A/N: I want to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I was really surprised when I checked my email. Responses to reviews will be at the end of the chapter. As you will notice in this chapter Cale has officially become Harry and I have stopped calling him by his true name. I felt it was too confusing to do otherwise.
Chapter 2- The Journey to Hogwarts
This was the scene that James and Severus walked in on the following morning when they went to get the boys up. Both boys still had an arm draped across the others waist. Sometime during the night the hand that both boys had had by their head had found the others and their fingers had intertwined. James and Severus quickly walked back out of the room.
"Do you think we should tell them?" James asked quietly as he closed the door.
"No. I still think it is too early. I don't think that anything happened beyond them comforting each other." James gave Severus a questioning look at this comment.
"Draco has been worried about what may happen when they arrive at Hogwarts. He doesn't want to be separated from Cale by being in different houses. He's afraid that house rivalries will interfere with their friendship. And after what we told Cale last night it would only stand to reason that he would need the comfort Draco could give him." James just nodded at his husbands comment. They silently made their way back into their son's room and woke the boys up.
Two hours later found them on their way to Kings Cross Station so the boys could catch the Hogwarts Express. Once there they quickly found trolleys and loaded their trunks onto them. They made their way to the barrier to platform 9 ¾. James was pushing Cale's trolley while Severus was pushing Draco's. Just before they entered the barrier, James turned to face both boys.
"Harry, Draco, I just want to remind you how imperative it is that this is kept secret, at least for now." Both boys just nodded. James turned back to the barrier and went through closely followed by the others.
The platform was rather crowded with other families sending their children off to school. James and Severus quickly found an empty compartment and helped the boys to load their trunks. Cale turned around to give James and Severus a hug but stopped himself just as he was about to reach out to his father. Severus just nodded at him. He knew his son wanted to give him a hug good-bye but wasn't going to because of the current circumstances.
"We'll see you both tonight. Behave yourselves." Severus said, sending his son a look of love and apology. The boys nodded and stepped back onto the train. They were soon on their way to Hogwarts.
Xxx
"You know Dray, this is going to be really hard. I can't even talk to my father now. The only time I'm going to be able to see him is in class." Harry said sadly.
"I know Harry, but we'll get through this." They sat silently for a few minutes staring out the window at the passing scenery. The silence was broken by the sound of the compartment door opening. Harry and Draco both looked up to see a pair of red-headed twins enter the compartment. They were both tall and skinny though they appeared to be the same age as Harry and Draco.
"Uh... Hi. Do you guys mind if we sit here?" one of the twins asked.
"Of course not." Harry and Draco said together. They grinned at each other as the twins sat down.
"I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I'm Evan Weasley and this is my twin Ron." All four boys shook hands.
"I'm Draco Malfoy and this is my best friend, Harry Potter." Draco said introducing himself and Harry.
"Nice to meet both of you. So what house do you guys think you'll end up in?" Ron asked.
"Both of my parents were in Slytherin. So were a lot of other members of my family. I kinda figure I'll end up there though it doesn't really matter to me what house I end up in." Draco said.
"The same goes for me as far as not caring what house I end up in. I'd like to be in the same house as Draco but one of my parents was a Gryffindor while the other one was a Slytherin." Harry told them.
"Both of our parents and our older brothers and sister were in Gryffindor so we figure we're a shoe in for the same house." Evan told Harry and Draco.
"How many brothers and sisters do you have?" Harry asked curiously.
"We have 5 older brothers, one older sister, and one younger sister." Ron answered. Draco and Harry looked at each other slightly shocked.
"Mum and Dad wanted a large family and I guess they didn't know when to stop." Evan said flushing slightly.
"Are all of your older brothers and your older sister attending Hogwarts?" Draco asked very curious now.
"No, our older sister and 2 eldest brothers have already graduated. Actually they're all 3 coming to teach this year." At that moment the compartment door opened again. Standing in the door were two boys. The first one that entered the compartment had sandy-colored hair, was a bit shorter than Harry, and had a big grin on his face. The boy standing just behind him was nearly as tall as Ron and Evan and had dark skin and hair.
"Hey Uncle Ron, Uncle Evan. Do you mind if we sit in here?" the sandy-haired boy asked.
"Seamus, you know we don't like it when you call us that. We don't mind if you sit with us. Is that okay with you, Harry, Draco?" Evan asked looking over at the boys who were looking at him and Ron in shock. Both boys nodded their heads and the two new occupants flopped into seats.
The boys heard a clattering in the hallway. The witch with the lunch trolley opened the door and asked if they wanted anything. They all bought some candy and pumpkin pasties and were settling back to enjoy them when Draco spoke.
"So, do you guys want to explain why he called you 'uncle'?" Draco asked looking at Ron and Evan. They were about to explain when the door opened again. This time it was a girl with slightly bushy brown hair.
"Ron, Evan, there you guys are. I've been up and down the train trying to find you. How've you been?" the girl asked closing the door and taking a seat next to Ron.
"Hey Hermione. We've been good. How about you?" Evan asked.
"Not bad." She looked around the compartment at the other 4 boys sitting there. "Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Hermione Granger." The boys went around and introduced themselves as well. Draco and Harry learned that the boy who had called Ron and Evan his uncles was named Seamus Finnigan. The black boy that had come in with him was Dean Thomas.
Draco was about to ask again why Seamus had called Ron and Evan his uncles when the door opened for the 5th time. Standing in the doorway was a boy the same height as Draco and Harry with lightly tanned skin and silky black hair that just brushed his shoulders.
"Blaise!" Draco exclaimed, jumping up from his seat to pull the other boy into the compartment. Harry moved into another seat so that Draco and Blaise could sit across from each other and catch up. Harry knew that next to him, Blaise was Dray's best friend. He had been to Malfoy Manor a few times and had seen the boy around occasionally.
"Hey Drake. How've you been? Seems like forever since I last saw you." Blaise said taking the seat Harry had vacated. Blaise glanced over to Harry. "I think I've seen you around the Manor a few times. We've never been properly introduced though." Blaise and Harry both shot a glance at Draco.
"Blaise Zabini meet my other best friend, Harry Potter. I've told you some about him I'm sure." At this Harry gave Draco a questioning look to which Draco gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.
Draco knew what Harry's silent question had been. Had he told Blaise his true identity and parentage? But he hadn't. Draco had been told several times when he was younger to not mention that his Uncle Sev and Uncle James were married to each other. Because of this Draco had never even given Blaise Harry's real name.
"Of course. It's nice to finally meet you Harry." Blaise said extending his hand.
"And you as well." Harry replied taking Blaise's hand and giving it a firm shake. Blaise looked around at the others in the compartment and another round of introductions was made.
"O.k. Now will you explain what Seamus meant earlier when he called you guys uncle?" Draco asked when everyone had finally been introduced.
"Well to make a long and boring story short, our oldest sister is his step-mum. So, technically, yes, we are his uncles, but since we are the same age we prefer him not to call us that. He does it just to annoy us." Evan replied.
After Evan's explanation the talk turned to Quidditch and the coming school term. Harry, who was sitting by the window, had tuned everyone else out and was staring out the window. Draco motioned for Blaise to switch seats with him so that he could sit beside Harry and talk to him.
"Hey Harry, what's the matter mate?" Draco asked quietly so as to not draw attention to the two of them.
"Just wondering if I'm going to be able to speak to my father at all this year. I mean outside of him being a professor." came the equally quiet response. Draco nodded and sat in silence for a few minutes.
"I'm sure we'll think of something." he said finally. Harry nodded in response and then tuned back into the conversation around him. The rest of the afternoon flew by and before they knew it they had arrived at Hogsmeade Station. The first years had been instructed to leave all their luggage on the train so the group of 8 quickly got off the train.
"First years, over here." they heard a loud voice yell. At the other end of the platform was a very large man with bushy black hair and a beard. Once all of the first years had gathered around him he said, "Right then, follow me."
They were led down a dark, slippery path that came out at the edge of a lake. On the bank sat a small fleet of boats. On the other side of the lake high up on a cliff sat Hogwarts Castle. All of its windows were lit showing all the different towers and turrets of the castle. There were a few 'ooh's' and 'ahh's' as the man leading them spoke once again.
"Four to a boat." Harry and Draco quickly climbed into a boat followed by Ron and Evan. Once everyone was in, the large man commanded all the boats forward. The boats moved forward across the lake silently and a few minutes later they had reached what appeared to be an opening in the cliff face that was covered by ivy. Once again the loud voice boomed out from behind them.
"Duck." And so they did. The boats moved through the ivy and at last reached the other shore. Everyone climbed out of the boats and followed the man up a set of stairs to a door where he knocked 3 times.
The door opened slowly and when the person standing on the other side came into view, Harry gave a small gasp and then nudged Draco with his elbow. Draco looked up and gave a small smile to the man standing in the doorway. James Snape, no, James Potter, Draco reminded himself, looked down and flashed a quick grin at Harry and Draco before leading the first years into a chamber just off to the side of the vast entrance hall.
"Welcome to Hogwarts first years. I am Professor Potter. In a few minutes I will be leading you in to join the rest of the school. Before you will be allowed to take a seat in the Great Hall, however, you must be sorted into a house. There are 4 houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Now keep this mind, anytime you break rules you will probably end up losing house points. At the end of the school term the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. Now, I need to go check that everything is ready. Smarten yourselves up best you can and I'll be right back." As soon as the professor had left the six people that had ridden with Harry and Draco turned to look at Harry.
"Hey Harry, is that your dad?" Blaise asked the question that was on everyone's mind. Harry just nodded.
"Did you know he was going to be teaching? Do you know what he's teaching?" Ron and Evan asked together. The others laughed.
"Yes, I knew he was going to be teaching. As for what he's teaching, he never told me. Do you know what your dad and Uncle Sev are teaching, Draco?" Harry asked turning to the blonde.
"No, they never told me. What about you, Ron and Evan? Did your bothers and sister tell you what they would be teaching?" Ron and Evan just shook their heads no. At that moment James came back into the room.
"All right, everyone, follow me." And he led the first years into the Great Hall.
Xxx
A/N: Sorry for Hagrid's accent. I did not want to attempt it so for my story he does not have one.
Puppy Kicker, starangel2106: I'm gald that you find this story interesting. Thank you for the review.
Methoslover: Again I'm glad you like the story. As for the chapters being longer, some may be longer than others. I just write a chapter until I find a place that seems like a good ending. Most of the chapters are between 5-6 pages on word.
Hogwarts Fallen Angel: You are right about the house. As for your question as much as I would like to answer it, it would ruin the surprise in the next chapter.
Nyoka Li: Glad you like it. As for the beta thing, I barely have time to get this posted much less type it for a beta. I appreciate the offer though. Yes, Dumbledore is the bad guy here. You will get to see just how bad in a couple of chapters. As for the idea, it is not mine alone. My sister and I are working on this together. We came up with it together. As much as I wish I could say it is fully developed I must admit it is not. This is a WIP, thats why it has been three weeks since I last updated.