"HARRY!" Harry turned his from Ron and Hermione. He caught sight of Harrison. He looked the same, the same clean-shaven face, the same sunglasses sitting atop his head. Harry grinned and walked over to his father.
"Hey Dad, where's Papa?" Harry asked, giving Harrison a warm hug.
"That's a surprise but we've got to hurry up." He tried to pull Harry toward the doors onto the London sidewalk.
"Wait! You have to meet Ron and Hermione," he pulled the man over to the younger students. "Ron, Hermione, this is Harrison, my Dad."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. um," Hermione stumbled, looking slightly embarrassed.
"That's fine, people never know. It's Tyler but please call me Harrison. So you're Hermione? I've heard so much about you!" he shook the girl's hand. She needed a definite hair job but looked altogether as pleasant as she had sounded in Harry's letters. He turned to Ron. "It's good to meet you t-" but he was cut off by a short, plump woman who looked to be Ron's mother.
"Ronny dear!" she exclaimed. "I've missed you so much!" she grinned and hugged the boy who was already taller that she. "Oh, hello, you must be Harry's father," she shook his hand. "Or well, I guess you're just his adoptive-"
"No, Mrs. Weasley, he's my Dad. Papa's back home." Harry said so politely but with a definite solidity to his voice. Harrison smiled.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Weasley. I'm Harrison Tyler. Papa, or Tom Barkley is at home with Harry's early Christmas present."
"Sorry, it's so good to finally meet you Harry!" Mrs. Weasley hugged him before Harrison drug him from the train station. Harry climbed into the car after putting all his stuff in the back of the car.
"It's good to see you again," Harry said, leaning his head on the back of the seat. "I missed you all so much!"
"We missed you too, a lot a lot." Harrison ran his hands through Harry's dark hair. "You look older, Papa's going to be surprised."
"What's my surprise?" Harry asked, looking at Harrison's grinning face.
"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?"
"I guess not." The rest of the ride was relatively quiet. They finally pulled up in front of the Home Harry had known his whole life. He sincerely doubted if living with his biological parents could have been any better. It was good to be back. Harry and Harrison lugged Harry's trunk and owl up the steps and left them in the front entrance.
"Tom! We're home." Tom came rushing into the room carrying a little, pink bundle. Harry's mouth dropped open before rushing to Tom's side. Tom, who gave Harry a sideways hug and kiss on the cheek said:
"Harry, meet your new baby sister, Abyan Blythe." Harry took the little girl in his arms and looked at her adoringly. She was perfect with a spray of curly, brown hair atop her head. She blinked open her eyes to reveal huge, brown orbs. Harry felt his heart melt in his chest and he let out a very audible "Ahh."
"She's perfect," he breathed. "The best Christmas surprise ever."
"I'm glad to have met your approval Harry honey," Harrison grinned. "She is perfect, just perfect. She knows her big brother too." Harry grinned from ear to ear. He was a big brother! He had a baby sister who he would protect and who, in turn, would adore and idolize him.
"Abyan Blythe, it's a nice name," Harry added, rocking her from side to side.
"Yeah, it took a whole week to find a suitable one," Tom nodded. "Now come in and sit down, I want to hear everything!" Harry grinned and allowed himself to be lead into the living room. It was decorated with red bows, evergreen garlands, candles, everything Harry remembered from every Christmas he could remember. A cavernous Christmas Tree stood in the corner. It was undecorated, obviously they had waited for him.
"When are we going to be decorating the tree?" Harry asked, handing Abyan gently over to Harrison.
"We could do it tonight if you want," Tom answered, sitting down next to Harry.
"So, did you miss me?" Harry asked with a grin.
"My goodness, you have no idea how much!" Tom exclaimed, planting a kiss on his son's cheek. "We missed you so much that we had to get someone to occupy my time."
"Oh, so Abyan's my replacement?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"No," Harrison hastened before he realized Harry was joking. "No, Abyan's not your replacement. No one could replace our little Harry," he pinched Harry's cheek.
"Now, enough chit chat, I want to know everything!" Tom said excitedly.
"Well, I told you about Ron and Hermione right?"
"Yeah."
"Anyway, I think they like each other. Well, I assume so because they try to act like they hate each other so much. I'm doing alright in all of my classes. If it weren't for DADA- that's Defense Against the Dark Arts, I'd like Charms the best. Charms is taught by a short, little midget named Professor Flitwick. He has to stand on top of a stack of books so we can see him. Professor McGonagall teaches Transfiguration and that's a cool class. She turned a desk into a pig! She's really strict though. Potions is my least favorite class because Professor Snape pretty much hates everyone except the stinking Slytherins. It's interesting and all but the guy seems to have some grudge against me. He keeps mentioning my biological dad. Apparently they had some problems there. Now Quidditch, that's the best sport of ALL time. You play up on broomsticks and I'm the youngest player in a whole century!" Harry stopped to catch his breath.
"My goodness Harry, it sounds like you've had a very eventful term," Harrison grinned. "I think Tabatha's even listening." Harry grinned and continued.
"Well, where was I? Oh yeah, Quidditch. I won my first match! I almost fell off my broomstick, well I did," he paused for gasp. "I actually caught the thing in my mouth! My broom was going crazy, yanking every which way. Hermione said it was Snape so she caught his robes on fire and broke the spell. I've got the best broom on the market. McGonagall got it. It's a Nimbus 2000 Racing Broom. I brought it home, do you want to see it?" Tom and Harrison nodded and Harry ran to retrieve it. He came back with the broom sitting delicately in his hands.
"It looks like a broom," was all Tom could think of. Harry's face split into a look of disgust.
"It's not any ordinary broom. Here, I'll show you." Harry lay the broom on the ground beside him and said: "Up!" the broom popped into his hand and Abyan started laughing. Harrison and Tom applauded. Harry blushed.
"She likes that, don't you Abby?" Harrison cooed.
"I hope she's a witch too," Harry breathed, rubbing her finger softly.
"Maybe she is. I mean, we got lucky twice."
"Dad," Harry said suddenly quiet.
"Yes Harry?" Harrison asked.
"Everybody keeps talking about me at school."
"What are they saying?" Tom asked.
"Well, they keep calling me the "Boy Who Lived" and stuff. I mean, I know why they do it but it's still weird." His voice faded. Tom tried to stifle a sigh of relief. Thank God it was that and not the other thing.
"Well, it's a good thing right?" Harrison asked.
"Yeah but, well.....anyway, how have you two been? You must have done something other than adopt Abby in my absence." Tom's face split into a grin, happy to be off such a touchy subject.
"Things have been going splendidly. We've worked, gone to a couple plays. It was just so hard finding things to do without you to occupy our time!" Harrison exclaimed. Harry grinned, it was good to be home.
The afternoon quickly faded into a quiet, peaceful evening. Snow fell softly from the sky creating a Christmas Card-like image through the picture window in the living room. The small family ordered Chinese take-out (a favorite of Harry's and Tom's) and ate in the living room (only done on special occasions). After the chopsticks and empty boxes were discarded mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies were brought in as replacements. A cheesy Christmas CD played mellifluously in the background as the tree began to take on ornamentation.
"Harry, do you remember this one?" Tom asked, holding up a small, clear bulb with gold and silver pipe-cleaners twisted up inside like snakes. Harry's face split into a grin, he nodded.
"Yeah, made that in primary school for our Christmas art project. You all crooned over it like it was a Monet."
"It is wonderful!" Harrison retorted. "I love that ornament." Harry rolled his eyes. Each bulb and star was handled with the utmost care. Fingers gingerly lifted the treasures from the box and they were each given a proper branch. White lights were strung around the tree, glowing like tiny stars, refracting light off the glass bulbs. Each had a memory and were likewise mulled over.
Sometimes Harrison, Tom, or Harry would guide Abyan's hand to hang an ornament on a branch and it was she who was given the task of placing the angel on the top. It was a tradition if you could call it that. Harry had been given the task at his first Christmas with Harrison and Tom.
"I love Christmas," Tom murmured as he reclined on the couch after the tree was done. They had switched on a movie and had cookies and hot cocoa to occupy them. Abby lay sleeping in her basinet in the corner and Harrison stood over her.
"Me too," Harry sighed, snuggling up to his Papa. To him, it didn't seem odd or un-manly. It was what he had always done and it didn't occur to him to do anything differently. Tom tightened his arm around Harry's shoulder and planted a kiss on top of his head. "It's nice to be home."
"It's nice to have you home," Tom answered. "We've missed you so terribly over the past couple of months." Harry smiled contently.
Harry soon fell asleep before "Every time a bell rings and angel gets his wings." The beautiful picture faded with an exhausted eleven-year-old sleeping on a couch, two men in their perfectly manicured bedroom, and an infant girl slumbering sweetly in her crib.
Five Years Later
"Daddy!, hurry up, we're going to miss Harry!" Abyan coaxed her father foreword as they were leaving their house.
"Abby honey, we're not going to miss Harry," Tom reassured her as Harrison looked to be at the end of his chain. "Come on, let's go wait in the car for Daddy to be ready." Abyan Blythe Barkler had grown into an absolutely perfect little girl. Her brown curls had grown till they fell down to her waist. She was thin and vivacious with huge, brown eyes. That day, she had picked out her red dress and yellow sweater especially. They were Harry's house colors, Gryfindor colors. Her hair was pinned back with two, lion barrettes that she had received for her birthday from Harry.
Grabbing hold of Tom's hand they piled into the car and waited for Harrison to come out. "Do you think Harry's excited to see me Papa?" Abyan asked. Her cheeks were bright red and her eyes were practically glowing with anticipation.
"Of course, Harry's always excited to see his little sister!"
"I'm not little," she retorted and Tom nodded apologetically.
On the train
"We'll be there in about twenty minutes," Hermione informed the group of three. Harry nodded. It was strange heading home after all the things that were happening. He knew he should be going to Sirius's but he couldn't bring himself to tell his parents or Abby. As well informed as they were, neither Tom nor Harrison grasped the full weight of the battle. Harry alone bore the burden of Lord Voldemort. It had been strange the summer before after Voldemort had risen. In fact, it had been uncomfortable and foreign ever since his first Christmas home from school.
"Are you nervous Harry?" Ron asked, peering over his comic book. Harry nodded, it was no use lying to his friends. "Are you going to come to Sirius's? We're staying there because of Dad."
"I don't know, have you heard anything about him?" Ron shook his head.
"Mum wrote and said Bill would come and pick us up from the train station."
"Tell Sirius hello and that I'll try to come. My parents, they're a little weird about this sort of thing, especially Papa." Hermione and Ron nodded their heads solemnly.
A/N- Hope you enjoyed it, hope to put up another chappie soon.
