Thank you to all of my pat re on supporters with special thanks to the awesome people Ibuki Mioda, SvenGTX and Jack Schriner. Chapters 8 & 9 are already posted there. For those interested /Lowten on that sight will take you to the page. if you wait till Saturday to join you will get not only the next two chapters but the next four before being charged anything.

Chapter 7

Only after Harry's second Halloween in a row where nothing went wrong did Harry start to relax. He and Hermione were still trying to work out where Tom would have hidden the last horcrux, but they were also able to focus on their schoolwork for a bit. Harry was having fun learning about runes; it really was an interesting subject. As Hermione didn't need to study for her classes, she didn't actually need the time turner, especially as she wasn't putting in the effort in muggle studies and Divination. Of course the two of them did actually use the time turner, but it was mostly so Hermione could have some free time. They did some prep for their planned trip at Easter, as Hermione had Harry brewing enough potions to last the two of them a week. However, there actually wasn't a lot of preparation they could do at school, though they both had a list of things they needed to do over Christmas.

One thing neither Harry or Hermione noticed (but was noticed by a number of other people) was that they had gotten closer. It wasn't uncommon to find the two of them cuddled up together on one of the Gryffindor sofas near the fire. Even when they were completely ignoring each other while doing something else, they were still touching each other. Nothing inappropriate, but they would lean into each other or use each other as a pillow or foot rest. According to Lavender Brown, even when they sat at the table together, nearly always one of their knees or elbows would be in contact with the other.

It had gotten to the point that the Weasley twins had opened a book on the date and time of their first kiss and their first declaration of love. Some people wanted to bet on when Harry and Hermione would become a couple, but others argued that the two were already together. Seeing as working out a winner to that bet would be difficult, the twins decided against running that particular bet. That didn't mean that they didn't have a lot of bets; even a few of the professors had placed bets on when the couple would have their first kiss.

Christmas was different for Harry this year. He had experienced Christmas at the Dursleys, being locked away and being ignored. He had experienced Christmas at Hogwarts: presents, a few well wishes and dinner. In the previous timeline he had even experienced a Weasley Christmas, an explosion of noise and chaos where Mrs. Weasley tried to get everyone to eat their weight in food. Christmas with Sirius this year was just the two of them, the same as last year, but this year it felt like there was something missing. The two of them exchanged gifts, Sirius had gone over the top again getting Harry a dragon leather jacket, a full set of new high-quality Quidditch armour, a professional level practice snitch, and the new top of the line Firebolt broom. They had a dinner of roast goose (a turkey being far too big for the two of them and Kreacher) with all the trimmings. After dinner Sirius side-alonged Harry to a Quidditch stadium in London that let the public in to fly when it wasn't being used for a game or a team practice. Harry spent the two and a half hours just having fun pushing his new broom to its limits while Sirius joined him on Harry's old Nimbus.

The day after Christmas, Harry had a chance and took it. Sirius had had a lot to drink after they got back from flying and he was sleeping late with a bad case of bottle flu. Harry took the opportunity to use the fireplace in the kitchen and Floo'ed to the Leaky Cauldron. The pub was deserted and there were closed shutters over the bar, as it was the day after Christmas and only about 7:30 in the morning. The Floo only remained open because it was the access to Diagon Alley. Harry slipped out of the back door as quietly as he could, he didn't want to disturb anyone who was still sleeping. He tapped his wand in the sequence he remembered to open the wall and he was in Diagon Alley.

There were a few people in the alley, mostly shop owners who were getting their stores ready. The day after Christmas was always a busy one, with people spending money they had been given the day before and others exchanging presents for various reasons. Harry wasn't particularly interested in the shops, though, he was here to visit Gringotts. The white marble building opened earlier than most of the shops, so Harry made his way up the stairs and into the bank. One advantage to getting here so early was there was only one other customer in the bank, and Harry was able to see a goblin straight away.

Harry took a trip to his vault and took out 400 galleons, and then converted half of his gold into British pounds. If he was being honest, Sirius probably wouldn't have said anything if Harry had said he was going to the bank, but as the money was for the Easter trip he didn't want Sirius getting curious, especially as Harry had just pulled the equivalent of almost £2'000 out of his vault. He and Hermione didn't think they would need that much money, but they didn't want to be in a position where they needed the money and did not have it. Their biggest planned expense on the trip was food, Hermione said that spending money in the local shops to buy the things they need would likely be noticed in a small village. Harry was way overestimating how much they would need, but who knew what hidden costs they would come across that they didn't expect?

-ϟϟϟ-

Hermione was happy to spend Christmas with her parents. They went to visit family during the holiday, and it was good to see her extended family again, though she was missing Harry a bit. She had gotten lucky during one trip, her parents had stopped into a motorway service station to refuel the car and to get a cup of tea. There was a shop nearby selling more local map books from all over the UK and she was able to get a street map of Little Hangleton.

Christmas day was nice, with a traditional Granger family Christmas. She had gotten a lot of clothes from her parents and a wind-up pocket watch, as the magic around Hogwarts meant that her digital watch was almost useless. They also gave her some money to spend on books, as they couldn't get into Diagon Alley to get books without her taking them through the Leaky Cauldron.

The day after Christmas, Harry came over for a visit, riding the bike he had received from Sirius last year. When she saw him, Hermione rushed over and gave him a hug before pulling him into the house. Harry said hello to her parents and chatted for a few minutes before he and Hermione retreated to her room.

Hermione was surprised when Harry pushed what looked like almost £500 into her hand and 100 galleons. Before She could say anything and ask why Harry started talking "it's half of the money I got out for the Easter fact finding mission. I thought we should each hold half."

"Harry this is way more than we need for what we are doing. We only need about £200 for everything and a few galleons for the Knight Bus, so I think we will be bringing more than half the money back with us." Hermione said, exasperated that he would just give her so much money to look after.

"I know Hermione, but what if there is a problem with putting up the tent and we need to get a hotel room? What if the only way to get the information we need is to bribe someone? We can always use the money for something else later. Or I can put what's left back in my vault," Harry said, and Hermione admitted that it made sense at least for the muggle money. She still didn't see the point of having so much gold, but didn't want to argue about it. She would just keep it safe and give it back to him once they were done. She then showed Harry the map book she had found and bookmarked. It would be a big help, as Harry remembered that the Gaunt shack was off a country road, and while the map showed there were a few of them it would help them organise their search.

With business out of the way, Hermione pulled them back to what she thought Harry was here for originally. She pulled a warped present from her trunk and handed it to Harry with a happy "Merry Christmas." Harry blushed, realising that he had committed a slight faux pas. Harry removed the bright red paper from the present, revealing a wand holster designed to be worn on his forearm. It was made of dragon leather which caused Harry to smile. "Thank you Hermione, I love it."

"Well, considering what happened with your wand, it seemed like a good idea," Hermione replied, thinking of the event that brought them to the past.

Harry handed Hermione her present, wrapped in a powder blue that was pretty close to her favourite periwinkle blue. Hermione pulled the paper off to reveal a brown dragon leather book bag. She read the card that was still attached to the bag that listed the enchantments on it: an undetectable extension charm on the main pocket (letting it hold a lot more books), cushioning and protection charms to protect whatever was stored inside, and the whole thing was charmed to be light as a feather even when full of books. Hermione threw her arms around Harry for the second time in under twenty minutes and this time refused to let go for a full five minutes, by which time Harry was calling her an "insatiable cuddle monster". However, this only caused Hermione to laugh.

After that they returned to the kitchen, where they pulled out their homework and had each other look it over, not to correct the work they had done but because they went too far sometimes and included information that wouldn't be taught for a few more years. After all, they were halfway through the N.E.W.T.s when they had gone on the run, and had done a lot of the reading for their final year over the last few years.

-ϟϟϟ-

After Christmas was almost a non event at Hogwarts; in contrast to the Dementors of Harry's first time living this year, the biggest school drama for Harry was Quidditch. About a week after the students had returned to school, Harry had taken his broom with him down to breakfast. Wood had heard about the new broom from Harry's dorm mates and he had called for a team practice, ostensibly so they could get accustomed to the change in broom. However, as Harry played seeker and the seeker didn't interact much with other players besides staying out of their way and dodging bludgers hit at them, it was obvious that Wood was just fanboying over the broom and wanted to see it fly.

The Quidditch captain wasn't the only person who went nuts over the broom. Once the twins laid eyes on it, they insisted that it be given pride of place on the table where everyone could admire it. Of course, this drew the attention of people from other houses, and some looked impressed at the broom while others looked dejected as they saw their House's chance at winning the Quidditch Cup die in front of them

Eventually the crowd drew the attention of the blond ferret and he came over for his latest attempt at bravado. "What's this, Potter, you got a new broom, decided to copy me by getting the 2001?"

"Nope, I didn't get a Nimbus 2001." Harry said, sounding bored but Hermione and a few others could see in his eyes he was anything but.

"Don't tell me you got a Cleansweep. You'd do better on the outdated Nimbus you ride," Malfoy finished with a snort of derision.

"I didn't get a Cleansweep either," Harry said with a slight smile that some might have called a smirk.

Getting impatient, Draco demanded, "Well what did you get then, some piece of foreign trash?"

Harry considered baiting Draco once more but decided against it. He reached over and turned the Firebolt so that the name was visible to Malfoy. Malfoy leaned in and read the inscription, and Harry was able to see the exact moment that Malfoy understood what he was looking at. His eyes widened and his face lost what little colour it had. Hermione, who was a little bitter at Malfoy's constant comments about her blood and parentage, said, "What was it you were saying about the Firebolt, Harry? That it's over twenty miles per hour faster than the Nimbus 2001?"

"Twenty-two miles per hour faster and it reaches its top speed twenty-eight percent faster as well."

Seeing what Harry was doing to Malfoy, Ronald who was sitting near them joined in. "And the Firebolt has vastly improved handling compared to the Nimbus. Able to take tight turns at a much higher speed."

Malfoy stormed off, much to the laughter of the Gryffindors. Even the people from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw smiled as they saw Harry's chance to beat Slytherin, who were favourites this year only because the full team were all riding Nimbus 2001s, the fastest broom on the market until the Firebolt took the top spot.

A few minutes later, Snape came striding over to the table. "Potter, Mr. Malfoy tells me you plan to use a Firebolt in your upcoming Quidditch matches. This constitutes an unfair advantage, and to prevent such cheating I will be confiscating this broom."

He reached across Harry and the table to grab the broom, but Harry slid in front of him and, while looking him dead in the face, said "No!"

Snape was taken aback by this, but only a few seconds later the dungeon bat was off on one. "Why you arrogant piece of filth! I am your professor and you will respect my authority and hand over that broom."

Harry stood his ground. "A professor who is abusing his authority to cheat," he said calmly.

"THAT'S IT!" Snape was yelling now. "YOU WILL BE IN DETENTION EVERY NIGHT FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR!"

The shouting had, of course, caught the attention of Professor McGonagall (and everyone else on the grounds of the school), and the lioness of Gryffindor came striding over. "Mr. Potter, what have you done this time?"

"Nothing to warrant even a single detention, professor." Harry said and all the students, even the few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws that were still around, started to agree with Harry.

"What exactly did you do, Mr. Potter?" Snape went to jump in but McGonagall cut him off. "I asked Mr. Potter first, Severus, you will have the opportunity to give your side as well."

"Well, professor, I was sitting here enjoying my breakfast before Quidditch practice, and people were admiring the broom I got from my godfather for Christmas," Harry indicated the Firebolt. "Malfoy comes over and has a look, then goes to speak to Snape-

"Professor Snape," Professor McGonagall corrected him.

"Less than two minutes later professor Snape," Harry made the word professor sound like a question, "came over and tried to confiscate my broom for no reason."

"I gave you my reasoning Potter." Snape snapped at him.

Harry nodded. "Yes, you did. You said that my broom was too good for me to be allowed to use it, then tried to take it because I couldn't be trusted to follow a rule you made up on the spot just to suit yourself."

Snape started to shout at Harry, but Professor McGonagall cut him off. "Is that true Severus?"

"That broom is far too much of an advantage over the other teams. It's nothing but cheating."

"Strange you didn't have that opinion last year when your whole team was given Nimbus 2001s. If you go forward with this ban, it will apply to the 2001s as well. Plus, you can't confiscate a broom when a rule hasn't been broken yet. Now what are the two terms worth of detention for?"

"Because I said no when he tried to take my broom," Harry told McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall gave Snape a glare and said, "Mr. Potter, 5 points from Gryffindor for back talking to a teacher. In future you are to keep a civil tongue and then come speak with me. You will not need to serve detention over this. Severus, follow me. Now." And McGonagall walked out of the hall with Snape following her, leaving a hall full of stunned students in their wake, including Harry who didn't even think to tell the professor that he had been calm and civil.

-ϟϟϟ-

The match with the Slytherins was a week before the Easter holidays, and between Hermione wanting to go over their plans for their trip and Wood who was pushing for them to spend every waking hour on the pitch running drills, Harry was ready for everything to be over with. The team had finally gotten a two day break just before the match, but only because the entire team had threatened to quit if Wood didn't calm down. It gave them all at least a chance to rest their muscles so that the morning of the match, instead of screaming muscles that would have been an obstacle, they were only a little stiff and easily taken care of with a little stretching.

Woods's pregame speech was the same as the one he gave before every match, and Angelina, Alicia and Katie all took the piss which was as much tradition at this point as the speech itself was. Harry picked up his Firebolt, followed his team out of the changing room, and out onto the pitch. After the argument with Snape in January, nothing more was said about his broom being too good. Personally, Harry thought that Snape didn't have the guts to tell his Death Eater buddy Lucius Malfoy that the 14'000 galleons he had spent on the brooms for the Slytherin Quidditch team was going to be wasted because of a ban on broomsticks that were too good.

Wood shook the hand of the Slytherin's captain Flint (and the two looked like they were trying to break the other's hand), but they soon went back with their team. Madam Hooch sent the red ball straight up with a flick of her wand, and as one the fourteen players kicked off from the ground and rose into the air. The two keepers shot for their goals and Harry flew high to start the search for the snitch. Angelina shot forward to snatch the quaffle from the Slytherin chaser who had got to it first.

Lee Jordan's commentary echoed around the stadium. "OK, and Potter is flying a Firebolt today. According to Witch Broomstick the Firebolt is the broomstick for the Quidditch World Cup this year. All the national teams are doing everything they can to get their hands on one, and who wouldn't? The Firebolt is capable of going from nought to one hundred and fifty miles per hour in ten seconds. This broomstick also boasts an unbreakable Braking Charm, superb balance and precision, and it even hovers at reasonable mounting height when let go. Personally, I'd sell my kidney for one but I don't think my kidney is worth enough to cover the cost of one. According to the captain of the English tea-"

Jordan's commentary was cut off by Professor McGonagall's voice. "Mr. Jordan, you are here to commentate on Quidditch, not to advertise Firebolts. Do the job properly or I'll find someone who will."

"Right-O professor, let's go. OK, Spinnet of Gryffindor has the quaffle, she passes it to Bell, who zips it back to Spinnet, who passes - no, it was a feint, she speeds towards the Slytherin goals. She dodges a bludger, didn't see who it was hit by. Tackled by Warrington, Slytherin now in position, passes to Flint who passes to Montague, and it's intercepted by Bell. Nice bit of team work there from the Gryffindor beaters forcing Montague out of possession after Flint had already thrown the quaffle.

"Bell makes a break for the Slytherin goals. Flint is pursuing and he has the broom advantage but Bell is a much lighter load for her broom to lug around. Flit catches up to Bell and - Foul, Foul! That dirty stinking cheat. Madam Hooch blows up and awards Gryffindor a penalty after the Slytherin captain shoulder-charges Bell, almost knocking her from her broom. Bell takes the penalty aaaaand Gryffindor scores! It's 10 points to Gryffindor and no points yet for the dirty cheats."

Professor McGonagall cut in again and admonished Lee for unprofessional commentary, but Harry wasn't paying attention any more. It looked like Slytherin was planning for a rough game. Here was proof that Flint wasn't a good captain, in Harry's opinion. The goal of their strategy was simple: if your opponent flinched when you approached, you had an advantage, but this was a Gryffindor team. The defining trait of the team was that they charged forward. Any statergist with two brain cells wouldn't have chosen this tactic against Gryffindor, and that said everything Harry needed to know about Flint. Harry turned his attention back to finding the snitch. the sooner he caught it the less of a pounding his teammates would need to endure.

Luck wasn't on Harry's side, however, and the match stretched on as an hour went by. Gryindor was leading 110 to 60, but most of the points had come off penalties. While Gryffindor's lead was steadily increasing, they were still far from the magic number of 160 points to guarantee a win no matter who got the snitch. The girls had taken a beating from the Slytherin chasers, and Harry was seriously considering letting them in on the secret of the Room of Requirement; a hot tub would be perfect for them after this match.

Then, Harry saw something, and had to look twice. Once he was sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing, he burst into laughter. He turned his broom and shot straight at Malfoy, who saw Harry coming at him at speed and turned to speed away from him. Harry could tell Malfoy had no clue where the snitch was, and was obviously making a guess based on the direction Harry was flying, so he just continued to follow Malfoy. Malfoy was fast, but Harry was faster. The blond was quickly running out of the playing field and would soon be hitting the stands, and he was looking around for the snitch as well as checking that Harry was still following him.

Malfoy ran out of room to not crash into the stands, so he went down and to the right, barely missing the stadium wall. The blond looked back at Harry again to see where he had gone, but was surprised and a little scared to see that Harry was still following him and gaining. The Slytherin was obviously thinking that Harry hadn't seen the snitch and was just charging him down, but Harry remained focused on the glint of gold that was sitting in the twigs of Malfoy's broom. Malfoy started to sway and bank trying to shake Harry off, but the Firebolt had much better handling than the Nimbus 2001. Once Harry was close enough, he poked his hand into the mass of twigs that the snitch was hidden in and grabbed the walnut-sized ball, winning Gryffindor the match by 200 hundred points and almost guaranteeing them the Quidditch Cup this year.

The stands went wild, and Harry was soon drawn into the team celebrations. Malfoy tried to claim Harry had broken a rule by touching his broom, but as Madam Hooch explained, there was an exception in the rules allowing a seeker to retrieve a snitch from wherever it was hiding. The party in the Gryffindor common room that evening was legendary. McGonagall came to break them up at 1:30 in the morning, but actually decided to join them for half an hour before sending everyone to bed at 2am.

A/N

A quick Google search says that £1'000 in 1994 was equivalent to £1,671.08, so Harry took out approx £3340 worth of gold by today's standard and converted half of it to muggle money.