the next day deago went down to the great hall for breakfast. it was almost empty and only one table was in the middle of the room, hosting harry potter, nevil and luna and also it looked like harrys friends. it was of course the christmas holidays...he walked over and sat oposite harry, shoveling some food onto his plate and looking up to greet his fathers most hated enemy with a smile "hey harry" harry rose a brow at him "arnt you a slytherin?"

"yea...why?"

"i thought slytherins hated gryffindoors" deago shrugged "im only in slytherin because i have to be" he looked up at the teachers table to see both albus and snape watching him closely. he nodded up at them and turned back to harry "my names deago, nice to meet you" he held his hand out for a handshake. harry hesitated before taking his hand and shaking it "nice to meet you..." he returned to eating his meal as did deago..but he didnt eat, he hated christmas purely because of the thought other young adults such as himself would be receiving presents, having parties, fun...he poked his food with a misserable expression only to be tapped on the shoulder. he looked up to see harry trying to make eye contact "you ok?"

"yea...fine. just not hungry..." he sighed and stood up, walking from the hall dejectedly.

he sat looking out at the water, throwing rocks at the frozen winter lake and sitting in the snow. gods he was cold but he didnt care, it was nothing compared to most other things hed been through. the crunch of snow behind him alerted him that someone was there, he didnt care at the moment, from the sounds of it it was a male, bigger feet obviously. "deago" came dumbledores voice "why dont you come up to my office for some tea?" he said with a genuine smile. deago turned to look at him and stood up "fine..."

they entered the office and deago realised how cold he was, hed even turned a bluish colour. he collapsed into a seat and hugged himself, shivering violently. "incendo!" cried dumbledore and the fire set alight. fawks flew over and landed on deagos knee, warming him considerably. he blinked and stroked the birds head "wow...is this fawks?"

"indeed, how did you know about him?" albus asked, looking over his spectacles curiously

"father told me about him, he said...uh..that you had a phoenix that protected you and stuff" the boy said as the bird nuzzled his arm. "i didnt expect fawks would like you to much because of your bloodline but i was infact wrong!" he said happily and took a seat oposite the boy "care for a lemon drop?" deago shook his head and looked back to the phoenix on his lap

"hogsmead tommorow, do you have a form to go?" deago shook his head and looked away "what do you think? father isnt going to sign it is he? yours sincerely lord voldemort" he growled "personaly i dont care if i go or not"

dumbledore rested a hand on his arm "im sure something can be arranged, turn up at the meeting point tommorow if you wish to go" he said with a smile. a knock sounded on the door "come in" the old man beckoned and severus entered, narrowing his eyes at deago "whats the meaning of this?"

"the boy was out in the cold, that is all"

snape nodded, glaring down at the boy "i saw you and harry conversing earlier" albus said with a curious smile

"yea hes ok, i never spoke to him before-" he sipped his tea "dont know what father has against him really" he yawned. dumbledore stood and slapped snape on the shoulder with a pleasant laugh "merlin, how did voldemort bring up such a wonderful boy?"

"i brought myself up" deago laughed and finished his tea, stomach growling "ah i remember

you didnt have any breakfast, severus will you take the boy to your office and see that he gets some breakfast" severus sneered, stopping himself from retorting, one the boy could tell his father and two albus would get angry. he turned and walked out the room swiftly, beckoning the boy.

they reached the dungeons and then the proffesors office, walking in only to continue to a book case where he cast a silent spell. the book case slid aside, revealing dark living quarters, not very well taken care of. a pair of battered old seats sat near the fire which was already lit. they entered and the book case closed behind them. "Sit and ring the bell on the mantle peice" the proffesor sneered before going to sit at his desk, writting on parchment and keeping himself busy, away from his masters son. the boy did as he was told and sat by the fire, ringing a small gold and black bell. a small flap in the wall flung open and a house elf rushed in "mr snape s- oh!" the elf stuttered "what is you doing in mr, snapes living quaters sir?"

"hes here courtesy of dumbledore" snape snapped from his corner. "o-oh"

"whats your name?" deago asked the elf, receiving a supprised expression from the small elf "i is...hinkle sir...can hinkle be being of service sir?"

"sure...just get me some dinner, i dont mind what i get" the elf nodded and disapeared through the door as quickly as he came.

Deago sighed, it would be a while before his dinner arrived. he looked over at his teacher with a smile but was blatantly ignored. he thought a moment, trying to think of conversation "thankyou for you hospitality sir" he said brightly, snape turning to look at him with an unreadable expression. clearly wondering what the boy was trying to say, no one had thanked him for years other than albus. "i know this isnt easy for you and you didnt want to do it and i do know you only did it because of who my father is"

snapes eyes narrowed, this boy was talented with seeing the truth like his father "what do you want from me?"

"nothing...well you could atleast sit with me" snape walked over and sat reluctantly in the seat oposite the boy, sneering at him "why may i ask do you want me to sit with you?" he spat angrily

"cause i wanna talk to you?"

"about what?"

"uh..." deago though "umn"

"spit it out"

"would you help me get my potions grades up? im not doing too well at the moment as you might of noticed..."

"you want private lessons?"

"yea, i do want to live until im 20 you know"

snapes expression softened, hed had bad parents but voldemort must be...the worst father, how did the boy cope? he must admit he admired the boy for his strength.."very well"

"really? thanks!" he smiled weakly before slumping back into the chair, looking up at the ceiling with a sigh, expression becoming sad in a matter of secconds "whats wrong?" snape asked, not believeing his own words

"i hate christmas" the boy looked over at the fire with a wince "everyones happy and gets presents and spends time with their friends and families...i guess im just complaining about nothing...i just...get jealous is all" he looked down at his feet. snape leant forwards, resting a hand on the boys arm "i know how you feel, i truly do...to a degree atleast" deago smiled up at him "thanks...it makes me feel better to know im not alone" snape leant back into his chair again, watching the boy with a sympathetic smile...completely out of his usual train of thought. he snapped out of it as the house elf arrived with deagos breakfast.

once hed eaten his breakfast he left the males presance, he felt better than before but still somewhat uncomfortable. he walked outside to see harry, ron and hermiony throwing snowballs at eachother and laughing...friends, what hed give for friends but being a slytherin and a good person didnt get you any friends. he watched them a moment, walking towards the lake with his head lowered after harry had caught him watching them. he sat down by a dead tree, looking out at the ice when a snow ball hit the back of his head. he turned to see harry grinning at him mischiviously, all his friends watching to see what would happen. deago laughed and rolled a ball of snow in his hands, throwing it and hitting harrys chest as he ran for cover. after 15 minutes of icy balls of snow being thrown about wildly they gave in. deago collapsed to the ground in his t-shirt...in the snow. the three friends exchanged looks "arnt you cold?" ron asked, eyebrows risen high. deago shrugged "you get used to it"

deago stood up and they walked together. the male watched harry "why you being so nice to me anyway? im a slytherin" the friends shrugged "you dont seem like the rest of them" harry said and smilled sheepishly. deago smiled a little but looked away "whats wrong?"

"harry, ron, hermiony we do...need to talk. if your going to be freinds with me then..well there is something you should know"

"and i can help you with that" they all looked up to see dumbledore "looks like its back to my office again deago" he chuckled and guided them to his office. silently they entered and all took a seat on the sofa, deago nervously looking at his feet.

"tea?" the old man asked

"no thanks" they all replied in unison

"to put it simply. deago is the dark lords son"

the three friends gasped and looked instantly at deago who had his wand out, pointed at harry "i dont want any trouble" he stated firmly. harry, who had his own wand trained on deago as did his freinds who didnt move. deago reached down and placed his wand carefuly on the ground "see?" . harry glanced over at dumbledore who gave him a reasuring nod. they put their wands away. deago picked his wand up again and put it away, standing and leaving the room hastily with tears in his eyes.