A/N: Wow, it's been a while hasn't it? Just a short one for you today but this will hopefully get things flowing again. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9:

Harrison sighed in relief as they boarded the train. It had been almost two months since the troll incident, and with that plus the three-headed dog, Harrison had spent the majority of his first term at Hogwarts scrubbing cauldrons.

'Happy to be going home?' Draco asked, closing the door to the compartment they'd chosen.

'Yes and no, I'd rather not be spending the next few weeks with my brother'

'Well, you're all invited to our Yule party, so you'll at least get a break from him for one evening.'

He didn't think his parents would be too happy with him going to the Malfoy's party, and he wasn't really sure if they would even let him go. Nick, at least, would kick up a fuss, spouting off nonsense about dark wizards.

'Yeah, I'm looking forward to it' he grinned in response and joined Blaise for a game of chess to kill some time.

'See you soon, Harrison!' Draco smiled as they stepped off the train, he nodded before scanning the crowd.

Quickly locating his parents, he went to join them.

'Harry! How are you? Oh, I've missed you!' his mother called, pulling him into a tight hug.

'I'm okay Mum. I've missed you both too' he smiled as she released him from the embrace.

'Hi Mum!' Nick yelled, running over to the small group

'Nicky! How are you dear?' She pulled him into a hug as well

'I'm good thanks, hey can Ron come over this week?'

'We'll talk about that later. Let's get home first.'

They apparated home, Nick with their mother, and Harrison with their father. The group landed just outside their house, and Nick immediately ran inside, the others following at a slower pace.

'So, what do you think of Hogwarts so far then?' His father asked as they sat down for dinner, Harrison went to speak but Nick beat him to it.

'It's brilliant! I've made loads of friends and Gryffindor is great, I'm the best on the Quidditch team and we're definitely going to win the cup this year!' he bragged, puffing his chest out.

Their father shook his head, amusement clear in his eyes.

'And what about you, Harry, enjoying it so far?'

'Yes, it's been really good. The classes seem a little easy at the moment, but we're just going over the basics for now so that's to be expected.'

'Yes, well remember that they have to teach to everyone's level, the muggleborn's for example won't have as much experience as you.' his mother added

'How's the snake pit treating you?' Lily wacked James over the head

'I'm only joking Lil' rubbing his head as Nick laughed at him 'Seriously though, you're okay there?'

'Yes Dad, I've made a lot of friends, everyone is great.' He smiled

'Well that's good then'

'Speaking of which' he added cautiously, gaining their attention once again 'Draco has invited me to his family party over Yule, would I be able to go?'

'Draco as in Malfoy?' James asked, a frown on his face

'Yes' Harrison replied.

James and Lily looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation before turning back to him.

'We'll talk about it and make a decision closer to the time okay? I don't know how comfortable I am with you being alone around Draco's father.'

'I wouldn't be alone, it's a party, I'll be with my friends, besides, I think even the minister is going to be there.' Harrison said, getting annoyed.

'I said we'll talk about it closer to the time.' James replied, firmly. Harrison rolled his eyes.

'I saw that'

'Come on, let's talk about something else, Nick, you mentioned Quidditch, how's that going dear?' Lily said quickly, changing the subject.

Harrison remained silent for the rest of the conversation, allowing Nick to continue his bragging.

'So can Ron and Hermione come and visit?' That caught Harrison's attention again, he looked up.

'Of course, dear, we'll wait a couple of days though, let them have some time with their family's first.' Nick grinned at that, sending Harrison a smug look.

'Can I have friends over too then?' he asked, curious as to what the response would be, James sighed.

'Who would you like to invite?'

'Draco' he said immediately 'And Blaise, possibly Theo or Daphne or Pansy' he said, reeling off names as he thought about it more.

'Malfoy, Zabini, Nott, Greengrass and Parkinson' Nick sneered, causing their parents eyes to widen slightly at the amount of known death eater names.

'Got a problem with that?' Harrison shot at Nick

'Yes actually. I don't think Mum and Dad want a bunch of baby death eaters in their home'

Seeing an argument brewing, Lily quickly interrupted.

'Nick, that's enough. Harry, how about just two of those, seeing as Nick would only be inviting two people' she suggested

'Draco and Blaise?' he asked. James looked conflicted.

'Okay dear, you'll have to write to them though to make sure their parents are alright with them coming here' Lily replied before James could say anything. Nick gaped at her.

'You're okay with them being here? Around us? Around me!?' he all but shouted in protest.

'You're having friends visit, so it's only fair Nicky.' She replied calmly.

'Yes. But my friends aren't death eaters' he muttered.

'Neither are mine! We're 11 for Merlin's sake. And besides, Malfoy was found innocent during the last war and the Zabini family have always remained neutral.' Harrison shot back.

'Okay, that's enough arguing, or neither of you will have friends over.' James announced firmly, bringing an end to the conversation.

Harrison went up to his room to unpack after dinner, doing so quickly, he then sat at his desk to write a letter to Draco and Blaise.

Draco,

I'm not sure if my parents will allow me to attend the Yule party, they seem very cautious about me being around your Father – perhaps he could persuade them somehow? They have said you and Blaise can come and visit at some point. It would be great if you could, Nick is having Granger and Weasley round soon, I'll be outnumbered!

Harrison

Blaise,

You and Draco are invited to visit at some point during the holidays. I'm not sure if I'll make it to Draco's party, but I'm working on it. Let me know if you can come.

Harrison

Finishing the letters, he rolled them and sent them off with Hedwig.

'So, boys, what do you want for Christmas this year?' James asked, sitting at the breakfast table.

'A nimbus 2000. You said I could get one, and I'm on the team and everything now!' Nick exclaimed. James grinned at him.

'Anything else?' Nick thought for a moment before replying

'A solid gold set of gobstones, dumgbombs, chocolate frogs, and a new kit from Zonko's'

Lily shook her head in amusement.

'And what about you, Harry? Anything solid gold for you?' James teased

'I don't know. A few books I suppose? Maybe a new chess set' he asked before adding 'but not solid gold' James laughed, messing Nick's hair up as he began to protest.

Several owls flew into the room at that moment, interrupting the conversation. Hedwig dropped two letters in front of Harrison, along with one from a strange owl – probably Hogwarts, he thought, feeding them both bits of bacon before moving onto the post.

'Results?' Lily asked, noticing Nick had also received a letter from Hogwarts, he looked nervous.

Harrison opened his note to see his end of term grades.

Transfiguration - O

Charms - O

Potions - O

History of Magic - O

Defense Against the Dark Arts - O

Astronomy - O

Herbology – E

He grinned, passing the letter to his mother, a pretty good start to the year. His mother smiled proudly at him after reading the grades.

'Congratulations Harry! These are incredible, not that I'm surprised, with all the reading you do' she added, letting James see before pinning it on the fridge.

'Thanks Mum. I expect the lessons will get harder at some point though.'

They turned to Nick, who had gone slightly red upon opening his letter.

'Let's see how you did then Nick' Lily asked, holding out her hand.

Harrison looked over her shoulder as she read.

Transfiguration - A

Charms - P

Potions - T

History of Magic - D

Defense Against the Dark Arts - A

Astronomy - P

Herbology – D

Harrison let out a low whistle.

'How did you only pass two subjects? It's the first term, it's not difficult.' he taunted, causing Nick to turn a deeper shade of red.

'Harry' James warned lightly.

'Nick, it's not that bad, I'll arrange a meeting with the Headmaster to see how you can improve, it's only the first term, you have plenty of time to catch up.' Lily said gently.

'In the meantime, I want you both to get started on your homework.' Nick groaned

'But we've still got ages before we go back!' he complained

'And you've got a lot to catch up on by the looks of it, better to get it over and done with.'

Harrison took the time to open his other letters. The first one was from Draco.

Harrison,

I have spoken to my Father and he wishes to meet with your parents to discuss the party and my coming to stay. If they are agreeable, they are welcome to visit Malfoy Manor at 2pm today.

Hope to see you soon,

Draco

Harrison passed the letter over to his Father.

'It's from Draco' he explained, allowing him time to read it.

'Okay Harry, your Mother and I will go over and discuss things with Lord Malfoy and see what he has to say.' Harrison smiled at him

'Thank you'

The other note was from Blaise, saying he would be allowed over any time, he wasn't going away this year.

'Right, Sirius and Remus are coming over to take you two to Diagon Alley for the day. Your mother and I have some errands to run, make sure to take the time to buy any Christmas presents you want to get because you might not get another chance.'

'They'll be here in about an hour, so you have a little while to get started on some homework' Lily reminded them, causing Nick to sigh before leaving the room.

'Okay boys, where do you want to start?' Remus asked as they walked into the alley

'Quidditch store!'
'Bookstore!' they said simultaneously

'Okay, well, we don't want to split up today, so how about we go to the Quidditch store first as it's closer, and then the bookstore?' Sirius suggested with a grin, they agreed.

'To the brooms then' Sirius said dramatically before running off, dragging Nick along with him, Remus sighed.

'He's such a child'

'I'm going to get this for Ron' Nick said, piling equipment and Quidditch t-shirts on the desk

'All of this is for your friend?' Remus asked, picking up a practice snitch

'Well... some of it might be for me as well' Remus sighed

'Put some of it back, we're shopping for presents for your friends, not for you. I'm sure Ron doesn't need all of this.'

'Fine' he sighed, putting back everything except a Cannons t-shirt and a top of the range broom servicing kit.

'Are you getting anything Harry?' he nodded

'Can you wait by the door?' he asked, not wanting them to see what he was buying.

Once they were out of sight, he placed the items on the counter; he'd bought a new snitch for Nick – more of a gesture present than anything, as his parents would complain if he didn't, and he'd also picked up a book of tricks for his Father and a book of coaching tactics for Flint – it couldn't hurt to become friendly with some of the older students.

He made his way over to the door to meet up with the others, they were stood talking to a family, Harrison caught the end of their conversation as he got closer

'Yes, our little Sally will be joining Hogwarts next year, she's very excited to be there at the same time as Nick, are you enjoying it so far?' what appeared to be the father asked Nick

'Yes, I'm doing really well, of course, it's very easy for me, but I'm sure you won't have any trouble either. I'm even on the Quidditch team already! I insisted that they allow other first-years to try out this year as well, to make it fair of course.' He grinned easily; Harrison shook his head in disbelief as he joined the group.

'This is Harrison, Nick's twin' Remus introduced

'Oh yes, I heard you had a twin, quite a shock for some people, I myself had never heard of him a few months ago' acting as if Harrison wasn't there at all,

Sirius seemed to sense Harrison's uneasiness,

'Yes, well, we better get going, we've got a lot to do today. Say goodbye Nick.'

Harrison had already walked away, quickly finding himself in the book shop, the enveloping scent of parchment and ink calming him instantly. He began to search through the shelves, getting lost in the books and looking for presents for his friends, when Remus came up behind him.

'I thought we'd agreed to stick together today' Harrison didn't take his eyes off the books, merely shrugging in response.

'Look at me' he felt a hand turn him around, and looked up to see the concerned eyes of his uncle

'I know you hate that Harry, but you know it can't be helped, it's better to indulge these people for a few minutes rather than ignoring everyone we come across. And you know it's not safe to go off alone.'

'I don't care, Nick's a liar but everyone loves him anyway, you heard them, they didn't even know who I was, that I even existed until Hogwarts, and even now, all I am is Nick's twin. I hate it.'

Remus looked at him, sympathy clear in his eyes, which only made Harrison angrier. He didn't want pity.

'It's fine' he said after a moment of silence, not convincing anyone, Remus dropped the matter anyway, choosing instead to look at the books Harrison had already chosen.

'Quite the array of subjects here, are these for your friends?' Harrison nodded

'Mostly, and a few other people around the school, I haven't really decided yet, but they all look interesting.' Remus smiled

'And how is school going for you?' he asked absently

'It's very good, all of the people in Slytherin are great and the lessons are interesting, if a little easy at the moment' Remus nodded

'I'm glad to hear that cub. Are you finished book shopping then? I'm sure Nick will be itching to get out of here, and Sirius won't be far off.' Harrison grinned

'Perhaps we should stay a bit longer then, see how long it takes for them to actually explode' he joked as they walked towards the till.

'Finally, I thought I was going to die of boredom!' Nick yelled dramatically as they left the shop.

The rest of the trip went without incident despite Remus's over protective behaviour - he hadn't even let them walk to a different side of the shop alone. Aside from that, Harrison found it to be a very productive shop, he had bought presents for everyone, even sneaking a few items for himself into the pile.

A/N: There we have it, if people are enjoying this - please review, it keeps me going and you'll get the chapters a lot faster. Also, for future reference, how do you guys want this story to progress, I have a few ideas but I'd love to hear what you actually want to read. Thank you!