Author's Note: Here's part two!  I guess the first was somewhat of a prologue.  But I've thought this story out and think it'll be a nice, fun story with a plot.  Major plot.  Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate them!

This fic is going to go by short parts.  Short, because then they'll come out faster, and I want them to be short, unlike the Phoenix Gate.  New chapter should be coming soon :)

making

decisions

The alarm woke Harry with an unpleasant ringing in his head.  Groaning as he rolled over, he slammed his palm against the clock a few times, eventually succeeding in shutting it off.  Peering blearily at the red numbers, he realized that he only had an hour to study.

Getting up slowly, Harry showered, dressed, and stuck his contacts in.  He had gotten contacts...about two years ago, he thought, because they were just easier.  Making himself a cup of coffee, he took a tentative sip as he sat in front of the textbook.

The more Harry read about the rise and fall of Napoleon, the more his mind wandered.  He didn't even know what he wanted to do—become a doctor?  A politician?  What was the point?  With a bit of disgust, he shut the book and refused to look at it again.

Going to the kitchen and settling on a cozy chair around the table, the same place he had been seated the night before, Harry thought about the note that he had received the previous night.  'Time to come home, Harry.'  Well, Harry thought with a derisive snort, it certainly isn't the Dursleys.

He suddenly had the feeling that something—someone—was watching him.  He didn't move, but his muscles tensed.

He heard a shuffle from behind him, and looked over his shoulder to find Kent, his best friend, yawning widely before sitting in the chair across from Harry.  Harry shook his head slightly, and took another sip of his coffee.  Putting his disturbing thoughts aside, and pushing his bangs from his eyes, Harry grinned widely.  "Hey, Kent old pal…."

Kent groggily looked up at Harry from the tabletop, retrieving a pasty from the box beside him.  "What do you want?" he grumbled.

Kent Stuart had bright blue eyes, framed by brown hair that was cut very short.  He had a pierced ear, and was tall, and unlike Harry, very strong-looking.  He looked like a bully on the outside, but as his long-time girlfriend Caity had put it, he was as mushy as applesauce on the inside.

"You know that you're the bestest friend in the world?"

Kent squinted at Harry now, his eyes narrowed, posture slumped horribly over the table, chewing his pasty methodically.  Harry did his best to smile innocently.

Kent put his forehead on the table and groaned.  "You're too damn cheerful, did you know that?"

Harry shook his head.  "You tell me the same thing only every day."

Waving a hand lazily in the air, his lethargic friend replied, "That's besides the point.  Anyway.  What'd you want?"

Dropping his "innocent" approach, Harry gave Kent a pleading expression.  "Can I skim through your history notes?"

Kent grunted, managing to move his head the slightest bit, only to crinkle his forehead and stare at Harry incredulously.  "Is that all?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway, shrugging as he did so.  Then he frowned.  "What'd you expect?"

Kent shrugged back at Harry—Harry could only tell because Kent's visible shoulder bobbed a little.  "Eh…something else.  Don't know what, though."  He narrowed his eyes at Harry.  "Why didn't you do the reading?"

Harry glared at Kent, his voice flat as he spoke.  "Well, you know, I woke up yesterday and went to school, after which I got back and went to work, then came back late, and got stuck calculating most of the rent."

Kent's eyes widened for a moment.  "OH.  I forgot about that."  He looked up at Harry meekly this time.

Harry rolled his eyes.  "Just like every time."  He sighed.  "Well, let me read your notes and we're even."

Kent got up to retrieve his notes from the room over.  "I'm really sorry, Harry, I swear I'll do it next time."

Harry waved Kent's promise away as he took another sip of coffee.  "Don't bother, you know I'll get stuck doing it next month, and the one after that…."

"Didn't Jewel help?" Kent asked as he handed his composition notebook to Harry.  "She was home yesterday, wasn't she?"

Harry rolled his eyes as he reached for the notebook, opening it and propping it on his knees and against the table.  "You know just as well as the rest of us do that even if Jewel did volunteer to do the rent, we shouldn't let her.  She hates mathematics with a passion, and she has bad karma when it comes to it, anyway.  She finished the calculations for me last night, but I still have to go back and double check it, just to make sure it's right."

Kent shrugged, and slumped towards the counter.  Putting some hot water to boil, he leaned against the counter and cocked his head to the side, observing Harry.  His eyes were squinting – because he was half-asleep, of because he was trying to see better, Harry couldn't tell.

"Where do you plan on going during the break?"

The simple question made Harry sighed, and looked up at his friend.  "I was thinking maybe a trip back to London."

Kent blinked.  "To the Dursleys?"

Harry laughed.  "No.  A visit to my parents' graves, their old home.  I haven't been there in a while.  Need to clean it up a bit."

Kent sobered, and continued to watch Harry in a sad way.  Kent swiveled and grabbing a cup, he poured the steaming water into it.  Grabbing a teaspoon and the can of ground coffee, he dumped in two spoons, added some creamer, and two packs of sugar.  Sitting back on the table, he looked at Harry imploringly.  "You shouldn't go alone.  Maybe, if we can pull it off, me, Jewel, and Caity can come along too.  It'd be fun, you know."

Harry grinned at Kent.  "Come off it," he said, laughing a little.  "You guys have your own families to get to, and it won't be that big of a deal for me anyway."

Being a bit more perceptive after his cup of coffee was drained, he said, "We're part of your family, whether you want us to be or not.  And we didn't want to go back to our families for a while, we just saw them in November for Thanksgiving," Kent added, making a face.  "We wanted to spend this break together, with the four of us."

Harry put the notebook aside, and matched Kent's surprisingly serious tone.  "You guys sure about this?"

Kent nodded.

Harry sighed.  Reluctantly, but not knowing what else to do, he said, "Then we're off to London."

decisions

end

A/N: And so ends part two!  This is a slow build-up, but I assure you it's worth it ^.~ If you want me to e-mail you when a new chapter is up, leave your e-mail address in a review ^-^

~ Jedi Cosmos ~