A/N: I'm back! The holidays are finally over, so no more visiting family and friends which means more time to write! Well, I hope you all had a nice Christmas.
I just saw The Sound Of Music and is it just me or does that Georg guy (the captain) really looks a lot like Jason Isaacs (the actor who plays Lucius Malfoy) ?? Anyway, they're both cute. Uhm, yeah I guess had too much coffee...
A/N: I'd like to thank all who reviewed and my beta Sheridan Ledding.
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The Potter mansion had a huge library. Both Lily and James were very fond of reading, as were their two sons. The youngest of them now strolled through the large hall, his eyes raking over the titles of the books. Now and then he took a book out of the shelves; when the words on the back of the book were unclear.
Harry Potter was looking for a book he had read years ago. It had been his favorite book in those days, but he had forgotten about the plot of it long ago. When Harry had nothing to do that morning he decided to look it up and read it for the second time. The only problem was that he couldn't remember the author's name and the books were shelved by name. He did remember the name started with a 'T', though. Unfortunately there were about 300 books in that section.
Harry sighed, as he pulled out another book.
"What's wrong, dear?" A voice suddenly came from behind him, making him jump in surprise.
Harry turned around and saw it was his grandmother. "I'm looking for this book, but I can't find it." He explained.
"Do you know the title?"
Harry nodded.
"Then why don't you use that spell you always use to make objects come to you, when you're too lazy to get them yourself."
Harry groaned "Why didn't I think of that?" He took his wand out of his pocket and waved. "Accio book, Musashi." Before he could even blink, he had the book in his hands. "You sure you're a Muggle?" Harry asked, grinning at the old lady.
"Unfortunately, I am." Mrs Evans replied. "Anyway, I was looking for something to read myself. Any suggestions?"
Harry thought for a second. "I guess you would love The Modern Witch by Anne von Milt. It's one of Mom's favorites."
"The Modern Witch? It's a magical book, then?" The woman's eyes lit up. "I've never read one. Is it very different than a Muggle book?"
Harry shrugged. "Some are. You have books that read themselves aloud or where the lines disappear when someone other than the owner read them. There are even books that are dangerous."
"Really?"
Harry smiled at her curiosity. "You know Hagrid, right? Well, in our third year we had to use books that bit you when you tried to open them, for his class."
Mrs. Evans chuckled. She had met Hagrid a year ago and had found herself really liking the man. At first his enormous size had put her a bit off, but soon she had realized he was actually very sweet and kind.
"Anyway, I don't believe The Modern Witch is spelled. So don't worry about getting your hands blown off, or something like that." Harry said. "Anyway I'm going back."
Mrs. Evans nodded and Harry left the library.
----
On one of the couches in the living room sat Draco, reading a book. Harry flopped down next to him.
"Hey." Harry greeted, moving closer to the other boy
Draco smiled and put his arm around him, then he turned his attention back to his book.
Harry opened his own book and started reading. After only a few pages he remembered why it had been his favorite book. Not much later Mrs. Evans entered and found both boys so absorbed in their books they didn't even notice her.
Hearing Harry softly cursing, Draco looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow questionably. "What's wrong?"
"You know I named Taro after a dog in this book, right?" He held up his book.
Draco looked at the book and nodded.
"Well, suddenly I had the feeling it has happened before. Like I also gave another pet a name I read in a book."
"But you never had any other pets." Draco pointed out.
"I know." Harry sighed. "It's kinda weird."
Then it hit Harry. It could have something to do with a memory of his other past. Of course he couldn't tell Draco this, so he just shrugged it off and told the other boy it was just a feeling.
Draco watched Harry for a while, looking deep in thought.
Harry sighed and rested his head on Draco's shoulder. "I'm just tired." He said softly. This was true. He hadn't slept well in days and was really starting to feel the effects of it. At night he spent hours in his bed staring at the ceiling and pondering the secrets he kept from Draco and all the lies he told him. He felt extremely guilty about not telling Draco what he had done. Part of him wanted to, but the fear of Draco's reaction stopped him. The blonde would realize his parents would still be alive if Harry hadn't changed the past and there was a big chance he would blame Harry for it. What if he would start to hate Harry?
Harry shuddered as he remembered the fights they had in their first years at Hogwarts. No, he couldn't possibly tell. Draco's love meant everything to him and he would do everything to save their relationship. Even if it meant to lie forever, no matter how hard it would be.
-----
Diagon alley was always crowded, but with the holidays the number of shoppers was doubled. All the cheerfulness and happy families always made Draco sick. But this year was different. Just like everyone else, Draco enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere and was laughing and having fun with his family and friends while buying magical fireworks for New Years Eve.
A smile formed on Draco's lips as he watched James and Sirius coming out of a shop with huge grins. His smile only widened as he read the name of the shop, written on the window; 'Fireworks for the Advanced Wizard.'
Harry, who was standing next to Draco, chuckled.
"These are the best!" Sirius cried, hurrying towards Draco and Harry with his hands full of bags.
"And probably very dangerous, too." Draco remarked dryly.
Sirius and James gave him a look that clearly said; Of course they are. What's the fun of fireworks without a risk?
Harry took one of James' bags and looked inside. "Awesome!"
Draco followed his example and had to agree. The fireworks truly looked impressive. "I can't wait to let them off." He smirked. "I mean, to watch you let them off." He quickly added as he noticed Lily, who was walking towards them.
"I hope those aren't like the ones you bought last year." She said, eyeing her husband severely. "I won't help you if you blow your fingers off again, you know."
James paled a bit at the memory. He remembered clearly how painful it had been. Luckily there was a simple spell to get the fingers back on, but as he had lost the fingers on both his hands he couldn't use his wand. Lily had refused to help him immediately and had waited for five minutes as punishment.
"Honestly dad, your expression was priceless." Harry said, laughing.
"It sure was." Sirius agreed.
"Oh you're one to talk. You immediately passed out at the sight of the blood." James growled. Then he turned to his wife. "No need to worry hon, this stuff is different."
"Yes," Sirius said, looking innocent. "It's very safe."
Draco snorted, but quickly recovered as Lily looked in his direction.
"Anyway," Harry took Draco's hand. "We're going to The Leaky Cauldron. We're to meet Hermione and Ron there in ten minutes."
The adults watched them leaving and smiled. Except for Sirius, who was eyeing entwined hands of the boys. He looked questioningly at the others. "Did I miss something?"
----
As soon as Hermione saw Harry and Draco enter, she could immediately tell by their looks what was going on between the two. She smiled widely and quickly stood up from the table where she had been sitting with Ron. "Draco, Harry!" She greeted, walking towards them. She hugged Harry and then turned to Draco pulling him in a hug, too. "Congratulations." She whispered softly in the blonde's ear, before she pulled back.
Draco opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when he was pulled in another hug, this time by Ron. This surprised Draco, as Ron had never done that before. Yes, they were good friends, but they weren't as close as Ron was with Harry. Draco smiled and hugged the redhead back.
Harry watched the occurrence with a happy smile on his face. He knew how Draco sometimes still felt as an outsider when it came to the relationship of the four of them. Which was understandable as people still saw them as the Gryffindor trio. He even noticed some students used that name on purpose when Draco was around, so as to remind him he was still the annoying Slytherin to them.
"Dray and I have to tell you something." Harry started as they all sat down. He locked eyes with the blonde and winked. "We're together."
"Finally," Ron said, not looking surprised at all. "If it had taken you any longer Hermione and I would have felt the need to give you guys a hand."
Draco chuckled. "Well, I did my best. I can't help it that Harry's so thickheaded."
"Hey," Harry pouted. "it was me who made the first move, you know."
Draco gave Harry a kiss on his cheek. "You're so cute when you act childish." Then he turned to Ron and Hermione. "So, already bought fireworks?"
It startled the others when Hermione nodded enthusiastically.
"It seems that our little bookworm is slowly changing into a tough kick-ass girl." Draco said, smirking at Hermione.
"Oh that's rich, coming from you! I don't remember you being so agreeable and kind to Gryffindors and Muggle borns as you are now a couple of years ago." Hermione spat back, in mock anger.
"Do you want me to act like that again, then?"
"Hell no!" Harry cried. "Honestly, you were such a pain in the ass back then.
Draco chuckled at Harry's reaction. "Don't worry, I won't." As if to reassure him, he kissed Harry briefly on the lips.
Hermione and Ron watched the couple, a smile playing on their lips. They had to admit feeling a bit jealous when looking the two happy boys. Being both single for a long time, made them long for love again. Unconsciously they looked at each other. For a moment they locked eyes... They both shuddered and quickly looked away. No, definitely not.
"Do you have any plans for New Years Eve?" Harry asked Hermione and Ron. "'Cause it would be great if you would come to stay at our place."
"I would love to come!" Hermoine said, beaming.
"Great!" He turned to Ron. "How about you?"
"Do you really think I would want to miss Sirius' and James' wicked fireworks? Of course I'll come!"
Harry smiled happily. He would start the new year together with the ones he loved most.
Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when Draco softly gave him a nudge. He looked up to see Hermione and Ron already getting up.
"So," Hermione said, "we'll just floo to your house then, at say... nine?"
Harry nodded. "Perfect. See you then."
After they had said their goodbyes, Harry and Draco went to a pet store; they needed to buy some dog food for Taro.
The two boys walked towards the dog section when they suddenly heard someone yelling. They turned to the way the sound was coming from and saw a little girl sitting on the floor. A woman, who seemed like her mother, tried to get her up, but the girl started kicking and yelled even louder.
The woman blushed and smiled apologetically at Harry and Draco when she noticed them. "Come honey, everyone is watching. You know what, mommy will buy you an ice cream if you're a good girl."
"I don't want an ice cream!" The girl yelled. "I want the white birdie!"
"No dear, you heard what that woman said. It's not a nice owl, when you come too near it bites."
"I don't care!" The girl jumped up and ran out of sight.
Her mother quickly ran after her, but it seemed she was too late as loud hooting was heard followed by a cry of the child. At this Draco couldn't help but chuckle, but quickly recovered himself as Harry shot him a look. He walked away from Harry and started checking out the stuff in the shelves.
"The kid deserved what she got, you know." He mumbled. "She was bloody annoying."
"Any child is annoying in your eyes." Harry responded dryly.
"True." Draco said, not even bothering to deny it. He watched the mother and her child leaving the shop. A woman walked next to them, all the while apologizing for the owl's behaviour. She had to be the owner of the shop. Curiously, Draco walked around the corner to the owl section. He immediately saw her. In a cage twice as big as the others was a beautiful white owl, looking coldly at him.
"You certainly are a pretty one." Draco said softly.
The bird looked away, clearly not interested in the blond wizard.
"Draco?" Harry's voice called.
Draco turned to see Harry coming towards him.
"Are you coming?" He held up a bag he was holding in his hand. "I've already got the food." Then he laid his eyes on the owl behind Draco. Gasping, he took a step forward. It couldn't be...
Slowly Harry approached the owl. Then he reached out and put his fingers through the bars.
"Watch out!" Draco's voice came from behind him, but he didn't even hear him.
The bird immediately shot forward to Harry's fingers, but instead of biting she affectionately nibbled at them.
Harry smiled happily at her. "You've waited for me, Hedwig."
-----
Two days later found Harry, Ron and Hermione outside in the field next to the Potter Mansion, watching James and Sirius trying to spell the fireworks so they would be even more impressive. Lily, her mother and Remus were inside preparing hot drinks and an apple pie.
"Honestly, when will those men ever grow up." Lily asked, as she shot a look through the window at James and Sirius who were charming firecrackers so they would explode before you even let them off.
Mrs. Evans chuckled. Unlike Lily, she found the two men's actions highly amusing. To tell the truth, she had been quite the Marauder in her teens, too. She watched them for some time, while the others continued their work. Then she realized that Draco wasn't among those outside and she also hadn't seen him in the house.
"Lily," She said, turning away from the window, "do you know where Draco is?"
"No, isn't he outside?"
Mrs. Evans shook her head.
"Then he must be upstairs in his room."
"Shall I go get him?" Remus asked.
"Nah, it's only half past ten. He'll come down eventually." Lily said and turned back to the pie she was making.
Remus and Mrs. Evans nodded and put the blonde out of their minds.
Outside Hermione asked the same question as Mrs. Evans had a couple minutes ago.
"Dray's inside." Harry answered, stroking Hedwig who had came to sit on his shoulder. "He was cold, so he decided to put on some warmer clothes."
Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a scream. The three Gryffindor's immediately turned and found James with his hair on fire, chasing Sirius. Sirius was grinning like an idiot and started laughing loudly as he shot a look over his shoulder at the other man. As for James, his expression was far from Sirius'. He looked ready to kill. In one hand he held his wand, trying to aim at his friend. With his other hand he tried to put out the flames on his head.
"Come here," James yelled. "and fight as a man!"
Sirius ignored the other and kept running.
"We could help him..." Ron started, his eyes on James.
"We could, but then we would spoil Sirius' fun, wouldn't we." Harry said, smirking. When he saw Hermione's worried look, he added; "Don't worry Herm. He has Potter hair, it'll grow immediately back."
She looked at him questionably.
Ron laughed. "He's right, you know. One time in our second year, me and the other roommates cut off Harry's hair while he slept and the next morning it had grown back to its normal length."
"You did what?!" Harry cried.
"It was just a joke. Besides you never noticed, did you?" Ron said, smiling sheepishly.
"Anyway," Hermione interrupted the boys. "I was more worried that your father would burn his skin."
"Oh," Harry looked at his father. The man had managed to put the fire out and was currently sitting on top of a struggling Sirius. "I'm more worried about Sirius' health when Dad's done with him."
The three looked at the adults, then at each other and started laughing uncontrollably. James heard the laughter and looked up. He too started laughing and was soon joined by Sirius.
---
A blond boy looked down from behind the window on the second floor of the house. He smiled at the sight of the five people lying in the grass and holding on to their stomachs from laughing so hard. Then he turned away from the window, remembering what he was here for. He opened his huge walk-in-closet and started looking for his thick winter cloak. 'Where did I leave that thing?' Draco thought, pushing himself through the garments. 'Merlin, I have way too many clothes.' When he had reached the end of the closet he suddenly remembered that Harry had borrowed his cloak a couple of days ago and, knowing Harry, the boy had probably forgotten to give it back. Cursing loudly, Draco stumbled back and then made his way to Harry's room.
There he opened Harry's closet, which was, to Draco's annoyance, ten times smaller than his. Draco made a note to himself to take Harry shopping, when they had their next Hogsmeade weekend. He pushed some shirts aside and found to his relief the cloak hanging behind them. He reached out, but in his haste he accidentally bumped with his arm in something. With a thud the object fell on the floor and rolled under the bed. Draco dropped down on his knees next to the bed and put his head under it. A red ball, which Draco recognized as a Bludger, lay not far from him. He shook his head. Why one earth would Harry have a Bludger in his closet? When he reached out to grab it, someting else caught Draco's eye. It looked like some sort of bowl.
He grabbed the bowl instead and studied it. Draco was sure he had seen a thing like it before, but he didn't remember where and when. Then it came back to him. It was a Pensieve. His father used to have one for memories which were too awful to be reminded of all the time, but too important to forget. Draco used to sneak in his father's study and tried to get a hold of the Pensieve, but his father always caught him.
Draco wondered why Harry had it. It wasn't customary for a teenager to have one. Draco realized he had been staring at the bowl for quite some time now and still hadn't put it back. 'Come on Draco, put the bloody Pensieve back. Those are Harry's personal thoughts and memories, he trusts you not to look in it. No wait, he doesn't trust me, otherwise he wouldn't have hid it under his bed.' Draco bit his lip. "Ah what the hell, it wouldn't hurt to look for just a second.'
Holding his breath, Draco listened to see if he really was alone upstairs. When he was sure the only voices he heard were coming from those who were outside, he took a deep breath and plunged his head into the Pensieve.
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Liked it? Review and let me know :)
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Reviews:
Caz Malfoy: Thanks for reviewing. I hope you liked this chapter, too.
QueenoftheSlash: Oh fuck, I killed someone! lol Thanks for your review!
Blackdragonofdeath13: Thanks! I'm glad u liked it.
Professor M. McGonagall: Sorry I didn't update very soon, but you know what December's like; lot's of parties. :s Anyway, thanks for reviewing and adding me to your favorite list.
Beth5572: I'm glad you liked it and I should thank you. 'Cause writing wouldn't be half as fun without getting reviews.
CharmedMilliE: Well, I don't think I have to tell you what happened to the Pensieve anymore. :) Thanks for reviewing!
DanishGirl: Of course they're cute together. They're the hottest guys of Hogwarts! Haha. Anyway, thnx for reviewing!
Green eyed dragon: Haha I know u did. But if I keep letting you guys waiting so long for new chapters, I wouldn't deny it if someone called me a bitch. Haha.
Saturndragon: Thanks for your review. I'm glad you liked it!
Crystalstorm21: Haha, you're right. Thanks for being so patient with me.
Berserker Nightwitch: The dog often sleeps under the bed, but as he wasn't there anyways, Harry put the Pensieve under it. I really love Gran too! She wasn't much in this chapter and I'm not sure if she will be in the next, but I'll try. Thanks for reviewing!
Ninsg Veen: Of course I'll continue! I'm addicted to reviews so I haven't got a choice. Haha. Anyway, did u had a nice Sinterklaas, Christmas and New Years Eve? Pff, a whole list...
SiriusWillRiseAgain: How on earth could I let Draco or Harry die? I don't think I can live without them. Haha. Thanks for reviewing and also for my other story.
Sad-Clown-of-Darkness: Haha, I know I am. wicked grin
Dreamer22: Thanks for reviewing! Sorry it took me so long to update.
Ura-hd: Thanks for reviewing both my stories.
