Author's Note: Bonjour all! I hope everyone's having a good summer so far. Mine's gone from exciting (London!) to well…not so exciting (writing all the time). I've been working on this fic practically non-stop since I got back. Yesterday, on a break from writing, my guy friend and I went climbing through this woodsy hill and on our way back down, it was getting dark, so rocks began to look like crouching humans, and I kept pointing at everything, thinking it was an animal. But then I stopped and was staring at this dark shape in the middle of the narrow path we were on for the longest time, and it actually was moving! So my friend, the brave hero, decided it was either a raccoon or a skunk and therefore he wasn't getting near it. So we threw things to try to scare it, and we made loud noises and tried to look all intimidating, but the thing wouldn't move out of the way! So we finally decided to make a run for it, and the thing didn't move when we ran right past it. So now I'm thinking we either literally gave it a heart attack and killed it, or it wasn't alive to begin with and our eyes were playing tricks on us, since it was rather dark. Knowing me, it was probably a rag hanging from a bush or something that had us there for about half an hour trying to scare it away. Oh well. Anyways, on with the fic:
"You're not moving because of me, right?" Harry asked as he helped Kota pack up her things. It had taken a lot for Harry to force himself to go back to the Stensons' house. Once he had gotten there, it wasn't so bad, except for when he had risked a venture into the kitchen. There, seeing the still-broken table and the bureau now empty of china and the glass missing, the memories had come flooding back. Luckily, Kota spared him his dignity and quickly dragged him up to her room to help her pack.
"Of course it's not because of you," Kota said, reassuringly. "Well, not really, anyway. We're moving because there are too many bad memories here, first with dad's cancer, then with hearing of your death, and then the thing with Vernon bleeding Dursley. We don't want to live somewhere where we have memories of you being nearly killed. We don't want to live anywhere near those idiot Dursleys and we want to live somewhere you feel safe visiting and that doesn't have bad memories for you. You're practically part of the family, Har, and since you visit so much, we want to have a house you feel comfortable in. You need to visit more often, by the way."
"But Kota," Harry protested, ignoring her last comment, "I don't want you to have to make such a big move just to make me feel better. I mean, you still have a year left of school and now you're going to have to make all new friends…"
"Ah, I don't like my friends much anyway," Kota said dismissively.
Pop.
"You don't like you friends?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
Pop.
Kota shrugged. "What can I say? I was the new kid. Everyone already had their groups of friends so I sort of got stuck with my group. I didn't have that many options. Sometimes you just got to deal with people you don't like all that much so you can have people to hang out with and do things with. Sometimes you have to take what you can get; it's all about compromise. You're very lucky to have the friends you do. Speaking of which, are the Weasleys still coming?"
Pop.
"Yeah, I think they'll be over soon. You having fun with the bubble wrap?" Harry asked as Kota burst another plastic bubble with a resounding pop.
"What? It's inexplicably satisfying and you know it. I've seen you eyeing the bubble wrap longingly," Kota said matter-of-factly.
Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Admit it, Harry, you want it." She held up a piece of bubble wrap by two corners and waved it around enticingly. "Come pop it, Harry, you know you want to."
"Er, have we come in at an awkward time?" a teasing voice came from the doorway. Harry and Kota looked up to see George, Fred, Ron, Ginny and Hermione watching them with amused expressions from the doorway.
"Nope, this is just another step toward complete self-humiliation for us," Kota said with a blush as the five entered her bedroom.
"So what exactly is this stuff?" Fred asked as he picked up the bubble wrap. "Looks like something dad would have a blast with."
An explanation, much wrapping and much popping later, Kota's room was packed up and the seven teens made their way downstairs. They went into the kitchen to grab some food and Harry couldn't help but to get a bit anxious. Kota quickly sent them all into the other room with a promise to bring food out to them. But when they got into the living room, there were already two people in there.
They were four teenage girls, two with bleached blond hair and two brunettes who all looked quite surprised to see them. Harry looked curiously at two of them; they seemed so familiar.
"Er, hi," one said, looking like Christmas had come early as she eyed the four boys. "You must be Kota's friends."
"Yeah, I take it you are as well?" said Fred affably.
"Yeah, we're her friends from school. I'm Kristen. Ashley and I are in Kota's year. Stacey and Kerry are a year younger," one of the blondes said flirtatiously.
Harry paled, he knew why the other two looked so familiar. Stacy Green and Kerry Brockford. He had gone to primary school with them and they had gone to great lengths to make his life miserable. He hadn't been popular by far, and nobody was really nice to him, but there were certain people who stuck out in his mind as the really horrible ones. Kerry and Stacy had fit into that category. He prayed they wouldn't recognize him, but seeing Stacy stare at him in dawning realization, he knew that wouldn't happen.
"No way. You can't be. Harry? Harry Potter? From primary school?" she asked incredulously.
"Uh, yeah. Hi," he said weakly.
"Oh my God," Kerry exclaimed. "Kota said she was friends with you, and I must admit we teased her about it a bit, but…wow, you've certainly grown up," she said, looking him up and down approvingly. Harry shifted uncomfortably.
"So do you remember us?" Stacy asked.
"Oh yeah, I remember," Harry said, praying they'd go away.
"Wow, we were in practically all your classes since kindergarten, with your cousin Dudley. That kid was hilarious," Kerry said, reminiscing.
"Oh yeah, hilarious," Harry mumbled sarcastically.
Kota came through the kitchen door, carefully carrying a tray of drinks. Her face dropped a noticeable degree before she plastered on a smile.
"Hi Kota," the four chorused.
"Er, hey guys, what are you doing here?" Kota asked anxiously. Harry suspected she was about as keen on them being there as he was, though judging by her furtive glances between the girls and George, he guessed it was for a different reason.
"We were just hanging out at Kerry's house and we got bored and we remembered you saying you were having some friends over so we decided we'd check it out," Kristen said with a shrug. "Oh, we tried to call you to invite you too but your phone was busy or something."
"Really? That's strange. It's been free all day," Kota said in a tone that let them know they had been caught in a lie, but the other girls frankly didn't seem to care.
"Weird," Ashley said dismissively. "So why don't you introduce us to your friends? Stacy and Kerry already know Harry here, but what about the rest of them?" she asked with an over-friendly smile.
After introduction, the girls began chatting it up with the guys, only acknowledging the girls when necessary to appease the guys. Hermione looked quite peeved and took to standing very close to Ron, a challenging gleam in her eye.
Ginny was watching Stacy fawn over Harry, looking upset. She noticed that Harry didn't seem to be taking the bait, but was still worried that the girl would steal him away before she could even have a chance.
"How'd you become friends with Kota?" Harry asked Stacy with genuine curiosity. He could not understand why in the world Kota could stand to be friends with these girls.
"Well, she was in a few of Ashley and Kristen's classes and they felt a bit bad for her actually. She was new and didn't have any friends, but Ashley and Kristen said they saw potential and thought we could make her over and help her fit in with us. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to want us to help her. I think when she moves she's going to end up in a dork group. She doesn't want to improve her makeup and she won't let us touch her hair. It's so curly and boring brown. And," Stacy lowered her voice to a whisper, "we tried to get her to go on a diet, because she obviously needs to lose a few pounds."
"She does not!" Harry said indignantly. "Thank Mer…God…thank God she didn't let you touch her. She's perfect as is."
"Just as you're perfect as is," she cooed, running a finger up and down his arm before he pulled it away.
"Oh really?" Harry asked bitterly. "I thought I was a 'dorky little nobody who might as well do the world a favor and drown myself.'"
"Did I say that?" Stacy asked, not sounding like she cared all that much. "Well, you know how kids are. I'm sure we all said stuff we didn't mean. Besides, back then, who would have ever guessed you'd turn out so well?"
"So you decided you'd torture me because you thought I might turn out differently?" Harry asked bitterly.
"Harry, let's not talk about the past, let's talk about now," Stacy said seductively.
"Actually, I'm going to go find Kota."
"Forget Kota right now. Come on, lover boy," she whispered, hooking her fingers into his pants pockets and pulling him toward the stairs. "Let's go somewhere a little more private."
Harry shot her a glacial look and pulled her hands from his pockets.
"Sorry, Stacy, but I would rather snog a toilet bowl than you," he spat quietly.
She looked stunned. "What?" she snapped.
"I remember all that stuff you did to me in primary school and you obviously haven't changed one bit," Harry said coldly.
"Obviously, you haven't changed either. You're still just as pathetic. Most guys would jump at the chance to snog me. Did you pay those people to pretend to be your friends?" Stacy asked viciously.
Harry opened his mouth to retort but saw Kota quietly slip upstairs, looking really upset. He looked over Stacy's shoulder and saw Kristen shamelessly flirting with George, who was being his normal friendly self, appearing that he was flirting back even though Harry knew that wasn't the case.
"You know," Stacy started evilly, "I think the redhead girl, Ginger…"
"Ginny," Harry corrected automatically.
"…fancies you a bit."
Harry blushed and was struck speechless.
"Right, and you fancy her as well, I see. She'd probably be thrilled to hear all about how you were in primary school and all those amusing tales like Valentine's Day in third year, or how people used to pour pudding in your rucksack. Or maybe she'd like to hear the little song people used to sing when they followed you home. I'll just tell her what a general loser you were," she said vindictively. "Maybe she'll realize you still are a loser."
"Don't," Harry said, paling a bit. "Please…"
Stacy just whirled around and walked over to Ginny. Harry wanted to go after her, but looked over to the stairs and knew there was something more important to do. He sighed sadly and slipped away up the stairs.
Harry found Kota in her bedroom, sitting on her bed, which had been stripped of all linens. She looked up sadly at Harry and suddenly burst out into tears. Harry hurried over and sat down next to her.
"Kota? Kota, it's okay," he said in attempt to comfort her.
Kota turned and threw her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder as he forced himself to relax and hug her back.
"I should have known he wouldn't like me. He's so perfect and funny and gorgeous and sweet and wonderful and I'm just plain, boring Kota Stenson," she cried softly. "Of course he'd go for Kristen. She's pretty and skinny as a stick and outgoing and…"
"Shhh. Kota, listen to me. George doesn't like that stupid twit. She's annoying as hell and George would never go for her. He likes you. You're not plain and boring. You're loads better than all those stupid girls down there, trust me, I know them," Harry reassured her.
"But she was flirting with him and he was flirting back," Kota protested.
"No, he wasn't" Harry argued. "He was just…"
"I just was trying to be nice to your friends because I thought you'd like that. I wasn't flirting with her, I promise," George said from the doorway.
Kota and Harry looked up. Kota's face paled dramatically.
"How long were you standing there?" she asked breathlessly.
George didn't answer. He just entered the room and grabbed Kota's hand.
"Come on. Hermione will kill me if I do this without her there to watch," he said with a mischievous grin, leading Kota out the door and motioning for Harry to follow.
When the three were coming downstairs, Harry noticed everyone was now listening to Stacy's stories of him in primary school. He felt the urge to run back upstairs, but took a deep breath and continued downstairs. Fred, Ron, Ginny and Hermione did not seem entertained by Stacy's stories, but the girls were giggling despite trying to act sympathetic.
"Oh I remember that!" Kerry interjected with a giggle. "Everyone agreed not to get him a valentine and he only ended up with one from the teacher! Oh, that was so sad."
"And remember when we did the secret holiday gift exchange and his family wouldn't get him a present to give, so he made a bagged lunch for his person?" Stacy said eagerly.
"Yeah, it was Piers Polkiss and he remember what he did to Harry for getting him that? Harry ended up with mayonnaise all in his hair and potato chip crumbs stuck in it. And then didn't they pour paint on him or something?" Kerry asked with a laugh, not bothering with putting up a sympathetic pretense.
"No, that was another time in art. But, oh it was so sad, at lunch he'd always try to hide behind the dumpster or in the loos. And then the teachers would find him and drag him out to the playground and he'd just sit there alone the whole time, when he wasn't being beat up by Dudley's gang of course," Stacy said with fake sympathy. "And then once in awhile, someone would pretend to be his friend for a few days and then they'd do the old 'meet me at this spot at lunch' and then not show up. And Harry would stand there for practically the entire recess not getting that they weren't going to show. I used to feel so bad for him."
Harry's face reddened in mortification.
Kerry looked over and saw him. "Oh hey, Harry. We were just talking about you!"
"George! Where did you pop off to?" Kristen scolded lightly.
"I had to get Kota because there's something I really need to do and it can't wait any longer," he said dramatically.
Harry noticed Hermione's eyes brighten with excitement.
George subtly took out his wand and turned his back to the Muggles present. When he turned back around, Harry realized he had conjured up a rose, a rose with a red stem and a green flower. George looked at it bizarrely.
"Er…okay. That didn't work quite the way I expected," he said with a shrug.
The four Muggle girls who weren't aware of what had just happened, just cooed in delight at the bizarre flower.
George approached a perplexed Kota and dropped to one knee.
"Okay, so I know you like movies and you said you thought some of them were romantic, so I picked one out and Hermione let me use her telefission to watch it over and over until I memorized the part I wanted, so here it goes." He cleared his throat. "Kota, my love, don't you understand that you're my life? You are what makes me look forward to the day. No one can make me laugh as you do and I miss no one as I miss you when we are apart. We may be part of different worlds but I don't care because you are my world, and if you will be mine, I promise to be yours until the day I die, come what may. And if the mafia lord discovers us, my people can get us out of Italy and we'll spend our lives on the run, but we'll be together." He stood up. "Okay, I'm not sure if the last part fits, but I kept it in for good measure. So, what do you say? Kota, are you okay?"
Kota was looking a bit teary-eyed but let out a chuckle. "I love that movie," she said with an emotional smile. "And I'd love to run from the mafia with you any day, George, even if the mafia lord was against it."
George grinned and walked over. He grabbed Kota and pulled her into a dip, much to Kota's surprise as she gripped his neck in panic, and kissed her.
Hermione, Harry, Fred, Ginny and Ron erupted into applause, though Ron, in particular, was torn between giving congratulations and being disgusted at the public display of affection on his brother's part. Three of the other Muggle girls clapped as well, though they didn't look as pleased at the turn of events, giving Kristen sympathetic glances, as the blonde just crossed her arms and looked peeved.
Kerry discretely made her way over to Ron while Hermione was distracted and tried to pull him into a kiss.
Ron turned his head away in horror as he pushed her off of him.
"What the hell are you doing?" he exclaimed in disgust. "I already told you Hermione's my girlfriend!"
Fred immediately took a step back from Ashley and put a hand up between them as if she might pounce at any minute. "Stay back! I have a girlfriend as well."
Hermione stepped up beside Ron and gave Kerry a ferocious glare, looking slightly like an animal ready to attack, in Harry's opinion.
"Don't worry, Hermione," Ginny said, stepping up and giving Kerry a cold look. "Ron only goes for intelligent, beautiful girls. He's not into the cheap, tarty sort, so these girls really aren't a threat." She was still bitter about them making fun of Harry.
All four girls' jaws dropped and Harry burst out laughing.
Ashley opened her mouth to scream something, but Kota cut her off. "Get out of my house, guys. Nobody gives a crap about what you have to say."
The four girls were momentarily stunned before turning around and setting off toward the door in a huff. As Stacy passed Harry, she whirled around to face him and shoved him in the shoulders, causing him to flinch slightly, but nothing more.
"You will always be a loser, Harry Potter," she said viciously, before stomping out and slamming the door behind her.
Kota quickly apologized to everyone about her so-called friends. She swore she had never seen them be that bad before, but she would rather chew off her arm than ever be friends with people like that again. Ron reassured Hermione, that she was the only one for him, which led to snogging. George assured Kota that she was better than those other girls, which also led to snogging.
"So, this situation has quickly turned awkward," Fred mused as they eyed the two snogging pairs warily.
"You know you're not a loser, Harry," Ginny said seriously. "It's those girls who are the losers. Merlin's beard, they were horrible."
Harry smiled at her in thanks.
Fred looked between them cautiously. "Is this going to lead to snogging? Because if it is, I might as well just go find Angelina and we'll really give Mr. and Mrs. Stenson a surprise when they get home."
Fred was quickly smacked with two throw pillows.
.
Later that day, Harry and Ron were sitting at the kitchen table at the Lighthouse. Harry was tutoring Ron in Potions to get him ready for his test that was coming up soon. The whole time, however, Ron kept looking like he wanted to ask Harry something, but couldn't find the right time to do it.
"Ron, if you're going to ask me something, you can just ask," Harry prompted, setting down the quill he had been using and turning his attention to Ron.
"Okay, I've been thinking, and don't take this the wrong way, but are you absolutely sure you can trust Malfoy?" Ron asked cautiously.
"Ron, seriously, you need to get over this thing you have with Draco," Harry said, rolling his eyes.
"I'm serious, Harry. How do you know he isn't working with his father? He could be spying on you and Snape, leaking information about you and the Order back to his dad. Maybe that's the reason the Order hasn't been able to find any Death Eaters even when they know they're becoming more organized, because Malfoy's been letting his dad know every time the Order's close! I mean they have the Order meetings at Snape Manor half the time," Ron ranted.
"Ron. Draco is not a spy," Harry said firmly.
"How do you know for sure?" Ron insisted. "You've been tricked before. Quirrel. Moody. Maybe Malfoy's like one of them. It would be perfect for the Death Eaters to have a spy that you trust. Have you ever thought that maybe he's just putting on this friendly act to get to be your friend? What if he sort of freaked out in the Great Hall that time and couldn't curse you, but changed his mind afterward and this is his way of trying to get his dad to take him back with the Death Eaters! I mean, the Order's almost positive Malfoy's dad is the new leader of the Death Eaters, so it would make sense that Malfoy would want back in. Just by relation, he'd have a ton of power within their ranks…"
"Ron, Draco hates his father. Just…I can't believe I'm even having this conversation," Harry said exasperatedly. "Look, I just know, okay? He's not a Death Eater. I trust him."
"Harry, just promise me you'll be careful around him, okay? You never know what he's up to," Ron said suspiciously.
"Ron, if you got to know him, you'd realize he's not how he used to be," Harry said for the hundredth time since he had become friends with Draco.
"I'd rather get myself acquainted with a manticore, thank you," Ron said dismissively.
"Let's just get back to getting you into Advanced Potions," said Harry, turning back to the book. "Okay, so onto properties of common potions ingredients."
"Merlin help me," Ron muttered before turning his attention to Harry.
.
After another hellish nightmare, Harry found himself back in Sirius's room. As much as he had promised himself he wouldn't keep up this childish habit, it was the only place he could get a decent sleep that wasn't plagued by nightmares, and that promise of rest kept bringing him back night after night. It was the only place he felt safe.
He curled up on the floor at the foot of Sirius's bed and sat there shivering and trying to suppress the tears that had been brought on by his latest dream. It was the worst kind of the ones that had recently plagued him and they made him feel guilty for even thinking such thoughts.
Harry peered over the foot of the bed and watched Sirius sleep for a few moments, assuring himself of many things he shouldn't have had to assure himself of in the first place.
His uncle's words had planted thoughts in his head that he couldn't drive away. A lot of them made sense when Harry thought about them, but the idea of those things made him tense and anxious. He wanted to postpone that happening as long as possible but didn't know how. He just wanted everyone to be happy, but couldn't help but feel that everything he did just made things worse.
The worst thought that had been planted in his head, however, had not been put there by his uncle. It was Nott's words during their fight in Diagon Alley that plagued him the most.
Maybe you're more like your uncle than you'd like to believe.
What if Nott was right? Didn't people always say children turn out like those that raised them? Hadn't he heard about cycles repeating themselves in these sort of situations?
But Harry wasn't violent. He didn't think violent thoughts. He never wanted to hit anyone or hurt them.
'But I killed someone. I killed Voldemort. I've wanted to punch Dudley before. I wanted to hurt Sirius before I knew he was innocent. I wanted to have Wormtail given to the dementors . I wanted to hurt Nott. And I murdered Voldemort,' Harry reminded himself.
He felt sick. Maybe he did have a thirst for violence. Didn't everyone always say he went looking for trouble? He wasn't even sixteen and he had murdered someone, and even the fact that he was a dark lord bent on destroying everything good about the wizarding world didn't make Harry feel any better.
What if this was the beginning of it? What if he hit one of his friends? What if he hurt Anna? What if he thought he was fine, and then later in life, when he had kids, it started to come out? Isn't that what happened with these sorts of situations? He didn't feel like he'd ever do something like that, but what if nobody really knew until it started happening?
'If it ever happens, even once, I'll move to a secluded location and not tell anyone where I am. That way, I can't hurt them,' he reasoned, and it made him feel slightly better.
Harry willed himself to relax and push away all thoughts of the possibility that he might have a monster inside just waiting to be unleashed. He lied down in his usual spot and closed his eyes, letting Sirius's presence calm him enough to fall asleep.
.
Sirius groaned as he looked at the clock. 3:15 am. He miserably swung his legs over the side of his bed and squinted through the darkness to locate the bathroom door as he stumbled sleepily toward it.
Yet halfway there, he noticed something out of place near the foot of his bed. He grabbed his wand and whispered, "Lumos."
Panic gripped him as he saw his godson lying at the foot of his bed, unmoving.
His immediate thought was that Harry had gotten sick of been having one of his headache attacks and had tried to get to him for help but collapsed before reaching him.
Sirius raced over and knelt by Harry, calling his name anxiously. He put a hand on the dark-haired boy's shoulder and Harry jerked away with a loud scream, trying to squirm away.
"Harry!" Sirius shouted worriedly. "Harry calm down, it's me. It's Sirius!"
Harry immediately stilled, breathing erratically. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Sirius asked worriedly, turning on the lights in the room with a flick of his wand. In the light, he quickly examined Harry's face for any signs of a nosebleed.
"Nothing, I'm fine," Harry muttered, not meeting his godfather's eye. He felt his face flushing with embarrassment, not able to think of a single plausible excuse for being there.
"Then why are you in here at three in the morning?" Sirius asked in genuine confusion.
Harry looked down at the floor in mortification.
"Nothing," he said softly. He quickly got to his feet.
Sirius suddenly understood.
"Harry, why don't you just spend the rest of the night in here. My bed is ridiculously huge so you can have a whole half of it to yourself," he offered without trying to sound worried.
"Oh, no. I'm just going to go back to my room. I'm sorry if I woke you," Harry apologized embarrassedly as he made his way to the door.
"Come on, Har. It's impractical for you to go all the way back upstairs at this time of night," Sirius insisted.
"No really, I…er…I just accidentally fell asleep in here. I…I think I might have been sleepwalking or something," he said, backing through the door.
"Well wait, let me walk with you upstairs," Sirius said, quickly catching up with his godson.
"You don't have to, Sirius, really," Harry insisted.
"Come on, Har, what's better than a mid-night stroll with your favorite godson?" Sirius asked, slinging an arm around Harry's shoulders, feeling Harry immediately tense up.
"I'm your only godson, unless there's something you need to tell me," Harry joked with a weak smile.
"Well actually, I keep the rest of them in the Black House. Only my favorite gets to come here. The rest will be used as my private army when I decide to take over the world," Sirius joked. Harry grinned.
"I knew it."
Too quickly, they arrived at Harry's room.
"Goodnight Siri," Harry said reluctantly as he started to go into his room.
"Harry," Sirius said earnestly, "you can always wake me at any time and you're always welcome to stay in my room, okay? For any reason."
Harry looked down at the floor. "Thanks, but really, I'm fine."
"Okay, Harry. Get some sleep," Sirius said gently.
Harry nodded and softly closed his door, waiting at the other side to hear Sirius walk back downstairs. When he was sure his godfather was gone, Harry switched on his lights and climbed into bed, grabbing a book off his nightstand and reluctantly welcomed back the sleepless nights. That was the end of sleeping in Sirius's room for sure. He couldn't take any more risks like that.
.
"No way. Absolutely not. That thing is dangerous," Draco insisted.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Come on, you wimp. Buckbeak's harmless and I'm sick of having to walk out the front door to get to the back yard just so you can avoid his pen. Just don't insult him," Harry instructed him as he the very hesitant blonde out back. Harry opened the door to Buckbeak's pen and whistled for the hippogriff to come out.
"Harry, I don't think this is a good idea," Draco whined as the Buckbeak came out of the pen and tried to stick his beak into Harry's pockets, looking for snacks. Harry rolled his eyes and pushed the beak away.
"No, Buckbeak. Only if you're nice to Draco," Harry said sternly. The hippogriff caught sight of Draco and squawked at him angrily.
"I think he remembers me," Draco said, taking a nervous step back.
Harry gently pulled Buckbeak's beak toward his own face so he was looking into the animal's eyes, stroking his feathers with the other hand. "Now Buckbeak, Draco's different now. He likes you and respects you. He thinks you're very beautiful, don't you Draco?"
Draco bit back a sarcastic reply after catching sight of Buckbeak's very large talons. "Yes, very pretty. Very…er…majestic and…noble," he tried uncertainly.
Buckbeak straightened a little, looking flattered and Harry chuckled. "Okay, now bow, Dray."
"I don't bow to anyone," Draco said proudly.
"Buckbeak's a bit different than Voldemort and with any luck, he'll be bowing back. Now just do it before you insult him."
Draco sighed and bowed graciously.
Buckbeak eyed him warily.
"Come on, Buckbeak," Harry urged. He ran over to where Draco was and stood next to him. "See, he's a friend."
Buckbeak walked forward and Draco began getting nervous.
"What's it doing?" he asked in a near panic. "Is it attacking?"
"Don't worry, I'm right here and I can control him. He won't hurt you, I swear," Harry said quietly. "Just keep bowing until he makes up his mind."
"This is so demeaning," Draco grumbled.
Buckbeak nuzzled the side of the blonde's face and Draco shut his eyes tightly. The hippogriff snorted, lightly spraying Draco.
"Oh disgusting. That's so disgusting," he whined quietly. Buckbeak squawked indignantly. "Um, disgusting in a good way! It's really cool actually!" Draco corrected himself quickly, causing Harry to laugh.
Buckbeak looked from Draco to Harry and back again before making up his mind, bowing to Draco, who let out a sigh of relief. Harry tossed the animal an apple, which the hippogriff caught in the air.
With Harry at his side, Draco eventually got up the nerve to pet Buckbeak, who seemed to actually take quite fondly to the Slytherin.
Buckbeak quickly became bored of the two and flew off to go find some real dinner.
"Is it really going hunting? What does it eat?" Draco asked, sounding a bit irked.
"Small animals," Harry responded, "and Slytherins."
The blonde rolled his eyes.
.
Draco shut his window that night, just in case.
Wiccan PussyKat: Did the London eye, my two friends are terrified of heights and spent practically the entire time gripping the bench in the middle and claiming they were going to be sick, or that we were going to plunge to the earth and die. I can tell you the other passengers were very thrilled to hear them. Lol, we did all the touristy stuff, including all the stuff you mentioned, but I think my fave part was just hearing people talking and using British lingo. It got me all giggly, much to my horror. At one point, they had one a soccer match and people were singing in the streets and wearing British flags as capes, that was also a major highlight. Lol. If you really want to hear all about it, you can always email me. I'm glad you're liking the angst. I've been told it's all so sudden, but I'm with you. It's a bunch of stuff that's finally caught up with Harry, being triggered by the Vernon incident. Yeah, Harry's definitely not very loud during his nightmares or Sirius would have caught on by now. I know what you mean, Sirius wouldn't mind if Harry slept in his bed, and if I ever did a scene like that (I'm neither confirming or denying that I will), I know I'll have a bunch of people thinking it's slashy or something. Anywho, sometimes I listen to that song by Evanescence to get into the right mood to write angsty parts, so maybe there is some psychic connection! Brilliant observation with the parallel, and I may even have something planned with that wink. Sirius has no problem with Draco, only Snape. Lol, yes, cheese is another main theme of this story, sort of. Lol. Oh we have string cheese in the States, very cool stuff. Mm plastic indeed, you should see the state of my pens. Yup, Pansy and Nott are mean. Meaner than Draco ever was. Does anyone else realize that Draco makes more fun of Ron in canon that he does of Harry? And that his insults to Harry are pretty lame and none all that hurtful? I mean, he could be a lot worse, but maybe JK's just toning it down for the kiddies. Who knows. Lol I'm with you. If I was there, I'd be leading the fangirls going, "Charge!" and it doesn't even matter which boy I'd catch. All of them need some good hugging, snogging, etc. Trust me, I've been working like an insane person on this fic ever since I got back. My mom's starting to make comments that she only sees me when I come down for food. Hmmm...livejournal blog or whatever that is sounds cool, but I'm completely computer illiterate, and this is probably easier so, I'll go for this right now. still hasn't responded to me and I emailed them over a week ago. :( Some help service they've got going on.
Tish: Yeah, I think that's sort of a big difference between Recnac and Flawed. With Recnac, Harry sort of knew most of that bad stuff was coming, it was just a question of when. In Flawed, he's just getting blindsided with all this stuff he didn't really expect. I love quizzes to, and I'd say you're looking into Harry's invisibility superpower answer is very on target. Good sleuthing! Yeah, I'm with you, I started out on H/G and have since migrated since, as you wait, they're usually so sappy, or have Harry being an asshole. That's sort of why I wanted to do an H/G, to finally get one out there without flowers and rainbows or something. Wow, that sounds intense with what happened with your friend. I'm so sorry. But I agree, I think when people are really depressed, they hide it even more than they realize. To them, it seems like they're making it really obvious, but to others, it's not obvious and hard to see, which can, sadly enough, perpetuate the person's depression even more, feeling that people are choosing not to notice. I'm so glad you liked Harry's "Fine, how are you?" response. You've pegged exactly what Harry was doing and all the meaning behind that simple statement. Practically every main character in this story will have their moment of idiocy, but then again, who doesn't. I know I have...multiple times. Oops? Okay, the pigtail thing was born from the idiocy of single dads. Honestly, my dad could not do pigtails for anything when I was little! Or ponytails! They'd always end up looking like the biggest disaster. It was ridiculous, I mean, how hard could it be? But my friend's dad was even worse, he didn't understand that with hair things, you have to wrap it around more than once, and he kept insisting that my friend's hair ties were too big and wouldn't fit on her hair! Lol. I'm saying nothing about the brooms. whistles innocently you'll just have to see. Jeez, if someone said that about my mother, I'd be on him too. Who knows, my brother and his friends get into fights over the dumbest things, and Harry had a pretty valid excuse methinks. Thanks for the awesome review. You really are doing some great sleuthing here, keep it up!
ParanoiaIn2005: Ooh, thank you! I'm glad you liked my writing last chapter. You can never get too into my fic, that's my theory...and also another reason I don't tell people where I live, lol. Yeah, I send telepathic messages to them too, but they just don't listen. Oh well. evil grin You got your wish/scene thing, and he's remaining a bit thick-headed still. Tsk tsk, what are we going to do with him? Go Sev! Be one with the children!! Lol, I could totally imagine Snape back in Potions class trying to be all intimidating. "I will have no tomfoolery in this class," and such, but with all Anna's drawings posted on the walls of rainbows and of them all holding hands. Beautious. That may be working its way into this somehow because it's too fun to pass up. Yeah, Harry's really taken the Dursleys and used them as an example of what not to be and he's a major sweetie, unfortunately, he can't see that about himself. Poor kid! I think Cho has retreated into a hole to get over her humiliation from last year. I've read that fic, it's in my favorites. It's definitely fantastic. Oh I always love influencing impressionable children. Lol.
Angel74: Yeah, Harry seems to be one of the biggest names in the wizarding world, I mean, they don't have movie stars or anything, so I'm thinking their celebrities are hero-types, Quidditch players, and singers. I'm sort of surprised JK hasn't done more with Harry fans, especially as he gets older. His dad was very popular from what I gather, so I always figured he was pretty good-looking, and Harry looks just like him. I'm always hoping she'll do something with that, because I think it would be hilarious, and actually pretty realistic. People get obsessed over celebrities. I'm so glad you like this fic more than Recnac! I do too, but I'm always worried people will be disappointed in it and feel like it doesn't live up to Recnac or something. You're the first to say they like the sequel better, and you've just made me a very happy girl. Lol, I know. It's funny how we love each other's fics. Speaking of which, update!! I'm so in love and so obsessed with your new one and it's barely even begun!
Myr Halcyon: Order of reviews means nothing, except that I usually put the longest ones first, so don't feel insulted at all by where your review response happens to turn up. Lol, I'll let you know now that the fish was only a prank by Sirius, but I like the creativity in your sleuthing! The chapter was titled Flawed Perfection because that's when the conversation came up and is one of the themes of the fic. But keep on with the guessing, it actually really helps me to see where my readers are to see if I should add more hints, or if things are getting too obvious, you know what I mean? I gave Harry a hug from you and he says thanks for the love, because I torture him far too much. Oops?
Velith: I'm glad you're feeling some sympathy toward Sirius. He's really not bad, he just doesn't know what he's doing and is very clueless. Yeah, it's amazing how different people see the same characters so differently. That's what makes JK so great. She doesn't really tell you what to think about each character, she lets you form your own opinions, and people have such drastically different opinions about them. What national holiday? What nation? Lol. Hopefully I'm not forgetting some major American holiday, but July 12, doesn't wring any bells.
Kiki: yeah, London was really awesome. Yeah, Sirius is definitely clueless. You don't want to torture Harry on purpose? Yeah, me neither looks around and hides story behind back Yeah, things seem a bit boring on the plotline right now, but I guarantee that I am going somewhere with everything and that right now I'm doing a lot of necessary setting up for the climax. I'll try to make it interesting as well. I'm so glad you like it so far! It makes writing this worth it. Thanks for the awesome review!
X-Goddess of Imaginary Light-X: lol, you don't like people beating each other up just like I don't like torturing Harry! Lol. We just do it out of love...or something. takes a bow why thank you. I just had to add to Harry's emotional turmoil by making him think he'll end up like his uncle, even though we know he won't because he's such a sweetie, but Harry doesn't know that. I think the fangirl situation made a lot of people forget about the things that were said to Harry during that fight, including the characters that should have thought, uh oh, this is not good for Harry. Lol, I was happy to give Ron a little bit of attention for once. Poor kid always gets shunted off into everyone's shadows. I'll have fun with that. grins evilly and begins to type while laughing maniacally
ThreeToedSloth: I'm glad you like Anna so much. She's based on this little boy I babysit. Kids can be so hilarious. I'm actually horrible at thinking of comebacks, at least in real life. I can do it on paper, probably because I can work the insults so they can have really good comebacks, but in real life, I just stand there going, "Yeah, well...you're mean!" It's only later when I think of good ones. Lol, ditto, I would probably be leading the fangirls sadly enough.
Padawan Jan-AQ, Crystal113 (lol, yeah, I did try to get through the barrier. Strangely enough it didn't let me through. Maybe it only let's you through on September 1st. That must be it), Helen, SiriusWolf (well, as you can see, you predicted Sirius waking up and finding Harry in his room, but of course, that's not the main conflict either. And of course I can't tell you what the main conflict is either, since that would ruin the surprise. I can tell you that the next few chapters will have a bunch of setting up for it though.), Etzgo, Musicstarlover (lol, I could always picture Harry getting mobbed and am actually surprised she's never gone into the star-struck fan thing. I mean, Harry's in the news all the time and constantly being heroic, but no crazed fans or reporters? Hmm...), Marci018 (lol, thanks! I'm so glad you like it. Yeah, Harry's having a lot to deal with right now, but I can't exactly tell you whether that'll get better or worse. Just be prepared for some upcoming angst, that's all I can say), AgnesSophia (I'm so glad you like it, and am so excited you like my Harry/Draco friendship! I think they're similar in many ways, they could be good friends if they wanted), Shawn Pickett (Thanks! I must admit that the Diagon Alley scene was one of my favorites to write, so I'm really glad you liked it.), Catiechan, blulily07 (lol, I love the sleuthing you've got going on here, and it's a good theory, but of course, I can't possibly answer your question without giving parts of my story away and that's not going to happen. But I definitely like how you're trying to figure out and I always enjoy hearing people's guesses. Keep it up!), MissLilyStar (Snape even disturbs himself when he laughs, lol. Of course Harry needs someone to get him to talk, but unfortunately, nobody really knows that. Nobody knows what to do so they're each doing what they think is best. Le sigh.), EriEka127, Kneh13, Arctic Wolf2 (well, we know Harry needs someone to force him to talk, but Sirius doesn't. In some situations, maybe it would be good to let Harry come to him, but that's not the case here. Sirius just doesn't get it. If you'd like to beat some sense into him, be my guest, though I think you'll just confuse him more. Lol), Earthmom (lol, yeah, well you can put a lot into a 16 page chapter, which was the length of the last one. Of course, this one's toned down a bit, because last one was my gift to you guys for going so long without updating), Zaptor, holly, M0rbidity, NathanPostmark, Girwhoshowspigs (well thank you so much for picking me to review to!! I'm glad you liked last chapter), tati1 (wow, you had it for a long time. I'm glad you're over it now and I really hope you don't slip back into it. Yeah, I saw Stepford Wives, I love when they sneak into the house. The gay guy's hilarious! I hope you liked the chapter when you got around to reading it and you seriously printed out Recnac? Even I haven't printed it out. Thanks!), closetfanficaddict (mmm, that virtual chocolate rocked!), lilynjamesAAF, Mayhem El-Diablo, Idhren (I'm so happy to make you laugh! Thanks for popping in a review! Shh, I'm a review addict. I'm so glad you like how I portray the characters. Thank you so much for all the praise and I absolutely loved your review. I hope you continued to enjoy!), Mandi2008 (nah, we're going to spare Ron from thinking the girls only liked him because of his association with Harry. He deserves a nice confidence boost), shadowarwen, lindsay (sure! I've added you to my email list), heretic angel, Hp-Azn, gina87, Harryandginnyforever, Nation El-Diablo (yeah, Eloise and Neville will pop up a few more times in the story. No, this fic takes place entirely during the summer. Hmm, no moose or penguins, though I definitely saw a rabid vole around here somewhere.), torifire126 (tell me about it. Boys...sheesh), Savoy Truffle (I'm so glad you like! I love Remy as well, though I have to shunt him away for a lot of the fic because he'd help things too much before all the angst could set in! Plus, I don't want him taking the place of Sirius as Harry's father figure. But he will keep coming in and being the voice of reason. Oh, Beatles rock. Actually, I'm listening to them right now!), James Milamber, Arsenal, shadowsfriend (well, you've got your wish for Harry to be found by Sirius, and Harry's headache will come back into play in a bit. How soon is still up in the air, since I have a scene that I'm not sure if I'll leave in since I really need to move this fic along. But it would be a fun scene, but it could be a bit redundant. Hmm...I don't know. I'll debate it with myself), Shadow Wolf2418 (you know, more than one person mentioned the Rudolf video, but I've never seen it! Maybe I'll go rent it...maybe not, lol, I'll just take everyone's word for it. Poor Harry, he doesn't understand the minds or rabid fangirls. The poor poor fool), Dana a.k.a. Mystic Phoenix (I'm glad you're sympathizing with Sirius a bit. I think some are being a bit harsh on him for his cluelessness, but he's trying. No! Sev didn't say Harry was like his uncle! He would never say that. Nott said that. I would see how that would be very confusing if you thought Sev said it, but Sev actually flips out when Nott says that), Phoenixmarauder (thank you so much, especially for the comment about my OCs. I'm always nervous about them.), PassionFlower (HAHAHAHA. Lol, wow, I'm with you girl. I'd completely be leading the rabid fangirls. I'd love to make Harry my sex-kitten. Great way to make money yes, but I think I'd rather keep them to myself, less police that way. Your review had me on the floor laughing. Absolutely brilliant. Oh and I've read the Naked Quidditch match thing before. Hilarious! My fave part is "Hermione took her down to the Infirmary. She was foaming at the mouth and wouldn't let go of a printout of that Mmail and a measuring tape!" hahaha), GrimmyD, Lourdes1 (Hopefully I'll be able to go back to London to study and be able to use all your wonderful advice. I'm glad you like the fic!), Sailor C (I want to do the same thing. London's definitely expensive, but if you're willing to cut down on meals and eat cheaply, it's not that bad. You just have to stuff yourself at each meal so you don't get hungry again. But England's worth it. I'd definitely love to visit Scotland and Ireland as well. One day...), Lorie1101 (if only I could be witty in real life. I'm actually horrible at thinking of comebacks on the spot. Oh well, I can live through my writing lol.), DreamersDisease, Athenakitty (if the twins got pictures of Ron at the end of the last chapter, hopefully 'Mione will never find them. Well, Vernon's in wizard prison and Petunia will have to get a job to support the family, which means Dudley's going to have to start doing chores. They're being punished, even if most of us would like to seem them punished more harshly. C'est la vie), Madame Moony (yeah! Calendars help so much! It helps me keep organized and figure out what needs to go before what and such. I need to write everything down. Getting to sleep's a big task because I always think of ideas right when I'm about to fall asleep and have to get up and jot down notes so I don't forget it. Lol, yes, it has to be h/g, sorry!), wynjara, Siri Kat, texasjeanette (always glad to make my story painful to read wink lol.), corrinetkn24