Disclaimer-I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters...just the plot.

"What'd we get, what'd we get?" Alvin questioned urgently, hopping on his toes to get a glimpse of a plain brown box amidst of the letters.

"Calm down son, the food isn't going anywhere..." Frank Longbottom muttered with a grin on his face as he helped James unhitch the box from the seagull's webbed feet. Alvin looked a lot like Mr. Longbottom seeing as they both had the same rusty colored hair, blue eyes, and facial figures like his small ears and nose. However, Alvin seemed to be growing rather short and plump like Mrs. Longbottom.

"Any comics?" Ziggy asked, straining to see over Alvin's bouncing head.

"Any band aids?" Neville asked hopefully trying to edge closer to the package.

"We already have those, Nev." Harry reminded him, sifting through the letters.

"You can never be too careful."

"Let's take it inside the house before we open it kids." Lily suggested.

"I want my Twinkies now!" Alvin whined, scrunching up his pudgy face in frustration.

"Yeah, yeah!" Milo chirped, clambering on top of the box.

"You'll have to wait Darling." Alice Longbottom said sternly. Alvin kicked at the sand grudgingly and tucked in his lip.

"Fine Ma." he muttered.

"Let's go in, I need issue fourteen of Dude, Where's my Spaceship now!" Ziggy said.

Frank reached down in his khaki robes for his wand before Alvin clamped down on his arm.

"Ooh, ooh, let me Daddy, I've been practicing!" He begged, forgetting about his previous anger.

"I don't know..." Frank replied cautiously.

"I'm really good!"

"Well...okay, as long as you've been practicing..." Alice went on.

"No way, he'll start a fire again!" Ziggy protested.

"That's because you made him use your wand, he has his own this time." Harry reminded.

"Yeah, gimme a break here!" Alvin shouted searching in his robes for his brand new wand he had just gotten last month when he had been allowed to leave the island for the first time. After about two minutes of searching everybody started to get impatient.

"It's in your pants moron." Ziggy informed him, grinning slightly at the younger boy's forgetfulness.

"Oh yeah! I remember." Alvin said reaching for the stick pointing out of his belt, against his back. "Okay," he said presenting his mahogany wand. "I'm ready!"

"Yaaay..." Neville muttered sarcastically but Alvin seemed to ignore him.

"Ahem." he cleared his throat thoroughly before scrunching up his face to think of the spell. "Oh yeah! Wingardium Leverosa!" he shouted, pointing his wand to the box that Milo sat on staring at him expectantly. The box just jumped for a second before plopping down again.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Lily corrected him lightly.


"I knew that! Wingardium Leviosa!" he repeated doing frantic swish and flick movements with his wand hand.

The box rose slightly from the ground only about three feet at first but continued on rising slowly before it reached five.

"Yeah, yeah, this fun!" Milo said giggling form on top of the box.

"I'll bet you three Twinkies Alvin makes him fall off." Ziggy muttered to Harry.

"Ethan." Lily said in a warning tone.

"How about two and one of your stupid comics?" Harry suggested.

"Harry!" Lily said disapprovingly. "Do not bet on the welfare of your brother!"

"You guys are breaking my concentration!" Alvin said while slowly directing the box to his house.

"Oh we know how easy it is to do that..." Ziggy muttered.

In about five minutes the box was floating serenely in the Longbottom's living room.

"Okay son you can let it down now." Alice told Alvin.

"Actually...I can't..." Alvin muttered, shaking his wand vigorously.

"Oh for Pete's sake!" Ziggy said snatching his wand from him resulting in the box's crash down to the ground.

"Hey! You made it land on my sweater!" Neville cried.

"My bad." Ziggy replied cutting open the box with the pocketknife he had received from Remus on his fifth birthday. He hastily threw open the flaps of cardboard to reveal cases of various drinks and foods and various gifts for everyone which included comics for Ziggy, polish for the broom James requested to be sent for Harry's Nimbus 2000, books for Rose, special plant food from Neville's grandmother, and extra Twinkies to satisfy Alvin.

"Yes, he sent me issues 14 and 15!" Ziggy exclaimed merrily skipping out of the room followed by Alvin who munched happily on his Twinkie balancing Rose's books on his head.

"Mine?" Milo questioned tugging at Harry's shorts holding up a bottle of broom polish.

"No, mine." Harry corrected. "This is yours." Harry said handing him a fleecy yellow blanket that had Milo stitched in the upper right hand corner in red letters. This was probably from Sirius's wife Lindsay who was good at knitting and stuff like that.

"Ooh, pweety! Here Hawwy!" Milo replied, throwing up the bottle and scampering off with his new possession.

"I sure hope he doesn't find a way to set this one on fire..." James muttered watching him go as he helped unpack the box.

"He will. He always does. Let's just hope nothing of mine's gets in the crossfire this time." Neville said slightly darkly. "Well I'm off to feed Hugo." Neville said taking the large sack of plant food over his shoulder. He was referring to the oddly exotic plant his Grandmother had sent him for his last birthday. He shuffled out of the room and then paused and looked over his shoulder.

"You coming Harry?" he questioned. Harry considered it for a moment before shaking his head.'

"Nah. I'm gonna...read up on life on the outside." he replied pointing to the stack of letters that was toppling over on the carpet.

"Suit yourself. You don't know what you're missing..."

"Gallons of stink sap." Harry muttered as he stuffed a particularly thick letter in his robe pocket.

"Harry, you're missing a valuable lesson in Herbology right now..." Lily said with a slight grin on her face. She knew that Harry couldn't go within a foot close to Neville's plant without getting stink sap or some other sticky goo spurted at him.

"Oh pity, the Professor will never give me a decent grade now." He muttered in a highly sarcastic tone as he walked out of the room.

"You'll never become an auror with that attitude young man." Frank Longbottom warned.

This made Harry stop in his tracks and turn to face Mr. Longbottom fiercely.

"Now what kind of auror would I make if the only practice I've had in defending myself from dark arts is hiding away on a rock in the middle of some ocean?" he replied acidly leaving them speechless as he strode out of the room. Harry didn't mean for what he said to sound so angry but he always got a bit miffed when the adults mentioned him impairing his future when he didn't have much of a present.

Lily sighed exasperatedly as her oldest son left the room.

"He's been doing that a lot lately?" Alice questioned with a hint of sympathy in her voice. Lily couldn't tell if she was sympathizing for Harry or for the way Harry had been treating them.

"Have you not heard him speak for the last three years in general?" James replied running a frustrated hand through his already unruly hair.

"It seems like that's all he says to us. It's not just him, all the kids want to know when they'll be able to live their lives normally and do the things we've been telling them about all these years."

"...Maybe it is time for them to stop hiding. My mother always used to say you should stand up to your problems." Frank suggested as James eyed him skeptically.

"Yeah, that was when your only problem was making it to the Gryffindor Common room without getting hexed by Lucius Malfoy, not Voldemort." he replied to him snorting.

"Meh, what's the difference?" Frank shrugged, continuing to gather the objects from the box.

Harry trudged through his backyard with a slight scowl on his face. He always felt guilty for always being annoyed at his parents but he couldn't help it. He thought of heading to his secluded spot on the beach but thought twice remembering it wasn't so secluded anymore that Alvin had discovered it. About every week Harry tried to find secret places where he could escape to when he felt to...stifle.

He approached the giant apple tree his younger siblings and friends had previously occupied, glad to find that only Rose remained. He never minded having Rose for company as she listened to Harry whine no matter how many times she heard it before.

Harry stepped into the shade of the tree and looked up to see his sister lounging on a high tree branch flipping through the new books that Alvin had delivered to her from the box.

"Room for one more up there?" Harry questioned. Rose looked down startled at Harry's sudden presence and then grinned.

"I don't know what do you have to offer me?" she asked.

"Er, my gratitude?"

"Cheapskate." she grinned as she offered Harry a hand to get up the tree.

Once Harry was seated on the branch slightly lower than Rose he began to dig through his robes in search of his letter.

"Watcha got there, my dear Watson?" Rose questioned over her book, Sherlock Holmes. She gave Harry different nicknames according to the book she was reading like when she was into westerns she would call him Slim or her Shakespeare she would call him Romeo from her favorite play.

"Letters from Austin." He replied unfolding the thick envelope. He shook it twice before something shiny slipped out onto his lap followed by a golden ball.

"What's that?" Rose questioned.

Harry inspected the two objects closer before answering.

"He sent us another snitch to play with. And a...mirror?"

"Why would he send a mirror?" Rose questioned plucking it from Harry's hands. It was about the size of a book, not huge and it had a slightly tarnished golden border.

"That's what I'm trying to find out." Harry replied unfolding the letter.

"Lemme read it!" Rose said trying to snatch the letter unsuccessfully.

"It has my name on it. Ahem...Dear Harry, Neville, and everybody else on the island. Anything new? Well I'm gonna automatically think you're rolling your eyes at my stupid question and tell you how I've been, since everyone loves me!-" Harry started.

"Oh, brother he's delusional." Rose muttered.

"Well me and Connor have been shipped back to Hogwarts as you may know.-"

"Lucky."

"Mom made me promise not to pick on him and his geeky little weirdo friends so you can guess what that meant. Yup, three morons second years tortured me on the entire ride and there was nothing I could do about it! But Dad says pranks build your character so I got them back when we got to school. Couldn't do anything too good cause of Hermione, my friend the smartass gone prefect-*swervy scribble* she hit me just now so you can see what type of person she is. The only reason she treats me like that I because she, like all the other girls of the school, has the hots for me-*swervy scribble*, okay I get the point!"

Rose interrupted Harry with a light giggle.

"Anyway classes have been...yeah, you know how that is but, well let me tell you about the team. Guess what? I'm captain this year!!!!! Oh yeah!!!! I rule!!! But there's a downside. Most of the team left me behind and I'm stuck watching tryouts for the team for little snotnose second years who think they have what it takes. Speaking of captains, Cedric Diggory, captain of the Hufflepuff team left so you know what that means...yup, 'Welcome to the hall of forgotten boyfriends' to Diggory and Cho will be mine!!! Muhahahaha!!!-"

"'Muhahahaha?' What is that conceited idiot on?"

"Ahem, anyway everybody in the dorm is looking at me funny so I'll knock it off. Me, and the guys, Seamus, Dean, and that idiot Ron has got a new er, accomplish I should say. I suppose I told you about Dominick? He's Uncle Moony's nephew. He's a bit odd...But how couldn't you after what he's been through I suppose...Dumbledore's worried about the you-know-what charm wearing off. There's been a bit of Dark Art activity from some death eaters that are getting restless Dad says. That's why Dominick lives with Uncle Moony now. Apparently his dad, Uncle Moony's bro Romulus, was a death eater. He went mad or something and went on some sort of killing spree at the ministry of magic with some other death eaters who couldn't get a grip, demanding some prophecy for a clue as to where you guys might be. Long story short, he was sent to Azkaban and the officials went to inform his wife but they found her hacked up or something in front of Dominick who was tied to a chair. Lupin says loonies run in his family...-"

"That's horrible. How could someone do that?" Rose questioned appalled.

"So on a lighter note, I got the greatest news!!! You're probably wondering why the heck would I send you a mirror, but its no ordinary mirror. Before we left for Hogwarts mom forced me to clean out the attic. I was digging through Dad's school trunk and I found these two mirrors. Dad told me that there really communication device thingies that he and your dad used to use in their Hogwarts days (so they're practically ANCIENT!). Get this, whoever has the other mirror you call their name into the mirror and they appear! And guess who has the other mirror buddy? Mom and Dumbledore said it was a bad idea to send it to you and a whole bunch of crap like that so of course, you have one now.-"

"Oh that's brilliant. Honestly, is he trying to get us killed?" Rose snorted out.

"At least we get to communicate with other humans more than once a month now..."

"Finish reading." Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"So call me as soon as you get this, you here? I'll be waiting! Sincerely, Austin, the Great! P.S. Everyone here sends their love...P.P.S. Tell Ziggy to take care of my comics as I'm just loaning them to him! Kudos! P.P.P.S I don't know what the hell that word means but it sounded nice to use in a letter."

"You gonna try it Harry?" Rose asked eagerly. Deep down Harry knew she wanted to talk to kids with normal lives as much as he did even though she thought it was dangerous.

"I suppose so..." Harry replied, fingering the mirror.

"I think you should tell Mom and Dad..." Rose said uneasily.

"No! They'd just take it from me! They never let me do anything!" Harry whined, crossing his arms like a pouty child.

"It could be dangerous!"

"Oh yeah, Doc's suddenly gonna morph into Voldemort and kill us all..." Harry muttered sarcastically.

"Okay, the chances of that happening are slim, but what if-"

"What if what?" Harry demanded slightly annoyed.

"It could get into the wrong hands!"

"I highly doubt any death eaters are strolling around Hogwarts..."

"You should still tell Mom and Dad, just in case."

"Tell us what, Rosie?" James questioned, making his sudden presence known. Harry and Rose looked at each other alarmed before turning to their father and shaking their heads sharply. Even if Rose didn't approve of the mirror, she would never snitch on Harry.

"That...That..."

"That Austin says Dumbledore thinks the charm may be wearing off." Rose finished for Harry.

"No biggie." Harry managed to get out. He noticed James looked a bit shocked then worried at what they told him.

"Austin always says things like that." Rose said, reassuring her father.

"Remember when he said the Chudley Cannons were going to win the Quidditch Cup?" Harry added nervously.

James looked at them sternly without saying anything for a while.

"Your mother wants you Rosie." James said finally, motioning to the house.

Rose looked helplessly at Harry before hopping out of the tree and walking slowly towards the house, leaving Harry and James alone.

"Harry," he started once they were alone, "I don't want you to tell this to anybody, you hear me?" James said in a serious tone. Harry was surprised that James actually believed Austin.

"Don't go alarming your brother's or Alvin and Neville either."

"Is it...true, Dad?" Harry questioned in a whisper.

"...Harry, I really don't want you in adult matters-"

"Adult matters?! Our safety is an adult matter?" Harry replied testily. He felt his anger rising again.

They resumed staring each other down for what felt like an hour but in reality was really five minutes. James finally gave in and sighed deeply.

"Harry, Dumbledore's just saying the charms not as strong as it could be." he said reluctantly.

"So, he could find us?"

"..I suppose there is a possibility."

"Then let's get the hell out of here! There's no sense in us sitting around like a bunch of sitting ducks!" Harry hollered a little more fiercely than he intended.

"Where do you suppose we go? Out in the open where he can have both of you in a snap?" James questioned, getting slightly hysterical as his anger was growing too. They were similar in that way, Harry and James. Lily often claimed that Harry received his short temper from his father.

"It's better than this place!"

James gaze softened into a melancholy expression as he watched his oldest son glare at him.

"You really think so? I was on the outside when Voldemort was in power. Those were dark times Harry. I'd rather you stay here protected for the rest of your life than out there when he comes back." James replied softly as he turned on his heel to leave.

Harry just stared blankly at his father's retreating figure as he sat there motionless on the tree branch. His father was one of the bravest men he knew and to hear him say he rather hide like a coward for the rest of his life than to face this Voldemort guy really was saying something.

"Make a move." Harry said impatiently to his younger brother.

"Don't rush me!" Ziggy replied, scratching his chin in deep thought. He creased his auburn eyebrows deeply, making little wrinkles on his forehead. Harry wondered if he would eventually strain something if he thought too hard.

"I bet Harry will win after this one move..." Alvin muttered to Neville as he nudged him slightly. They were also seated farther down the picnic table alongside Milo who was bouncing up and down in place in his seat anxiously waiting for the next move.

"Hey!" Ziggy said in a protesting tone to who was supposed to be his good friend. Harry thought he should be used to ridicule at chess by now after about ten years of loosing repeatedly to him.

"He's already won; he's just giving him some time to wriggle around..." Rose whispered, not wanting to break one of Ziggy's rare streaks of concentration. She joining the on the outside picnic table, plopping down next to Alvin who was patting the space next to him eagerly. Rose took her seat and handed everyone a dinner plate which they all sat aside to watch Ziggy make his losing move.

"...Bishop to...E3..." Ziggy muttered sounding unsure. His bishop slid across the board and clobbered one of Harry's knights maliciously. 

"Ha!" Ziggy exclaimed haughtily, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He silently bragged to Harry through eye contact, thinking he had just made a winning move.

"Keep watching..." Harry muttered letting out a particularly large yawn, demonstrating what a boring challenge Ziggy was. Ever since Harry was younger he had always been a pro at wizard's chess. Time after time Ziggy challenged him in hopes to defeat him once and for all to stop his stupid gloating but he had never succeeded.

As soon as Ziggy's bishop rotted itself frozen in the place of Harry's knight which was still in shambles at the bishop's feet, Harry's queen began to glide gracefully across the board from her resting place behind her barrage of pawns. Ziggy watched in horror as the queen made its way towards his side of the board where his king stood unprotected.

"...How did you do that?" Ziggy questioned, narrowing his eye suspiciously in Harry's direction. Harry just shrugged it off and began to collect the broken pieces of Ziggy's king, trying to avoid the bitter pawns that remained scattered around the king who attempted to protect their majesty.

"I win the bet!" Alvin exclaimed merrily as he turned to Neville.

"...But we knew Harry would win...It's not as if he had any real competition." Neville replied to his eager little brother whose gallant expression immediately sagged upon hearing the information that he didn't win anything.

"I'm still here you know...I can hear you bad mouth me." Ziggy spat out to them.

"My turn Hawwy, my turn!" Milo exclaimed enthusiastically as he scooted down the bench so he was next to Harry. He snatched the pieces out of Harry's grasp and began plopping them down in random places.

"You can't play, it's my turn!" Ziggy whined, sounding more like a three year old than Milo, who actually was three. He struggled to take the remaining pieces from Milo's surprisingly tight grip.

"Nope, my turn." Milo corrected him calmly.

"Give it up man, you're finished!" Neville said to Ziggy who looked pretty pathetic, struggling with a three year old that way.

"I said I would teach him..." Harry informed Ziggy quietly.

"What's the use? He'll probably ignite the board anyway." Ziggy protested to his older brother defiantly.

"Lemme alone!" Milo said with a tone of finality.

"Make me." Ziggy spat stubbornly.

"You are so childish," remarked Rose, letting out a short giggle.

"I'm the childish one? At least I can play chess." Ziggy replied with a boasting grin on his face.

"You're fourteen, he's three, and can you see the difference?" Alvin questioned with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

"I can," Neville spoke up.

At that moment Milo paused from his temporary struggle with Ziggy and drew up one hand close to his face. He bent his little index finger and curled it into his thumb before placing his hand in front of Ziggy's nose.

"Look it." Milo commanded lightly to Ziggy who readily complied. He focused his glare on Milo's tiny hand which was outstretched to reach directly under his nose.

"I don't see- ow!" Ziggy howled as Milo's index finger sprang free and collided with the tip of his nose. His hands darted up to his nose to protect it from any further damage, as his stolen chess pieces dropped back onto the board. Milo swept up the pieces merrily with one hand.

"Milo's smarter." Neville stated matter-of-factly.

"I think I'm gonna have a nose bleed..."

"Bad Ethan." Milo said to him, shaking a finger.

"I hate that name! Don't anybody ever call me that!"

"Ethan, put away your games, dinner is ready." Lily announced as she came out from the back door holding a dish of fresh salad. Out the door came James and Alice followed by Frank, who were also carrying dishes of food.

They came to the picnic table and placed down the dishes of steaming food which taunted Harry's nose, drawing out a particularly loud growl from his gut.

"Sounds like somebody's hungry..." Rose teased as she lightly poked Harry's stomach with the pointy end of her fork.

"Somebody's been having their lunches stolen." Harry muttered in Alvin's direction making him blush slightly as he dipped a spoon in his steaming bowl of clam chowder.

Despite his growing hunger, Harry leaned back in his chair as he made sure everybody else got themselves a share of the food first. Dinner had always been Harry's favorite part of the day. It wasn't just the food (though he might say so) but he enjoyed the feeling of everybody being together. You'd think he'd get enough of that living on a deserted island with them for fifteen years. He closed his eyes as he listened to the buzzing activity of the dinner table. Milo chattering endlessly about everything and anything to anybody who would listen (which seemed to be Neville and Mrs. Longbottom that time), the clanking of spoons and platters shrouding over the calm swishing noise the ocean made lapping up on the nearby shore, James and Frank chatting in hushed tones with serious looks embedded on their faces...As far as Harry knew everything seemed alright with the world except for the little voice in the back of his head warning him that something bad was going to happen. As if given a signal, a little muffled voice sounded from inside Harry's robe.

"Harryyyy...." the muffled voice wavered through the fabric of Harry's robes. Rose, who was sitting at his right immediately, dropped her fork with a clang as she turned briskly to Harry.

"What was that?" she hissed quietly to him, careful not to attract any attention to Harry as no one except for her and Harry had heard anything out of the ordinary.

"I don't know," Harry mouthed helplessly in response.

"Harryyy...-He's not there, this is the fifth time this week-" A female voice interrupted the first sternly. "I see something though-"

Harry rose abruptly from his seat before anyone else got the chance to hear the conversation going on in his pocket. He clumsily stumbled over the bench and began his way to the house as everyone stared at him a bit oddly.

"...You okay Harry?" James questioned looking slightly worried. Harry didn't usually just get up without excusing himself first.

"Err, yeah, I gotta go to the bathroom, must've drank too much...salad." Harry replied, naming off the first thing on the table he saw.

"You drank too much salad?" Alvin questioned skeptically, stabbing a fork at his own salad.

"Yeah, my bladder must be shrinking, I swear..." Harry responded in a distracted manner, heading off to the back door.

Soon after Harry disappeared to the house Ziggy too rose from his seat about the same time as Rose.

"Where are you two going?" Alice asked suspiciously from across the table.

"Err...we have to help Harry." they responded in time with each other speedily.

"Help him with what? You have to hold it for him?" Alvin questioned with a mouth full of food, giggling slightly so all the half chewed food was expose.

"Close your mouth twerp." Ziggy muttered through clenched teeth as he turned on his heel and followed Rose across the lawn to the house swiftly.

"Hey, I think they're up to something." Alvin hissed to Neville.

"You wanna go check it out?"

Alvin glanced back and forth between the door leading to the house and the two unsupervised platters of food that were next to his nearly empty one.

"Err...."

"Alvin?"

"Um..."

"Alvin?"

"Ahh..."

"Alvin!"

"We should wait." He finally replied scooting the two plates closer to him slowly...

Harry slammed his bedroom door behind him briskly and threw off his cloak onto the bed. He then ran his hands through all the pockets until his hands clashed with something with a cold flat surface.

"I see a hand!" one of the voices shouted, a male. "Congratulations, now we can live our lives in peace because Doc saw *gasp* a hand." a third voice replied sarcastically as Harry pulled out the mirror he had received from Austin a few hours ago. When Harry looked into the glass of the mirror he heard a real gasp escape the third person's mouth right before Rose burst into the room panting. Harry immediately dropped the mirror to the floor where it collided with the rug.

"Hey, he dropped me!"

"Harry what was that?" Rose asked nearly out of breath. It was clear that she ran all the way from outside to upstairs.

"The mirror!"

"It works?" Rose questioned unbelievingly.

"It works!" Harry confirmed with a massive grin spreading across his radiant face.

"We work!" the two voices cheered from its face down position on the floor.

"...Austin?" Harry called out cautiously as he crept over and flipped over the mirror swiftly.

"Harry!" replied a face Harry had only seen before in pictures.

A boy with wavy dark auburn hair that scattered across his forehead and flowed down to his shoulders in an attractive way. His turquoise eyes twinkled with delight and joy as he gazed back at Harry with a slightly crooked grin outstretched on his handsome face, the grin Harry recognized from the photograph they had received over four years ago. Harry thought the boy resembled his father's old school friend, Sirius Black except for the black hair.

"And who are you Miss?" Austin asked in a silky, deeper voice as his eyes darted to Rose who gaped slightly at Harry's side.

"...It's me you idiot, Rose." she squeaked out blushing slightly at the fact that Austin didn't recognize her.

"...Twerp! You've...grown." he replied, scanning his yes up and down Rose through the small mirror. Rose had indeed grown since the last picture Austin had seen of her, a picture of a mud covered seven year old version of her pining down a round six year old, Alvin, down in the mud.

"Austin, wow, it works!" Harry interrupted, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way Austin was staring at his twelve year old sister.

"It works!" he responded gladly.

"We established this..." said a voice from Austin's side. It appeared to be a girl. Harry confirmed this as she pushed a struggling Austin to the side.

"You've said hi already perv boy. Lemme talk to Harry!" she shouted, smashing a seemingly heavy object on top of Austin's head making him let out a squeamish noise of pain.

Harry had never seen this girl before. She had slightly paler skin than Austin that took the shade of slightly tinted cream. It was a deep contrast to her curly raven locks that fell over her shoulders covering over the section of her uniform sweater that Harry could see. By her blue and gray tie that showed under her curtain of hair Harry could tell she was in Ravenclaw. His parents and the Longbottoms often told him about Hogwarts so he knew almost as much as a student attending there would know. Her hazel-blue eyes beamed at Harry as she waved merrily at him and Rose.

"Oh, this is so cool!" she squealed.

"Er, hi. Who are you?" Harry responded politely, waving back somewhat unsurely.

"I'm one of Doc's...friends...in a way." she replied after a while.

"She's some sicko stalker that's kind of my girlfriend-" Austin replied from the side before receiving a smack from the girl yet again.

"Oh, you must be...Herm...own-ninny." Harry said remembering the girl that Austin often wrote about.

"Ha!" he heard Austin snort from the side.

"Right..." the girl said chuckling back to him, "First of all Cutey, it's pronounced 'Herm-I-own-nee', second of all Austin thinks everybody and anybody that breathes near him is begging to be his girlfriend when most of us are asking for the opposite-"

"Hey!" he protested defending himself.

"Third of all, I'm Paige, (everybody on the count of three, *1,2,3* "Dun Dunn Dunnn...) Paige Snape. I guess you could call me Doc's friend..."

"Hi Paige, I'm Rose and he's Harry." Rose introduced in a friendly way.

"And I'm Ziggy." Ziggy chirped as he seemingly popped out of nowhere.

"Ahh!" Rose shrieked from surprise as Ziggy's spiky red head made its way between Harry and her.

"Ahh!" Harry screamed in unison as he plunged the mirror under his pillow protectively.

"Ahh!" Ziggy screeched in a high pitched voice much unlike his own making Rose and Harry look at him oddly.

"Well...everyone else was screaming..." he replied shrugging as he reached under the pillow and pulled out the mirror.

"How many people do you live around that can speak English?" Paige questioned curiously.

"What?" Harry asked totally confused. Then he noticed Austin standing in the background shaking his head vigorously mouthing no.

"You guys live in Fukuoka right? Austin said you guys are exchange students in Japan or something-" Paige said as she was booted away from the mirror's face rather abruptly by Austin.

"Hermione's calling you right now Paige." Austin said through clenched teeth quickly.

"...No I'm not I'm right here." Another voiced called out from the side.

In the background a girl somewhat camouflaged in a giant plushy looking chair next to a grand looking fire place set down her large book on the chestnut coffee table next to her and stared at Austin suspiciously. Harry didn't know how he could've missed the girl as her massive wave of slightly bushy tan hair contrasted from the nearly all burgundy room.

"Oh, Harry, Rose, Ziggy, meet Hermione." Paige said as she snatched the mirror from Austin and focused on the girl, Hermione, who ignored them and walked towards Austin with a stern expression on her face.

"You're sending your little trouble making contraptions overseas now? I can not believe you Austin!" she exclaimed as she sighed exasperatedly.

"I can!" said a small voice from the other side of the nearly deserted room. Harry couldn't tell where it came from but it sounded as if it belonged to a younger boy.

"Do you want me to loose my badge over you?" Harry noticed a small badge pinned to Hermione's front robes marked with a shiny P.

"If you could just bend one little rule...-"

"Enough of the bending rules already!"

"Er, Herm, we have guests..." Paige informed from behind the mirror. Hermione's head snapped around suddenly and her expression changed entirely. I polite smile spread over her face replacing the fierce scowl she gave to Austin.

"Hello there." she said in a totally different voice.

"Er, hi. So you're Hermione. Nice to meet you, I'm Harry." Harry introduced in a friendly tone.

"So you're the one Austin calls the bossy know-it-all fluff ball..." Ziggy commented after Harry. Rose snickered slightly as Hermione's head whipped around to Austin who cowered in a chair denying this. Hermione let out an odd growling noise as she whipped out her wand and upon this Austin yelped and fled out off the mirror's view. Paige watched them wordlessly for a moment as Austin hopped out of the portrait hole followed closely by Hermione who didn't bother to run before turning back to Harry, Rose and Ziggy.

"Err, how about I give you guys a tour!"

"Cool!" Rose exclaimed in an excited manner. Harry and Ziggy also looked very interested in seeing the place they dreamed about attending for the first time.

"Let's be on our way then...First of all this is the Gryffindor Common room, a place where many Gryffindors hang out...and me of course, the resident Ravenclaw that everybody has to love..."

"I'm...stuffed..." Alvin muttered out as he attempted to hold in a particularly large belch.

"...I didn't think he could do it..." James said in awe as he watched Alvin closely along with the other adults and Neville.

"How did you manage to eat three whole dinners in under fifteen minutes?" Alice questioned her youngest son with an expression of mixed awe and fear etched on her face.

"Ugh...I think I'm gonna hurl..." Alvin managed to sputter out. Neville cautiously scooted away from him on the bench.

"You should pace yourself young man..." Frank said returning to his half eaten dinner.

"It's their fault...they know how I get about lonely food..."

"Where did they go anyway?" Lily said setting down her utensils suddenly. "It's been about fifteen minutes..."

"Mirror! Mirror!" Milo said with a mouth full.

"You shouldn't speak with your mouth full, its bad manners. Or chew with your mouth open either. I wonder where you learn these bad manners." Lily said sternly turning to her husband who was busy plowing his mouth full with food.

"They went to help Harry." Neville reminded them getting slightly uncomfortable. He had a feeling that whatever they were up to had a good reason not to be at the table in front of the adults.

"In the bathroom?" Frank asked skeptically.

"Maybe he had to go #2?" Alvin suggested.

"...Alvin that's gross." Neville hissed down the table dropping his fork.

"It wasn't enough that I wiped his ass until he was four? He still needs help? Puh...that kid..." James replied sarcastically as he swallowed a large gulp of food.

"I think should check on them..." Lily suggested rising from her seat.

"No!" Neville screamed out desperately. He felt he had a responsibility to protect his friends from trouble no matter what stupid thing they were doing...

Lily stared back at Neville waiting for an explanation of his outburst.

"Err...um...ahh..." Neville managed to sputter out, gripping the air for an excuse to stall Lily.

"There are...there are..." Alvin added, suddenly understanding hat Neville was trying to do.

"-Certain things...a mother shouldn't..."

"-See when her son's..."

"-On the toilet." Neville finished, satisfied with the reasonable excuse he and Alvin had thought up.

Lily made some sort of slightly derisive noise as she grinned slightly at the two boys.

"I'm his mother. Like I've haven't seen it about a million times already..." she muttered as she headed off to the house.

"Well...we tried." Alvin whispered to Neville shrugging. "So...what's for dessert?"

"...and this is where we walk to go to potions...-" Paige narrated for them as she maneuvered the mirror around the dreary corridors of the bleak dungeon as Harry, Rose, and Ziggy watched intrigued.

"The dreaded subject with the dreaded Snape!" Austin wheezed in an exaggerated choked out voice as he made slicing motions to his neck with his finger. When Hermione had finally caught up with him she hexed his hair, his most prized feature, to a nasty yellowish green, his most despised color and for some strange reason he had a tail and floppy ears. His hair was just beginning to fade back into its natural dark auburn color Harry noted.

The potions corridor had to be the most unattractive place in Hogwarts they had seen so far. Unlike the other places that were well lit and decorated with beautifully painted and friendly portraits the potions corridor was dark and it looked older than the other rooms and halls.

"Hey!" Paige protested, defending her name.

"I didn't mean all Snapes were dreaded..." Austin started.

"Thank you."

"Your brother can be okay sometimes." he finished, snorting.

"You-" Paige growled slightly.

"Professor Snape is the potions professor as you may know. He's not exactly...very friendly when it comes to houses besides Slytherin." Hermione explained to the three on the other side of the mirror, ignoring her two bickering comrades. Hermione seemed to b the most mature of the three so Harry could see how she made prefect. She gave him the strangest vibe that he usually only got from his mother.

"Especially Gryffindors," Paige added on.

"Especially Doc here." Hermione said.

"Dominick too for some reason..."

"That's a nice way of putting it." Austin added in a sarcastic tone. Harry could tell from Austin's letters that he along with every other Gryffindor wasn't too fond of Snape. His Dad usually told him of funny and humiliating tales on Snape's part) about he and Snape's relationship in his Hogwarts days.

"Daddy's just...a bit scarred from his childhood...but it's been about twenty or so years, you'd think he grow out of it." Paige said quietly, as if Snape was just around the corner waiting for someone to displease.

"Daddy? That guy Dad talks about? The same slime ball in the yearbooks?!" Ziggy exclaimed on the edge of breaking down in a fit of giggles.

"See? Someone else besides m wants to know how someone like you shares his genes..." Austin said triumphantly as they trekked down the hall.

"At least she looks nothing like him..." Harry muttered with a grin on his face though it went unseen by Austin and Paige who were walking with the mirror facing the hall and away from them. Hermione however, who was leading turned to him and gave a slight grin.

"What was that I heard Mr. Potter?" she questioned in a mock stern voice. At least Harry hoped it was only mock stern.

"He said were all glad that Paige here look's nothing like a donkey's ass," Austin chuckled lightly to himself. "The ass of an ass...That's a keeper."

"Paige looks kind of like you Rose." Ziggy pointed out. Harry silently agreed with him as he also noticed the shared features of his sister and their new friend. He kind of hoped it was just a strange coincidence because he couldn't possibly bear if he happened to be related to Snape as well though he highly doubted it. Paige, like Rose was beautiful in a subtle, soft way, both with basically the same thick curly raven hair and odd hazel-blue eyes, not the greasy, lank hair and oversized nose of Severus Snape he had seen in his parent's old yearbook.

"I've noticed." Austin replied in a slightly flat tone. "She looks like her before she turned into a-"

"Don't start Austin." Hermione warned with a tone of finality.

"It's the Snape trait. They start out normal like and then they began to change into complete...blahs..." Austin continued unabashed, sticking out his tongue in disgust. "You're lucky you got away with your mother's looks. Or else there would be no hope for the Snapes-"

"Oh, come now Black, we're all not that bad..." said a smoothes voice from behind them.

 The group whipped around quickly as Paige lowered the mirror so it would be partly out of the speaker's view. Partly, but not fully. Harry could still see part of the speaker's body along with a comrade or two. He was a boy about his own age, he thought. His hair was tied back in a longish black ponytail that swayed behind his back even though he wasn't moving a muscle at the time. Harry thought he looked a bit like Paige except for his slightly larger, pointer nose and his deep charcoal eyes which almost matched his hair. At his side stood a slightly shorter, more sinister looking boy. Harry could tell from the start he didn't like the way he was sneering loathsomely at his newly found friends. Even though it was pretty dark the boy's slicked back platinum blonde hair glinted in the moonlight that seeped in from a tiny window near the ceiling. His eyes seemed to have very little to no color at all for a moment before Harry realized they were just blazing silver upon closer inspection. Two chunkier boys brought up the rear. They also held sinister sneers directed mainly at Hermione and Austin though the lead boy just glared lightly at Austin, not really showing any emotion. They were all wearing Green and Silver uniforms, Slytherin colors and according to everyone Harry knew who went to Hogwarts, Slytherin wasn't good news.

"Well if it isn't the blood traitor and the mudblood!" the blonde kid said. Harry noted how he seemed to disregard Paige's presence. Paige shifted nervously under their gazes and seems to sink a little more behind Austin who stood protectively in front of her and Hermione. Harry didn't understand what he was talking about. Phrases like Mudblood and Blood traitor never came up while he was living on the island but he guessed it was some sort of insult by the way Austin seethed.

"Well if it isn't the Future Death Eaters of Tomorrow! What do you want, is this the location of your next big boy meeting or are you just looking for a tattoo pawlor to give you cute little snakeys for your awm?" Austin mocked in a babyish voice. Malfoy seemed to let out a strange growling noise before attempting to draw a wand on Austin.

"Blood traitor, how dare you mock the mark of the Dark Lord?!" he screeched out in an outrage. At the mention of the Dark Lord Rose let out a strange squeal that seemed to bring attention to the mirror Paige clutched tightly.

"Dark Lord my ass. There's no title for a pathetic shell of a wizard who can't deal with muggles like a sane-" Austin started to say before one of the chunky boys ran up to him and gripped him by his collar. He lifted him slightly to the ball of his feet where Austin teetered trying to keep his balance while keeping his dignity.

"Don't ever mock the Dark Lord's name Black." Malfoy whispered barely above a breath in Austin's direction. Though he didn't seem to be looking at Austin. His eyes glared beyond Austin and down directly to the object Paige held clamped in her hands. Harry gasped slightly as their eyes met, his warm emerald green ones and the boy's cold steel gray ones. The boy seemed to gasp to after a while, but soon the surprised expression on his face morphed into a twisted, slightly triumphant smirk.

"Leave him alone Goyle!" Hermione spoke up as she noticed Goyle clamping his beefy hand around Austin's neck.

"Oh ho, look who it is the Mudblood come to the rescue." the other thick boy said from the back.

"What's wrong mudslut? Angry cause we're playing with your buddy, but not you? Oh we've got plan for you..." Malfoy said, still not removing his eyes from Harry's.

"Leave her alone! Please?" Paige said speaking for the first time since the group arrived. Her eyes pleaded silently with the lead boy's. He just rolled his eyes skywards and turned to the blond boy.

"Malfoy," he said sharply, dragging the boy's eyes away from Harry for the first time.

"But Snape-" Malfoy started helplessly.

A door behind the creaked open slightly, as if it hadn't been oiled in years. A light came flooding into the hallway as a woman stepped out of the room followed closely by a man draped in dark robes Harry recognized right away. Though he was about twenty years older than the yearbook pictures Harry was familiar with he would have recognized that greasy hair and humongous nose anywhere. The woman looked eerily familiar to Harry in an odd way. It was if he had seen her somewhere before and her eyes, the lightest of hazel, seem to strike a memory.

The woman stopped suddenly, causing the man, Snape, to crash into her back. She took in the scene in front of her and focused her stern glare to the lead boy of the Slytherin group.

"What is this? Are you kids having a rumble or something?" she questioned in a half joking voice though her eyes were still fixed sternly upon the leader.

"Is it not past curphew?" Snape muttered through a clenched jaw, narrowing his eyes at the Gryffindor especially.

The female professor began to walk towards the students.

"Okay, Okay break it up. Gregory, let go of Austin this instant, Draco did I here you call Miss Granger a foul name?" she questioned looking at Malfoy sharply. Malfoy glared down at his feet and sneered angrily as he mumbled a response.

Ziggy and Rose let out short giggles at Malfoy's childish behavior which proved to be a mistake as Snape, the adult one's eyes zipped straight down to the mirror which stay half hidden behind Paige's side. His eyes bugged out momentarily as he recognized the face that was staring back at him.

"Spencer, please don't bother your sister and her little friends like this, you'll just get into trouble-" the female professor continued on.

"Paige! What is that in your hand?" Snape demanded pointing towards Paige. Paige gasped in a shocked manner and hid the mirror behind her back as she began to shake her head profusely.

"Nothing! It's nothing Sir!" Paige exclaimed.


"Professor, I saw! It's some kind of window to the outside world! That's one of the boys Father's told me about!-" Malfoy shouted regaining his voice. Snape just gasped in response as if he was in a mix a terror and alarm.

Malfoy saw the opportunity and sprinted for Paige. In a blink of the eye Harry saw the mirror being ripped out of Paige's hand by Malfoy and carried down the hall as he raced off. The two thick guys took off after him.

"Malfoy, stop!" he heard Spencer cry after him.

"He will inform his father!"

"Oh no!" he heard Austin say in a distance.

Harry didn't bother to listen for the rest. Rose snatched the mirror out of his hands and threw it across the bed as if it had burned her. The mirror went blank within a few moments but nobody dared to move towards it. Harry's heart was racing as if he had just run a mile and he couldn't calm down. The Slytherin, Malfoy, the one from his dreams, had recognized him.

"What are you three doing up here?" Lily Potter's voice demanded as she along with her husband barged into the bedroom resulting in the shriek of three of her children. They all turned to her alarmed.

"What the-" he stopped as he got a glance at the mirror, an oh too familiar one at that, that lay on Harry's bed. It didn't take too long for him to put two and two together.

"Oh no!" Lily exclaimed as she caught sight of the mirror too.

"Harry, listen too me. You have to tell me. Who-did-you-talk-to? Did anyone see you?!" James demanded almost hysterically as he took Harry by his shoulders and began to shake him.

"Dad, we were at Hogwarts-we met some of Austin's friends-Slytherin came up-Snape too!" Ziggy exclaimed in an alarmed fashion. James released Harry immediately and went to Ziggy.

"Slytherins?! Ethan, did anybody notice you? This is very impor-"

"Dad!!!" Rose suddenly shouted, motioning frantically at the mirror.

"What-?" James started to draw his wand. He turned to the mirror and what he saw made his wand go slack in his grip. The mirror was illuminating some florescent green light as it levitated slowly off the bed. It paused and seems to glow brighter as it hovered directly across from James's nose about a foot away.

"Oh my..."

Suddenly in mirror shattered into little clouds of green puffs of smoke. This was no ordinary smoke though. It immediately shifted into little shapes in the air First Harry recognized what looked to be a face, a very...snakelike face that was smirking triumphantly but as soon as Harry saw it morphed into a skull with a long tube coming out of its mouth. Upon closer inspection, Harry recognized it to be-

"A snake." James whispered slightly. Harry wasn't even sure if he saw his father breathing he seemed so still.

"The dark mark." said a voice from the doorway, Frank Longbottom. He wore a sullen, serious expression on his face, very different from the joyful expression Harry was used to seeing.

"Children...get your things, we have to go." Frank commanded quietly as he headed downstairs, probably to warn his wife and children about the dark mark.

"Go? Go where?" Ziggy questioned a bit fearfully.

"Away, it's not safe here anymore!" Lily exclaimed, throwing three backpacks down from the children's closet. She rushed around the room and handed each of the children their discarded wands. "Always carry your wand on you." she instructed briskly. She had a terrified look clouding her usually brilliant green eyes, which worried Harry, along with Rose and Ziggy, immensely. All three of them got up and began to stuff some belongings in their backpacks.

"The secret is out! We must leave here at once! Don't just sit there, get your things! We'll contact Dumbledore once we reach our destination! Hurry!"

"Where is our destination?!" Harry shouted a bit scared and confused.

"Potter Mansion, headquarters. Hurry now; it's only a matter of time before-"

James was interrupted by a large crash from downstairs...

"I've been waiting to play with the kiddies for years!!" A cold, cackling voiced cried out.

"Hide and seek is over and done with!" female voice shouted out.

"Damn, news travels fast on the dark network!" Ziggy noted as he froze.

"Hold onto me." James whispered sharply.

The children and Lily complied quickly and each took hold of James's cloak securely. Within a second there was a loud crack and nothing remained in the bedroom except for a cloud of dust.

AN-Whoo! Finished with this chapter! Lemme know what you guys think!