you thought of the chapter.