Troubled Past

Disclaimer: I own Henry and Elizabeth Potter; I also own Michael and Irene Potter (though I hate them in this story). Also, Lycinaeous Malfoy belongs to me. I also own Snapping Snakes.

Thank yous: iamtherealmaverick, Bonnie Mizuhara, im no muggle, EsScaper, vytiri, orlin.

Vytiri: I do plan on having some Lucius/Harry interaction.

I've decided, I really don't think I have enough story for three more chapters, so it's going to be two more; hopefully if I make them long enough you all won't be disappointed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 9: Misfit Central

By the middle April nearly all the fifth and seventh years had started seriously revising for their OWLs and NEWTs; extra revision classes were being given by the teachers as well. Though both Sirius and James really didn't want to spend their free time studying, they were being forced into it by Remus and Lily; they had also been enlisted to help Regulus study for his OWLs now too. Lucius was also keeping an eye on James's study habits, after being strictly instructed by Elizabeth Potter to keep an eye on her grandson.

James was currently in his favourite Professor's quarters, curled up on the couch, his head on a very comfortable lap; he was trying to read his Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook but he couldn't concentrate. His father was going to be tried in front of the Wizengamot next week and he had been called to testify against the bastard that had ruined his childhood; he really didn't want to because it would mean having to relive the gory details of what his father had done to him. The one comfort he had was that Dumbledore was allowing Lucius some time away from his job to be at the trial in support. The young Gryffindor sighed and dropped his book on the floor, "I give up."

Lucius had a book propped on the arm of the couch to read, one of his hands gently running through James's hair, "I don't blame you. Why don't you take a break from it tonight?"

James curled up even more and closed his eyes, "Ok then."

"I take it I won't be allowed to move anytime soon, yes?"

James smiled slightly, "You're a very comfortable pillow…think I may have to use you more often."

"Glad I am of some use to you, James," replied Lucius in amusement.

James continued to smile, more to himself this time though. He loved the way Lucius always called him 'James', no shortening of his name or nicknames, just James; it made him feel older, like Lucius was treating him like a proper adult instead of the seventeen year old he was. It was just another thing to add to the long list of reasons why he adored the blond so much.

"What?"

James opened his eyes and looked up at the curious blond and he gave his most innocent smile, "Nothing," he sat up and pressed a kiss to the corned of Lucius's mouth before putting his head on the blond's shoulder. "I was just thinking that things might get a bit better now."

Lucius smiled and tugged James onto his lap, "I think it will," he let James nuzzle his neck. "Know what you want to do after school?"

James made a quiet groaning noise, "Raising my son would be the obvious answer, but then I need money to do that, don't I?" Lucius nodded. "I don't know… I used to want to play professional Quidditch…"

Lucius smiled, "You're certainly good enough."

James smiled against the neck he had been nuzzling, "Thanks… Didn't you used to play?"

"Yes," replied Lucius. "It gave me an excuse to hurt people and not get into trouble for it."

James snorted, "You weren't a beater though."

"No, but Chasers do a fair bit of damage to each other as well, you ought to know, being one yourself."

"True…" James lifted his head again so that he could see Lucius's face. "Did you ever think you would become a teacher?"

Lucius quirked his eyebrows, "Good god, no, I don't know why I agreed to it in the first place," James smiled. "Of course, I've found a reason to stick around for a while now. But no, I never thought I would, I used to think I would just live off the family funds like every other Malfoy."

"That money wouldn't last forever though."

Lucius shook his head, "No, it won't. You really have no idea what you want to do?"

"No… My grandparents said they'd support me for as long as I need them to, but I don't like having to be dependent on everyone else."

"You don't have to go into work straight away, though, do you?" said Lucius thoughtfully. "You could wait until Harry is a little older before you go into full time work."

"I could…but then I think I've got plenty of willing babysitters if I really want to work straight away. My grandparents, Lily seems pretty keen…and Harry loves you."

Lucius grinned, "Yes well, seems the child is a blinded as his dad."

"Oh yes, obviously," James kissed the blond full on the mouth.

It was true though, a couple of weeks ago James had been allowed to have Harry with him for a weekend and he had properly introduced his twenty month old son to his blond professor. Eventually, he had had to go and have a Quidditch practice and Lucius had graciously said he would watch Harry for the time his daddy was away. When he had gotten back he had found his two favourite people getting along famously.

James quietly entered Lucius's quarters, unsure of what he would find, he still wasn't entirely certain of Lucius's stance on children considering the blond's complaining about 'bloody ignorant first years'. But what he did find inside made him smile widely; Lucius was sat on the floor next to his coffee table with Harry on his lap, talking to the child and handing him crayons so he could scribble on pieces of parchment.

"Birdy!"

"Do you think daddy likes birdies?" questioned Lucius gently to the boy on his lap.

"Yeah!"

"Let's draw him one. What colour do you think it should be?" Lucius held up a purple crayon to the little boy. "This one?"

"Yeah pur…pur…"

"Pur...ple…" said Lucius slowly. "Can you say it with me Harry? Pur…ple…"

"Pur…"

"Ple. Pur-ple."

"Pur…pul."

James continued smiling as he moved to stand behind the couch which was behind the two on the floor, he was fairly certain that neither of them knew he was watching them.

"Purple," repeated Lucius again.

"Pur-pul."

The blond nodded, "Close enough, good boy. Shall we draw the birdy before daddy gets back?"

"Yeah!" Harry started giggling hysterically when Lucius tickled him.

James had, by now, crept onto the couch behind the two (surprised that Lucius hadn't at least acknowledged his presence yet); he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the blond's neck.

Lucius stopped tickling Harry who squealed in delight when he saw his daddy, "Go away, Potter, you're interrupting."

James grinned and plucked Harry from the blond's lap, to receive a sloppy kiss on the cheek from his son, "It's my right to interrupt. Having fun, boys?"

Lucius turned toward the raven-haired pair, still seated on the floor in front of the couch and smiled, "I think we were, weren't we, Harry?" he nodded his head and Harry nodded along with him.

James glanced between the two of them before letting his eyes settled on Lucius, "So would I be right in thinking you might baby-sit for me in the future?"

Lucius smiled, "I would love to."

James cuddled back up to the blond again, "Where do you live in the summer?"

Lucius ran a hand up and down one of James's arms, "The family manor in Wiltshire."

James lifted his head again in slight surprise, "Even before you were invited back in?"

"Mmhmm," Lucius smirked. "My father is a bastard but my mother always liked me, so she made him give up one of his estates, as it would 'only be fair'."

James nodded slowly, he knew the Malfoys were probably the wealthiest Wizarding family in Britain but just how many estates did they have? "How many estates do your family own?"

"In Britain?"

Dark eyebrows rose, "Do your family own the Wizarding World or something?"

Lucius laughed quietly and shook his head, "No, but the old bastard probably wants too…and there are five estates in Britain."

"Oh…" James put his head back on the blond's shoulder once again. "You know, when I was in first year, there was this rumour going around about what was under your father's drawing room floor."

"I remember that one," replied Lucius in amusement. "I should anyway, I started it," James snorted. "But yes, there were-are certain illegal Dark Arts artefacts under there, between you and I, of course."

"Of course."

"Under my drawing room floor and in my attic, there is a vast amount junk as well," continued the blond. "I'm yet to look through it or pawn it off, but I would say a fair amount of money would come out of it if given to the right dealers."

"You're going to sell it out of spite, aren't you?"

"Hell yes," Lucius felt a huff of hot air against his neck as James laughed. "You can come and help me look through the stuff if you want."

James smiled and kissed Lucius on the jaw, "I'd love too…or are you just trying to get me alone at your home so you can have your evil way with me?"

Lucius sighed mournfully, "You got me, you discovered my dastardly plan, I'll never be able to go through with it now."

James snickered, he loved Lucius's sense of humour; the blond could be very funny if he wanted, or he could be incredibly sarcastic, "Its ok, Luce, I give you permission to kidnap me."

"Oh, why thank you."

James turned slightly and grabbed Lucius's left arm, he pushed the unbuttoned shirt sleeve up so that he could see the watch on the wrist, "I should go."

Lucius checked his watch and sighed, "You probably should," he found himself with another kiss planted on his lips. "You're very amorous, you know that?"

James pressed his forehead to the blond's, "If you were anyone else I wouldn't be."

Lucius raised his eyebrows slightly, he knew James wasn't close to many people and he didn't trust many, but this was a new development, it was a confession of sorts, "Well then, I feel very honoured," James smiled. "Come on, I'll escort you so you don't get into trouble again."

"Ok."

………

Saturday was a Hogsmeade weekend and James, after getting Harry from his grandmother in the morning, was going to spend the day with his friends, his son, and the added addition of Sirius's younger brother, Regulus. Regulus had decided "about fucking time" in Sirius's words, that his parents were full of it, and that he would rather be more like his brother; of course this had led him to being an outcast in his House so he started spending more time with the four Gryffindors. Because of this, the younger Black was welcomed with open arms after he and Sirius had had a brotherly heart to heart.

"Where to first?"

James shrugged, he had a shoulder bag on and he was holding Harry on a hip, "What have they been feeding you?"

"Boo…"

"Ok."

Sirius snorted, "His verbal techniques astound me, Jamie. Like father, like son."

"Oh shut up, you prat."

"I need sweets," said Regulus before turning towards Honeydukes.

"You need them?" questioned Lily in amusement.

Regulus turned back to her and nodded, "I do, and I don't function properly without sugar."

Remus shrugged, "Right, sugar, I can understand that. Let's go."

The other three teenagers raised their eyebrows at the two retreating backs that were headed at a fast pace towards Honeydukes. It looked like Remus had found a friend who was into sweets as much as he was; the other three ate them as well, just not in such excessive quantities. After three sighs and a squeal from Harry, the four traipsed into the sweet shop after Remus and Regulus who were practically salivating at the mouth over a new variety of Honeydukes chocolate.

After spending nearly forty-five minutes picking and choosing in Honeydukes, the party of six headed towards Zonkos, mainly for Sirius's benefit so that he could stock up on toys and try and teach Harry bad habits. After a few smacks around the back of the head from everyone, including a tug on the hair from Harry, Sirius quickly bought up all the little toys he wanted and ran out of the shop with Regulus hot on his tail. While Regulus had been avidly trying to poke a Biting Teacup, Sirius had dropped a Snapping Snake down the back of his shirt, causing the younger Black to shriek in horror and immediately start trying to hex his older brother.

Next stop was the fairly crowded Three Broomsticks for some Butterbeer and a gossip.

"Oh! You know that slut with Parkinson?" said Regulus after blowing bubbles in his drink. The others nodded and closer to him so he didn't have to speak so loudly. "She's pregnant…and it's not his."

Lily gasped, "I knew it! I swear she's been at it with Avery."

Sirius pulled a face, "Ew, she's not even that attractive…she looks like a dog."

"Yeah, she does," agreed the red head. "She's such a bitch."

"Hey, can we stop swearing in front of the kid?" questioned James, who, almost as soon as the gossiping had started, placed his hands over Harry's ears, because he really didn't want his son picking up 'bad words' at such an early age.

"Yes sir."

……

By early evening the group were getting tired and hungry for dinner, so they left The Three Broomsticks and headed up the main street to where one of James's grandparents would meet them to take Harry home.

"What have you been feeding him? He's huge," said James to his grandfather, as he handed his son over; the others were waiting for him a few feet away.

"I really couldn't say, you should take that up with your grandmother," replied Henry, he gave the sleepy Harry a hug. "Anyway, I can't stay, but how are you getting to the trial next week? You're coming with Lucius, yes?"

James nodded, "Yeah, apparating I think… Am I going to have to see him while I testify?"

Henry put a free hand on James's shoulder and squeezed it, "I'm afraid so, kid, but you won't be alone. Just try not to think about it until then, ok?"

James frowned a little and nodded, "I'll try not too," he hugged his grandfather and Harry before pressing a kiss to his son's forehead. "I've got to go now, Harry, you be good."

"Buhbye, dada!"

"Bye bye, Harry," with that, James felt one of his arms being grabbed and found himself being dragged away by Sirius. "Oi!"

"Come on, you sappy bastard."

James grinned and started walking with his friends towards the road that would take them back to Hogwarts, but he stopped a few minutes later when he saw a blond that appeared to be Lucius getting cosy with another dark haired man near an alley way.

"Jay, you coming?"

James didn't say anything as he watched the two men across the street from him, he assumed rather than noticed that his friends had crowded around him and were following his line of sight. He continued watching, though he knew he shouldn't, and as he saw this quiet conversation move on, he really wished he hadn't been watching. His eyes widened as he saw the two men move closer to each other and then he saw a reason for him to hate the blond; the two men started kissing, apparently oblivious to the group watching them.

"James," Sirius took James's arm again but was shaken off as his best friend became increasingly more upset as he watched the progress of the two men across the street.

The two men pulled apart and James watched as Lucius grinned, he then glanced to his left and apparently saw the group of teenagers watching him as his silver eyes immediately widened as they fell on James.

Sirius was glaring at the blond now, who still seemed to be in some state of shock, "Busted," he mouthed across the street.

James stayed standing where he was for a few moments more before sniffing and storming off towards the school, his friends running after him. He felt so empty inside now; how could Lucius do that to him? After the last few months, how could he do that?

Lucius groaned quietly as he saw James storm away, "Shit…" he leaned back against a wall and squeezed his eyes shut. How the hell was he going to explain this?

"Luce-"

"Get away from me," snapped Lucius to the man he was with. After pushing the man away from him, he stormed off in the direction of the Hogshead pub; maybe Aberforth Dumbledore would give him something extra strong.

……

James was sitting on his bed, hugging his pillow and gazing blankly off into nothingness. There he was thinking that everything in his crappy life was getting better, he had his son, he had his friends and he had Lucius, and then that blond bastard had to go and screw everything up. He didn't want to talk to or see Lucius now, he even had half a mind to avoid Potions, but he knew he needed all the information he could get to pass his exam.

"James?"

James snapped out of his depressing reverie and looked to the door to see Lily watching him uncertainly; he sniffed and wiped his eyes which had been starting to water, "Hey…"

Lily went over to the bed and sat down on it before putting her arms around James and hugging him tightly, "I still think you should talk to him, but I won't say anymore on the matter for now," James glanced at her, knowing she was going to say more. "I still think he has your best interests at heart though."

James sniffed and looked down at his lap, "If he did he wouldn't have done that… I don't want to talk to him and I don't want to see him."

"Well, whether you want to see him or not, I will be making sure you attend every Potions lesson before our exam," said Lily sternly; she still had one arm around him.

"That's what Remus said… Sirius said he would smash the bastard."

Lily did not look amused at all, "I bet he would, but he'd probably get killed in the process."

………

The day of James's testifying arrived far too quickly for the seventeen year old; he really didn't want to be here and the only comfort now were his grandparents. At least, he thought was the only comfort until he saw Lucius sneak into the huge round courtroom; he hadn't spoken to the blond at all since that day in Hogsmeade, he hadn't even bothered to answer questions directed at him in class. The teenager flinched quite violently when he saw his chained father being led into the courtroom by Dementors and seated before the entire Wizengamot, Dumbledore included.

James tried to look anywhere but directly at his father, the Dementors were making him highly uncomfortable as well; he felt his grandfather place a strong hand on his folder, and his grandmother take hold of one of his hands; Harry was being watched outside the courtroom by an Auror who was friends with the Potter grandparents. As he gazed around the vast room, James's eyes fell on his blond professor again and he gazed straight into remorseful silver eyes. After a few moments of holding the gaze James looked away again and stared down at his lap; he could still feel the silver eyes on him though.

…

This was horrible. He was being interrogated by a complete idiot; how many damn times did he have to answer the same questions? How many times did he have to tell these people what his father had done to him while suffering the pervert leering at him?

James chewed his bottom lip, he was so nervous and so upset, did these people not have any compassion? He could see that Dumbledore was trying to calm the Wizengamot down but the bastard in charge seemed absolutely determined to break down every wall James had ever built up around himself.

"Mr. Potter, you became with child at the start of your fifth year, did you not?"

"Yes."

"How?"

James glared up at the man, Bartemius Crouch, Sr., he had a son a couple of years below James at school; apparently though, Barty Crouch had been a friend of his father's, "How the hell do you think?" he snapped, he'd had enough. Screw being polite. "I've already told you enough damn times! I somehow doubt you would want to continue talking about it if you had been through half of what I've been through!"

Crouch scowled down his nose at the defiant teenager, while both Dumbledore and Lucius had tiny looks of amusement on their faces. Henry and Elizabeth didn't know what to do or whether they should say anything to calm James down, but they really couldn't blame him, he had been through enough today.

"Where is this child?"

James continued glaring and he practically growled his reply out, "If you even look at my son I'll kill you."

Crouch was on his feet, "Are you threatening me?"

"Yes."

Crouch was silent for a few minutes but he finally spoke, "We will adjourn for today until young Mr. Potter has come to his senses."

"I'm not coming back."

Michael Potter was unchained from his chair and pulled to his feet by a couple of burly Aurors; as he was led towards the Dementors to be escorted out he gave a crazed smile to his son making sure to get the boy's attention, "Firecracker, aren't you, Jamie? Its what I always loved about you."

"You bastard…" muttered James; he watched, his level of anger rapidly rising as his father gave a wink and a lewd lick of his lips. At that, despite the amount of people around that could restrain him, James lunged at his father and knocked him down to the ground; the two Aurors didn't seem to care.

Michael, needless to say, was quite shocked to find a seventeen year old trying to throttle him, "Hungry for more, eh son?"

James wrenched back his right fist and punched his father hard in the face, making sure that nose got broken, and sure enough, blood began flowing freely as Michael cried out in pain. "How dare you-" he felt about three pairs of hands grab onto him and pull him away from the man on the floor. "Get off me!"

"Potter! Restrain yourself!" shouted Crouch; he stormed straight over to the angry teenager and spoke as he did so. "If you continue in this manner, you will be tried here for your actions-" he stopped dead when Henry Potter stood between him and James.

"You will stay away from my grandson, Crouch," he said in a very, almost scarily, calm voice. "He has every right to beat the life out of that bastard if he so chooses too, and you will not stop him." Crouch huffed and went to side step around Henry to get to James but the elder Potter got in the way again. "I said… Stay. Away."

As he watched his grandfather protect him from Crouch, James realised that one of the pairs of hands still trying to restrain him belonged to Lucius. He really wasn't sure if he wanted them there or not, in fact, he had half a mind to turn around and punch that face as well.

……

"How did it go?"

"Are you ok?"

"You look so pale!"

James flopped down onto his bed in the Gryffindor Seventh Year Boys' Dorm with Sirius, Remus and Lily all crowding around him on the bed as well. "It went…I don't ever want to go through that again…" he curled up on his left side and hugged his pillow.

"Give me your hand."

"What?"

"Your right hand, hold it out," ordered Lily, frowning slightly. "You're bruised up, what happened?" Sirius cracked his knuckles at that.

James let Lily check his hand out and he sighed, "I attacked him," he replied quietly. "The bastard started saying things to me again and I just lost it…I went for his throat. I punched him and before I could do anything else I was dragged away from him."

Sirius let out a low whistle, as Remus spoke, "They let you get away with it?"

James sat up again before Lily cast a healing charm on his hand, "Crouch wasn't going to let me, but…my granddad is pretty scary when he's pissed off."

"You're back pretty early."

James nodded, "Crouch adjourned because I couldn't control myself," he gave a humourless smile. "He didn't believe me…I could tell…"

"The evidence is pretty damn overwhelming," argued Remus, "I mean, why would you make it up?"

"I wouldn't," replied James, "Crouch and my father were friends at school…but I didn't think even he would side with a rapist."

Lily moved up beside him and put an arm around his shoulders, "Do you have to go back?"

James gave a little shrug, "I don't know, I said I wouldn't. Crouch'll probably make me just so I can suffer some more," he finished bitterly.

Sirius, in an attempt to change the subject even the tiniest bit, spoke up, "Was Malfoy there?"

James nodded, "Yeah, he was…"

………

They had Potions last lesson on Thursday and James couldn't wait to get out of there; he could feel he was being watched, not only by Lucius but also by other students. What had happened at his father's trial yesterday had made front page of the Daily Prophet today; he had heard whispering about it all day and he just forced himself to ignore it.

Finally though, the bell to signal the end of classes for today and rang and everyone started packing up their things.

"Make sure you leave no mess, you lot," said Lucius from where he was perched on his desk, his eyes sweeping around the classroom. "Potter, stay behind."

James sighed, he had been expecting that though he didn't want to stay and talk to Lucius.

Remus gave him a sympathetic look, "See you later."

A few minutes later the two were alone in the classroom; Lucius pointed his wand at the door and sealed it shut before indicating for James to follow him, knowing full well the teenager was deliberately refusing to say anything. Once the two of them were in his quarters he turned to James, and as he opened his mouth to speak, James spoke over him.

"I don't know why you're even bothering because I have nothing to say to you," said James as harshly as he could; he did however, drop his school bag to the floor and cross his arms.

Lucius sighed and nodded, "Understandable," he indicated for James to sit down but teen stubbornly shook his head; the blond sat down in his armchair though. "Will you at least hear me out?"

James sniffed and narrowed his eyes at the blond, "Why should I? I know what I saw, Professor, I don't need it explained to me."

Lucius raised an eyebrow, "No, I really think you do," his voice was more of a forced calm now. "You have the wrong end of the stick-don't argue-just listen to me," James continued glaring but he sat down opposite the blond. Lucius took a moment to gather his thoughts before looking James straight in the eye and continuing to speak, "That man you saw me with, is a family 'acquaintance', an 'acquaintance' who is uncertain of whether or not to follow the Dark Lord," he noticed he had James's undivided attention now. "Being that I have been spying on them and trying to keep in with the family, I was given the task to change his mind-"

"You didn't have to make out with him!"

Lucius sighed, "I did what I had to, James, you do not disobey a direct order from the Dark Lord, especially if you want your corpse in one piece when he's finished using you," he took a deep breath to keep himself calm, he really had hated seeing that look of complete heartbreak on James's face the other day. "Look, I'm sorry, James, I truly am… But if I am ordered to do things like that in the future I will not be backing out, I refuse to be killed for trying to do the right thing. It just so happens, doing as I am told will keep you and Harry safe, that is my main concern right now. Someone else found out and someone told; if you take nothing else away from this conversation at least take the warning to be careful."

James wrapped his arms across his stomach in an odd attempt to hug himself, he sniffed, "…How do I know you're telling me the truth? How do I know you weren't instructed to tell me that?"

Lucius sighed, "I guess you can't be sure," he got up and moved over to the chair that James was on and knelt down on the ground in front of the miserable teenager. "Have I ever lied to you before?" James shook his head, so he tentatively placed his hands on James's upper arms. "I never meant to hurt you…and… Well, you were never meant to see but I know that doesn't make it any better."

James glanced up through his flopped fringe, "Would you have told me if I didn't catch you?"

Lucius faltered a little but he kept his eyes fixed on James, "Perhaps not every detail, but then there are certain things that I have been asked to do that I would feel uncomfortable repeating to anyone."

James let some of his tears fall, he hadn't actually had a proper cry for a while considering what he had recently been through, "Will you tell me things from now on?"

Lucius put his hands up to James's face; he removed the glasses and used his thumbs to wipe away the tears, "If I do, would that mean I get to suffer your company every other night again?"

James managed a watery smile and a shaky nod of the head before he just broke down completely and threw his arms around Lucius's shoulders and neck; he buried his face against a shoulder and refused to let go.

Without removing James from him, Lucius managed to change their position so he was sitting in the armchair with the miserable teenager on his lap; he held James tight to him and ran his fingers through messy black hair. He tried to speak quiet comforting words in an effort to calm James down.

"I hate my life…" managed James between sniffs and sob against Lucius's shoulder.

"Sh," Lucius pressed a kiss to James's head. "Everything is going to get much better now."

James lifted his head so that he could see those intent silver eyes, "Promise?"

Lucius nodded his head, his eyes fixed on James's watering brown ones, "I promise," he pressed another kiss to James's forehead. "You are going to be the brave Gryffindor that I know you are and you are going to face this stuff head on. You are going to study hard and sit your NEWTs, all of which you will pass with Outstanding," James started to smiled. "You are then going to graduate from school with the knowledge that nothing is ever going to break you down again, and then you will spend plenty of time with Harry. You will also come and visit me as often as you wish and you will smile at least once every day. Are we understood, Mr. Potter?"

James couldn't help but give a proper big smile at that, "We are understood, Professor," he put his arms around Lucius's neck again and nuzzled the pale neck. "Does that visiting you involve staying the night?"

Lucius smiled and ran a hand gently up and down James's back, "If you wish it."

"Thank you."

"What for?"

James kept his head pressed against Lucius's neck, "Everything…for never turning away from me, even when I'm like this… Even when I've been wanting to beat the shit out of you the last few days…"

"You are very welcome."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Author's Note: Something tells me this penultimate chapter could very well surpass the size of the final chapter… I hope you liked this one, took two days to write, and its 2:30am now.

Next Chapter: FINAL. NEWTs. Talk of the Future and what it holds. Final Verdict of Michael Potter's trial. Fluff. Harry. Will Lucius and James say 'I love you'?

Now, I probably won't be adding this (unless you, the reviewers, convince me otherwise), but do you think Lucius and James would sleep together before they both leave Hogwarts for the summer?

Woah, over 5500 words…this is one of the longest chapters I have written in ages!\

Any takers for a sequel? I certainly think one could be written, or follow up chapters all the characters...