Author's Note: Woo hoo! Spring break! Happy Easter to those who celebrate! Otherwise, just Happy Spring Break! I'm posting this early since I'm leaving for a road trip tomorrow morning. Of course, I'll be reading Hamlet the whole time, but hey, that's what you get for AP Lit. On my chem lab the other day, my table got a 186% error. Ummm…oops? I didn't even know that was possible! Needless to say, we had to do it over. I'm seeing Ella Enchanted tomorrow! I really recommend that book! Probably mostly to the female population, since it's a Cinderella story, but majorly cool. Anyways, thank you so much to all of you who are reviewing the fic so far. You guys all rock my world! Oh, and feel better Terry!! Now, on with the story!!
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Harry walked downstairs as he heard a familiar voice that sounded bizarre to hear during the summer, even if he had expected it.
He pushed open the kitchen door to find his godfather sitting across from the Hogwart's potion master, both trying to be civil, but obviously feeling quite awkward. Snape had come to give Harry a checkup. Dumbledore had asked the Potion's master to check up on Harry's health every two weeks throughout the summer since Madam Pomfrey was in need of a real vacation. Snape agreed partially because he knew he had to keep open some line of contact if he wanted Harry and Draco to give each other a chance as friends. Besides, Snape was the one who had discovered the potion to bring him back in the first place and because of all his research, was the most familiar with Harry's condition.
Sirius knew of all the stuff that Snape had done for Harry the past year and was therefore desperately trying to lay aside all his dislike for his childhood enemy and be civil. Snape was thankfully attempting to do the same. Unfortunately, their dislike for one another was only lessened by the previous year's ordeals, rather than completely diminished, leaving a very uncomfortable air in the kitchen. Harry spoke up to break the tension.
"Hi, Professor," Harry said. Both adults looked up at him with relief written on their expressions.
"Good afternoon, Harry," Snape said formally. Harry smiled at the use of his given name. "Take a seat facing me."
Harry sat down in the kitchen chair, turning it to face the Potions master. Snape stood and performed a few health-checking spells, asking questions in between.
"Have you been eating regular meals?"
"Yes. Sirius has been practically force-feeding me," he said with a playful glare at his godfather.
"Hey, you've got to put on some more weight, Harry," Sirius said sternly. "You lost a lot when you were sick."
"Any trouble sleeping or waking?"
"Nope."
"Have you gotten sick at all?"
"No."
"Take a deep breath, hold it for ten seconds and then exhale," Snape instructed. Harry followed orders while Snape held his wand in front of the Gryffindor's chest. "Any dizziness?"
"Nope."
"All right. You seem to be in good health," he announced, pulling out a syringe. "I'm going to draw some blood so I can check over it just to make sure there's nothing we're missing, okay?"
Harry nodded and rolled up his sleeve, laying his arm on the table, wrist up. Sirius couldn't watch and went to get Harry a cup of tea.
"Professor, how's Draco?" he asked as Snape finished drawing his blood.
"Not so well," he said bluntly.
Harry paused thoughtfully.
"I don't know how well it would go over, but do you think I should give it a try? Maybe I could help since I can sort of relate to his situation, you know?" he suggested. "Unless you think I'd upset him more. Maybe that was a bad idea," he said quickly.
"No, if you want to do it, that's a good idea. You could try talking to him," Snape said anxiously, though not showing it. He had been trying to get Draco to open up since his father had disowned him, but it was clear that he wasn't what the young Slytherin needed at the moment. He still held onto the belief that a friendship with Harry was what the blonde needed; Draco just didn't know it yet.
"I could come now, if you'd like," Harry offered.
Snape nodded in assent.
"Wait, you're going where?" Sirius asked from the counter.
"To my manor," Snape answered for Harry. Sirius tried to hide the horror he felt at the idea.
"Er...I don't think that's such a good idea," he said awkwardly.
"Come on, Padfoot. I'll be back for dinner. Besides, I need to help Draco. You remember what he did for me, right?" he asked, knowing precisely what would make his godfather give in.
Sirius sighed. "Fine, but make sure you're back at least by dinner. Moony's coming over and we're making an excellent meal."
"Thanks Sirius!" Harry said jumping to his feet. "See you at dinner!"
He followed Snape over to the fireplace, suddenly feeling a bit nervous about going to the professor's home. This was something he had never dreamed of doing, something that would no doubt horrify Ron to no end.
"It's called Snape Manor," the Potions master informed him before bellowing that exact name while standing in the green flames and disappearing.
Harry threw his own powder into the flames and walked in, feeling extremely strange announcing that particular destination.
He felt the familiar spinning sensation and soon tumbled out, landing on his hands and knees on a marble floor. He quickly got to his feet and brushed off his robes, sending a glare at the Potions master who was watching him with a smirk of amusement.
"Graceful as always."
Harry blushed but his embarrassment was soon replaced with awe as he looked around the room. It was the largest room he had ever seen, with very elegant furniture and decorations. The ceiling was so high he couldn't have touched it if he had been standing on someone's shoulders. The walls were lined with bookshelves that contained more books than the Hogwarts library.
"This is your house?!" he asked in amazement. "The Lighthouse could fit inside this room!"
"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration, but yes, this is my house. Now are you planning to stand here the entire day with your jaw on the floor?" he asked with seeming impatience, though Harry could easily detect the amusement behind it.
He grinned sheepishly and followed the man from the room into a very tall hallway. They walked down to a large door.
Snape opened the door and gestured inside. It was a large, elegant living room. Harry's eyes quickly landed on a head of blonde hair. He could see the side of Draco's face. The blonde was staring into the fireplace, watching the dancing flames with sad eyes. He hadn't even noticed the door opening.
Harry walked in as Snape quietly closed the door behind him. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to the blonde, causing him to finally look up in surprise. Draco's eyes widened in surprise, but Harry just leaned back and watched the fire. The Slytherin turned his eyes back to the flames.
"What are you doing here, Potter?" he asked numbly.
"Harry," he corrected.
Draco opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and went back to staring at the fire. They sat there for a while in silence. At first, Draco kept shooting questioning glances at Harry, clearly uncomfortable, but eventually just accepted his presence.
"One time," Harry suddenly said, breaking the silence but not breaking his eye contact with the fire, "summer after first year, I was doing the dishes and my uncle was drunk, this was before he was drunk all the time, and he was screaming at my aunt saying that he didn't want me in the house. He said I was ruining his life and that he didn't want a freak in the house. It was stuff I'd been hearing forever so it didn't really bother me, well, at least not more than usual. And then my aunt came in…and she looked me in the eye and she said, 'I hate you' with this intense amount of hatred. It didn't really surprise me. I knew she didn't like me. But…"
"It still made you feel like shit?" Draco said quietly, now looking up from the fire.
Harry inhaled sharply and nodded his head. It had been extremely difficult to say what he just had, but he also knew how the blonde was feeling and suspected that it was the only way to get through to him. He didn't even really know why he was doing this. He just knew that he didn't want the other boy to fall through the cracks.
Draco sighed sadly.
"All my life it's been 'You're a Malfoy and so you have to be the best.' I was supposed to be just like my father, and that was fine with me because I admired him so much. I wanted to be like him," he said with a bit of a shudder. "And then suddenly the Dark Lord was back and all that Death Eater crap started becoming really real. I mean, I had been saying all my life that I'd be one if I could, but I never thought it would really happen and so I didn't have to think about what I was saying. And then my dad started preparing me to be recruited and I started thinking that maybe I didn't want to. Spending your whole life bowing down to somebody? Anyways, he started trying to get me to take on the Dark Mark and send me on little errands and bring me to meetings and stuff. When I said I wasn't ready for all of it, that's when, well, you know, he'd…"
Harry nodded. Draco looked down at his lap and continued.
"That's when he'd hit me," he finally got out. "I stopped wanting to be like him so much, but he was still my father. And it's sort of like you said, when he said I wasn't his son, I wasn't all that surprised, but in another way, I guess I was. I just couldn't believe he would cast me away so quickly, just for being weak," he said, whispering the last part.
"M—Draco," Harry corrected himself. The Slytherin looked up at his name and Harry caught his gaze, "you are not weak. What you did was nowhere even near weak. As I told you before, that was the bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do, and I'm not just saying that because it was me who you saved."
"What would you know about being weak?" Draco asked bitterly. "You're the Boy-Who-Lived. You're always brave. You're always the hero. You wouldn't understand what it feels like to know you failed everyone you ever cared about because you couldn't gather up the courage to do what you're supposed to do!"
"First of all," Harry said firmly, "I do happen to know a thing or two about knowing you failed somebody, about being weak and scared and…and ashamed. I'm not always brave or the hero, I just sort of always end up all wrapped up in something and get out of it with a major spot of luck. Second, you've got a wrong picture about what you did. You think you're weak since you couldn't torture another person? That's rubbish. That doesn't show that you're weak, it shows that you're human, that you're not another cowardly or heartless follower of some power-hungry maniac who gets off on seeing people tortured. And the fact that you could find the courage to take a stand against your father takes more bravery than I've ever had."
Draco stared at him in bewilderment momentarily. "Really?"
"Yeah, I'm terrified of my relatives, especially my uncle, but don't tell anyone that. I think you're the only person I've ever told that to," Harry said worriedly.
"And you trust me?" Draco asked incredulously.
"I wouldn't have told you any of this otherwise," he said. It was almost true too. He did have a feeling about Draco that told him he could trust the boy, possibly because of their somewhat similar troubles in life, but then again, Harry had a hard time completely trusting anyone, and the blonde was no exception.
"What happened to make him stab you?" Draco asked bluntly. Harry looked away from him, a bit embarrassed.
"Lost his job. He thought I had done it with magic, but I think it was because he was drinking so much. He must have looked like a royal screw-up at his job. So…he just…lost it," he said with a sad shrug. "You know, Professor Snape saved me. He showed up right when it was happening and he saved me."
Draco looked at him incredulously.
"Sev saved you? He never told me that. He just keeps saying that we're not so different but he won't tell me why he thinks that. He seemed to know more than he was letting on," Draco said quickly, as if it was something he had been thinking about for a while.
"Well, he was the first one who noticed the stuff with my relatives, so he ended up being the first one I told about it." He paused with a thoughtful expression. "And, aside from you, he's the only person I voluntarily told about it."
"You didn't tell Granger and Weasley?" Draco asked in disbelief.
"Well, Ron sort of found out, but I don't think he really understands how bad it was. I made him swear not to tell anyone. Hermione doesn't know all of it, thank Merlin, but she and the rest of the Weasleys did see my uncle punch me at the train station, so I guess that makes it all a bit obvious. I just hope she doesn't ask Ron about it and find out more." He stopped and blushed a bit at saying all these fears aloud. "What about your friends, did they know?"
Draco laughed bitterly. "Pot—Harry, do you honestly think that Crabbe and Goyle are the type to have a talk with? They're like speaking with a brick wall, and that's being generous."
"Hmm…I thought maybe they were just shy around other people," Harry said with a shrug.
The two boys looked at each other for a second before they both laughed.
"Okay, now that's just weird. I never thought I'd hear you laugh if it wasn't at someone else," Harry said, cringing slightly at the tactlessness of his words.
"Yeah, well I never thought you'd be talking to me without looking like you were about to kill me."
"Well, I never thought I'd see you without your hair plastered to your head," Harry said with a smirk, nodding toward the other boy's hair. Draco scowled at him.
"I didn't exactly think I was going to be seeing anyone today," he said self-consciously, "especially you."
"You know, it makes you look more human…what are you going to do?" Harry asked in mock-concern.
"Well, I'll have to gel it back to keep up my god-like appearance. Don't want to look too much like you mortals," he said with a raised eyebrow.
Harry gave an exaggerated gasp. "He made a joke! He has a sense of humor! Call the Prophet!" he joked.
"You're going to get annoying really fast, aren't you," Draco said suspiciously.
"More than likely," Harry said with a smirk that was nowhere near as expert as Draco's.
Draco suddenly turned serious. "So what are we doing?"
"Well, we are sitting on a couch and…."
"You know what I mean. Are we supposed to just forget the past five years of making each other's lives miserable and become all buddy-buddy?"
Harry thought about it for a second. "Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, we're both a bit different now, and well, I'd like to give it a shot. So, I guess it's up to you then," he said seriously.
"Well, I guess the tables have turned. Last time we were in this situation, it was me extending the offer of friendship to you. Of course we both know how that turned out," Draco said with a raised eyebrow. Harry shrugged.
"I don't know if we would have made it as friends back then. We were too different, both less…accepting."
"What makes you think it'll work now then?" Draco asked, trying to hide his curiosity.
"Well, I'm not prejudice toward your house anymore and you've finally realized you don't want to be your father. I guess we understand each other better now and Professor Snape was right, we have more in common than we knew," Harry said thoughtfully. "But who knows, maybe it won't work out. We might just want to kill each other after half an hour. But you never know until you try."
Draco thought about what Harry was saying.
"Oh, what the hell," he said with a look that clearly said God-help-me. "What's the worst that could happen?"
Harry grinned and held out his hand. The two shook hands in an unspoken truce.
"So, bet I could beat your arse on a broom," Draco said with a challenging smirk.
"Only one way to find out."
"I have an extra broom."
"What kind?"
"Nimbus 2001. I get to use my Lightning Strike of course."
"Good, so when I whip you, you can't blame it on brooms."
"Dream on, er…Harry."
Draco hopped up off the couch with more energy and happiness than he'd felt since the day his father had cast the Cruciatus Curse on him. Harry couldn't help but grin as he followed his former archenemy from the room.
The pair passed Snape on the way up to Draco's room.
"Sev, Harry's staying to fly for a bit," Draco said casually. Snape's eyebrow shot up and nearly dropped the book he was reading.
'Well, that was quick,' he thought in surprise.
"So which Quidditch team do you support?" Harry asked. "Professional, I mean, not Slytherin."
"The Hurricanes, of course," Draco said imperiously.
"What? But their Seeker's rubbish!" Harry exclaimed, stopping in his tracks. Draco turned to him with his jaw dropped. None of his old friends ever contradicted what he said.
"What? Their Seeker is not rubbish!"
"I'll give you the Keeper. He's good. I mean, he made that incredible save against the Falcons, but you of all people have to agree that the Seeker's quite important," Harry said casually. Draco looked taken aback at somebody actually challenging him.
"Well, of course, the Seeker's the most valuable player on the team, but…"
"And the Hurricanes's one just isn't good! Every time he's caught the Snitch, it's been a complete shock of luck," Harry said enthusiastically. "Do you read The Golden Snitch?"
"No, I've had more important things to follow than Quidditch magazines," he said airily, but if Harry caught the snobby tone he didn't let on to it.
"Ok, well when you come over to my house, I'll show you the articles on the Hurricanes. They describe the matches pretty well, so you can really tell what the players are like."
"Er…okay," Draco said in surprise that Harry was obviously planning on having him over to his own house as well. He quickly recovered. "But what sort of people run that magazine, because I'm not going to just automatically trust a bunch of biased buffoons…"
The two debated as they passed through the room and Snape watched them in shock. He was surprised that Harry had been able to get through Draco's barriers so quickly, seeming to sense what to say to keep Draco from being offended or getting defensive.
It was good that Draco really had someone to talk to now, even if it started out about simply Quidditch. His godson's previous friends had generally been too moronic to hold a conversation with, so the blonde often talked down to them, something Snape found completely understandable. His other peers in Slytherin were mostly brought up in high-class families who trained them to always speak properly and of proper things, always weighing their words carefully to avoid the politics that cropped up so often. As far as Snape knew, Draco had never carried on a true conversation with someone as casual as Harry. But then again, neither had Snape, really. He was always surprised when he conversed with Harry at how relaxed a conversation could be. Not that he would ever admit that.
Snape picked up his book again and continued to read, wondering just how Harry Potter did it.
The two flew around casually the rest of the day with an unspoken agreement not to compete on brooms quite yet to avoid any fights. Each were surprised at the ease in which they were able to talk to the other.
The next day, Draco did come over to Harry's and the Gryffindor showed him all the information about important Seekers from his magazines. In the end, Draco announced that the writers of The Golden Snitch were biased and shortsighted, but at the same time seemed now more interested in the Seeker of the Meteorites than that of the Hurricanes. Harry could only laugh at the blonde's obvious attempt to save his pride, unable to admit Harry was right. Of course, once he found out that the Canons were Ron's team, Draco gained a sudden liking for the Tornadoes, rooting for them as the two teams in the posters continued their ongoing feud.
Now that they were on good terms, Harry found Draco's high-class mannerisms and snobbery amusing. If the blonde ever went too far with his comments, Harry only had to tell him and Draco would apologize, which took a lot of swallowing of pride. For Harry's part, he tried not to bring up anecdotes of things he had done with his friends too often, since he knew that Draco had not had real friends before to tell tales about and was still not fond of Ron and Hermione.
Harry was relieved to finally have someone that wouldn't shoot him pitying looks each time his home life came up or when he mentioned something having to do with dying. It was nice to have someone who didn't treat him like he was going to break.
Draco was secretly ecstatic that he finally had a friend that was an equal. His old friends treated him like a little prince, but it made him feel so alone. He had always felt the isolation of being on top of that pedestal. But Harry knew what that was like. Harry knew what a lot of stuff was like. It took Draco awhile before he could get used to Harry challenging things he said, or simply disagreeing with him. And even though Draco had initially thought this would drive him insane, it turned out he found it refreshing.
Though the two still bickered over stupid things, they were surprised to find how well they actually got along. It was a strange friendship for sure, both boys being different in many fundamental ways, but somehow, it just worked.
*
Draco and Harry walked into the Lighthouse kitchen, both winded from racing around on broomsticks, both Draco's since Sirius had stood by his word about not buying Harry a new one. Draco collapsed into a chair, complaining that he was famished. Harry would have rolled his eyes at the blonde's dramatics, but he felt the same way.
"How about grilled cheese sandwiches?" Harry asked, pulling out some bread and cheese.
Draco shot him a disgusted look. "You're going to grill cheese? That sounds disgusting."
"You've never had a grilled cheese sandwich?" Harry asked incredulously, pulling out the frying pan. "Well, you have to try one then."
"Ha! You must be thinking I'm someone without taste buds. There is no way I'm eating something that sounds like something a seven-year-old would make as an experimentation," Draco said imperiously.
"Well, then you can make your own lunch," Harry said with a shrug. Draco looked at him in horror.
"What? I don't cook. That's for house elves."
Harry glared at him but Draco responded with his famous smirk.
"Then you have a choice between grilled cheese sandwiches or nothing," Harry said with a satisfied look. Draco huffed and crossed his arms. "Besides, you should at least know how to cook something," he said as he flipped the sandwiches over. "Otherwise you'll always be dependent on someone."
Draco only glared at him as Harry slid a plate in front of him with a sandwich on it.
"Bon Appetite," Harry said cheekily. Draco made a dramatic face as he lifted the sandwich slowly up and cautiously took a bite. Harry watched him in amusement as he considered the taste. It actually wasn't that bad. In fact, he rather liked it. He took another bite. He looked at Harry in wonder. The more he ate of the gooey sandwich, the more he loved it. "Told you so," Harry said in a sing-song voice before starting on his own sandwich.
After the boys finished, Harry got up to make another one.
"Me too!" Draco said, leaning back in his chair to relax.
"You can make it," Harry said casually. Draco whirled around to look at Harry in horror.
"What? I don't cook. I've hardly ever been in a kitchen," he said firmly.
"Well, I'm not making it, so if you want another one, you better come over and learn how to make it yourself," Harry said with a grin that showed what a kick he was getting out of the situation.
Draco begrudgingly got to his feet and came over to Harry's side, glaring at him the entire time. Harry only smirked back and shoved a spatula into his hand. Draco looked down it in disgust.
"Good, now you'll survive if your house elves ever disappear."
"You mean like Dobby?" Draco asked. Harry shrugged with a grin. "Well, it's best you got rid of him anyhow. That one was a bit loony. You're not seriously going to make me cook, are you?"
"Of course I am. And I'm not ever making you a grilled cheese sandwich until you know how to make one yourself, so you better pay attention. Alright, this is called a frying pan and this is a stove…"
Draco concentrated hard on the things Harry was telling him. He watched Harry make his, and then copied what the dark-haired boy had done. Though his sandwich ended up a little dark on one side, the blonde ended up with an edible sandwich.
As the two sat back down to eat their sandwiches, Draco couldn't help but feel proud of himself. He had finally done something on his own, even if it was something as trivial as making a sandwich. He suddenly felt a little more confident about being able to make it without his father's support, even if he was getting there one small step at a time.
"You realize grilled cheese is a Muggle food," Harry commented casually, just to see the reaction.
Draco groaned loudly.
*
It was another night at the Burrow while all the adults were at the Order meeting. Fred and George had employed Ron, Ginny and Harry to do some grunt work for them for the shop, promising to pay them each. Harry didn't really care about the money, but Ron was enthused about the promise of silver.
"Alright, we need more order confirmation letters," Fred announced as soon as Errol came back from a delivery. "Who wants to go get them?"
The room was silent.
"What? No volunteers?" George asked innocently. Harry kept his mouth shut. He had already had to go out to the shed five times in the past hour, somehow managing to be manipulated into doing it each time.
"I elect Harry!" Ron said with a smirk.
"Hey!" Harry said indignantly.
"I second it!" Ginny said quickly to avoid getting the job herself. George and Fred raised their hands to show their support for the movement.
"Alright," he sighed, "but next time, you're going, Ron," he said, getting to his feet. Ron just grinned at him cheekily.
Harry walked out the back door into the cool night air. A dim glow inside the shed automatically appeared as he got close, helping guide his way to the door.
He entered the shed to see the familiar stacks of boxes of things needed for running the shop, along with many broken Muggle gadgets that Mr. Weasley had taken apart to study and wasn't able to put back together.
Harry lifted a broken clock off of the box with the labels he was looking for and took out a large stack of the papers before replacing the lid and setting the clock back on top. He chuckled at the sight of the now-familiar collage of pictures of see-saws, escalators, roller coasters, and tractors as he walked back out of the shed and started toward the house.
Suddenly, as he was making his way across the backyard, incredible pain shot through Harry's head. His hands flew up to press against his temples in a desperate attempt to quell the pain. The papers he had been holding fluttered to the ground as Harry looked to the Burrow desperately, but couldn't call out before his vision swam dangerously and grew dark around the edges.
He collapsed and the world went black.
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A/N: Please review!! You all know they fuel my writing!
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Wiccan PussyKat: Yes, ff.net can be majorly frustrating at times. Don't worry, it'll be way long (possibly longer than Recnac) and I've crammed lots of stuff into this summer. NO more sequels after this one, but an epilogue may be in store depending on whether all the necessary characters survive the summer. *evil cackle* Umm…right. I'm glad you like Eloise. I must say I'm rather fond of her myself. She's definitely a romantic, but maybe not as hopeless as before :) Lol. You'll have to deal with the H/G fluff, though there isn't has much in the middle of the story. I'll try not to make it too mushy.
LadyAbbeyBartlet: I'm sorry you're disappointed, but I hope to convert you so that you'll like the story without it. Maybe by the end of it you'll agree with me that it was the right thing to do! I do have my reasons. I loved book 5! So much good stuff. Anyways, keep reading and I hope you'll change your mind.
Bast4: Wow, great questions! I love inquisitive minds. Let's se what I can answer. As you can see, Draco's pushing his way into the story, and we have not seen the end of Kota. Draco isn't a fan of Ron and Hermione and is still getting used to a friendship with Harry. We'll have to see what happens from here. Right now, Harry's too happy with his great summer to have nightmares, but they may come into play later. Trouble from Death Eaters…I'll leave that up for you to guess at. Otherwise you'll just have to read on and see!
Thundering Lights: Thanks! I love this way of reviewing! I think Vernon is a pretty common name in England, at least that's what one of the kids names were in Love Actually (FANTASTIC movie) and it's the name of this kid I met in real life from England. It's tainted forever of course by the HP books, but I figured I'd pop it in there anyways just for the hell of it. I know! Ron definitely seemed to be rooting for Harry and Ginny to get together, though it might just be because he thinks Harry wouldn't go for her and therefore she would be safe in a date-free world, with her unrequited pining for Harry. Of course, if that's the case, I can't wait to see his reaction when Harry does go for Ginny (b/c we all know he will!!) Actually, even in Recnac, Ron approved of the relationship. Why Harry's not pursuing it will come into play later. Lol, I think redheads with green eyes seemed cute! I'll get into why Sirius hasn't talked to Harry in a bit, don't worry. Ron won't betray Harry's trust and tell Hermione, but she's probably generally figured it out by now. She has her way of finding out things, so she won't remain clueless. You're a great reviewer and I love your new way of reviewing. Chem is definitely a hazard to sanity.
Velith: Well I do most things on purpose, often with very specific reasons, but you'll have to wait to see exactly what's going on. The Dursleys had to be contacted after Harry was alive in order to officially transfer guardianship to Sirius. Ahhh…boring teachers suck, but are also probably the reason I can get my fanfiction writing done, so I guess they're good for something.
Fair-Faye-Kahlan: Lol, I always write my stories how I want, but I do take suggestions from my lovely reviewers. You can have the tall hunky man if I get Harry! I hope this fic will make its way up to #2 on your list. We'll have to wait and see. Fanfiction addictions are perfectly fine in my book. Same with review addictions, as I seem to have. I really need meetings of some sort to deal with it.
Serpent of Light: Very good insight. I'll delve deeper into the reasons Harry hasn't had talks yet later. Many do think that way about Harry, as you'll se later, but the bigger problem is that Harry thinks he has to live up to that reputation. Your hypotheses are definitely on the right track.
Kate: lol, it's not so good that you don't like emotional, since this is going to be an angsty fic, dealing with a lot of emotional repercussions of the events of Recnac. Everyone's doing their best to move on passed past events, but a lot of them are trying to do it without truly dealing with the things to begin with. But don't worry, most chapters won't contain the emotional type of talk like Mrs. Weasley had with her kids in Ch. 3. I'm glad you like the bit with Sirius relating better to Ron and contrasting Harry with his father. That little theme will come up occasionally throughout the story. I hope you keep reading!
Thank you for the wonderful reviews!! : Senri (hey, it's too last minute to find you so I hope there's not very many mistakes. You know nothing my strange friend, and you know it! Oh hey and look, the beginnings of a plot! Gerlack a pongos!), sweet775 (lol, well now there's a real plot starting), Jedi-Bant (lol, yeah, the Dursleys deserve nothing less than the burning pits of hell, but you'll just have to wait to see what's happening with them), Mystic Phoenix, Tessbomb65 (Thanks! I hope you'll enjoy the fic anyways, despite the power thing), Mikee (I'm glad you like it and yes for both), Lindiel Eryn (we'll have to see!), teaser, Terence (feel better girl! Spring break is not good for colds!), lyss33, Tatshing, Slytherisa, H.P.otter5, mickeymoose, Shawn Pickett, bulldogchik05 (I'm glad you finally found it! I'd love a play-by-play review, but no hurry), ArcticWolf2, Texasjeanette (YAY! One converted! That's exactly what Harry and some others are going to have to learn, that he's not just special b/c of some fluke that made him more powerful. He's great on his own too!), Rum n' Coke, Helen, Phoenix Marauder, Siri Kat (this fic may be longer than Recnac, though I'm not yet sure. George and Kota will come into play later, I haven't forgotten them), Fiery Ferret of Doom, dea puella, Threetoedsloth (don't you hate it when you break people's things? All the things Harry told Ginny he'd broken have come from my life. Oops?), water drifter (Thanks!), Eternally*Mine (Lol! You seem to like angst with is very good for this fic. All this stuff will eventually come into play.), lilynjamesAAF, D, Nemati, Wynjara, happigolucki616 (I have no clue about the chapters, but probably along the lines of the length of Recnac), Agnes (no more sequels to this, but possibly an epilogue if everyone makes it passed this summer I'm going to put them through. I'm glad you like the story so far!), Ashes7 (hey thanks!), SiriusWolf (As much as I love slash, I wouldn't be able to ever write it, nor would it fit in with this story. But good suggestions nonetheless), Earthmom, PhoenixPadfoot89, Shadowarwen (lol, I know, mean things are often so funny, but you always feel a bit bad laughing at them), denaumo, Von (well, I can see the detective work you're doing here, Mr. Holmes. We'll have to see if you're on to something.), Savoy Truffle (oh merci! Lol, I wish I could publish Recnac. Maybe one day I'll transform it into a non-HP story somehow and try just that. Probably not, but you never know), Kneh13, EriEka127, Charmed1s (lol, why thank you!), Molly Morrison, Rocky235, hoi56 (well, thanks! I'm glad you like it!), HG/HrRFan4ever (Hermione doesn't know much. The first time she found out anything about it was at the train station and she's probably put a few things together from that, but that's the extent of her knowledge of it at this point), Fantagal (Good luck on the test. It's probably too late now, but they have practice tests online to study from. That's what I did!), Lourdes, Rhinemjr, catuniv (can't tell you when exactly, but don't worry, they'll eventually come into play), biblios (I'm glad you like it! It will have a plot of its own, but one that's tied into Recnac, not something completely random like a meteor taking out the Burrow or something. Lol.), ckat44 (I know! I haven't seen you online at all! Hopefully I'll catch you soon), athenakitty (lol, quite possibly a bit of the "hair of the dog that bites." Of course, probably more like codfish oil and prune juice or something. All those things are filled with such disgusting stuff you just truly don't want to know.), Bosson12787, Romm (lol, love is a fickle friend),