A/N: Okay so it's been a while since I last updated, but here's another one for you. I have a little more time on my hands than usual at the moment with everything going on in the world, so I should upload again soon.

Enjoy!

Chapter 12:

Harrison wrapped his cloak tighter around his body as he strolled through the castle. He had been back at school for several days now and the corridors were chilly in the crisp winter. He'd managed to escape his friends for a moment of peace, claiming forgotten notes to leave their study session. His friends were brilliant, and he definitely preferred their company to Nick's; but they didn't leave him alone, and that was beginning to get on his nerves.

The corridors were nearly empty – most people either in class or retreating to the warmth of common rooms or the library to study. Harrison savoured the quiet, allowing his mind to wander as he traced unknown pathways of the castle he'd grown to love. He opened the odd door on his way, finding nothing but abandoned classrooms or store cupboards.

A sound from up ahead startled him, and, not wanting to be thrown from his peaceful walk just yet, Harrison opened the nearest door he could find and ran inside.

He stood by the door for a few moments, holding it closed, the only sound he could hear was his own breathing. Once he was sure whatever had made the noise was gone, he turned around to inspect the room he'd stumbled upon.

It was dark in the room, it appeared mostly empty at first, like the other abandoned classrooms he'd stumbled upon. There were old desks and chairs stacked against the wall, a thin layer of dust covering them and parchment scattered across the floor. Harrison was about to turn and leave when he noticed a tall rectangular object in the corner covered with an old sheet.

He walked slowly towards it, he could almost feel the magic strumming from beneath the cloth, his heart pounding as he got closer.

He reached out and pulled the sheet from the object, the fabric cascading to the floor as he stepped backwards to avoid it.

What stood before him was a beautiful mirror. It was old, that much he could tell. An ornate frame surrounding the glass. How could something this ordinary be so beautiful, he wondered.

His eyes fell on the reflection, and what he saw nearly caused him to shout out in shock.

It looked like him, exactly as he was now – although smiling rather than the slacked mouth expression he currently wore.

His Father was stood behind him, a proud smile on his face as he looked into the eyes of his eldest, hands resting upon Harrison's shoulders. His Mother stood next to his Father, a soft smile on her face and she held in her hands a news article.

'HARRISON POTTER – CHILD PRODIGY?'

His brother was there too, although looking much different than in reality. He too was wearing a Slytherin uniform, his hair less scruffy than usual, and he was also smiling warmly at his brother.

Harrison stared at the reflection for several minutes before looking behind him to ensure that it wasn't in fact, real.

He shook his head slightly, what was this thing? He wondered.

His eyes were drawn to the top of the frame, where read an inscription:

'erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'

A mirror, he thought.

'I show not your face, but your heart's desire' he whispered to himself.

Is this what he wanted? His family, but just a little different. A place he could fit in, and receive the recognition he felt he deserved.

He frowned; eyes drawn back to the image in front of him. He felt a sudden longing in his heart, a feeling he used to get every time his Father and brother would go off and play Quidditch without him, he used to tell himself he didn't care, that he didn't really want to play anyway. Eventually the feeling went away, buried deep inside. He didn't want it back.

With one final look, he turned away, leaving the room and not stopping until he reached the comfort of the common room.

'There you are, I thought you were coming back to the library?' Draco asked, walking out from the dorm room.

'Are you okay?' he said, looking at Harrison in concern

'Yeah, I think so' Draco didn't look as though he believed him

'Where have you been?' he asked, Harrison shook his head

'I'll show you later' he replied, feeling the need to sit down for a while.

Draco didn't push it, and instead pulled Harrison over to sit near the roaring fire and talk about the upcoming Quidditch match against Gryffindor.

'So how good of a seeker is Nick?' he asked curiously

'He's good. Really good, but he's cocky too, he thinks he's even better than he actually is and will take every opportunity to show off, often forgetting to look for the snitch at all. Dad tried to get him to focus more but it never worked, he'll try and pull all sorts of stunts and stuff. If the Slytherin team can egg him on, then we've won, if he gets a chance to focus, then he'll most likely catch it before we even know what's happened.'

Draco looked deep in thought for a moment

'Okay, I'll let Flint know. I wish I was playing' he whined

'Reserve seeker is great for a first year Draco! Don't sell yourself short because of Nick. Gryffindor had no other option for Seeker this year, so there was no one to go up against him. But the Slytherin Seeker leaves next year, so that'll be your spot, and you'll have had a year to train with the team and watch the other houses play. You'll be great.'

Draco smiled, suddenly looking a lot happier than he had before

'Thanks Harrison'

'Come on' he said suddenly, standing up 'I'll show you what I found earlier'

The corridors were a lot busier than they'd been earlier in the day, so Harrison, not wanting anyone to see where they were going, dragged Draco into the nearest bathroom.

'What are you doing?'

'Shh' he said, making sure no one else was in the room

'I don't want anyone to follow us, here, Dad gave me this for Christmas' he pulled the invisibility cloak out of his bag, showing Draco how it worked.

Draco's eyes widened in shock

'Is that?'

Harrison nodded

Draco grinned 'wow'

'Come on, it should be big enough for both of us to fit under it.'

Harrison wrapped the cloak around them both, and they walked slowly and quietly to their destination. Once they were in the room, he pulled the cloak off.

'So, you found an abandoned classroom?' Draco asked, unimpressed

'Yes, I found an abandoned classroom with this in it' he spun Draco around so he could see the mirror.

Harrison stayed back as Draco walked towards it curiously.

Looking in the mirror, he stepped back in shock and looked behind him quickly.

'What is this?' he whispered

'What do you see?' Harrison asked

Draco paused for a moment before replying

'Me. And my Mother and Father. Father looks... proud. And I have a Quidditch uniform on and the snitch in my hand. And there's an award next to me.' he looked closer

'It's an award for special services to the school!'

He broke his gaze with the reflection and turned to Harrison

'What is this?'

Harrison pointed to the inscription at the top of the mirror, Draco read it frowning slightly.

'Heart's desire' he whispered

'What's it doing here?' he wondered aloud, still gazing in the mirror

'I don't know'

'What do you see?' Draco asked

Harrison paused for a while; did he trust Draco enough to know his heart's desire? The truth, yes, he probably did. He told him.

Draco nodded slightly, their desires were similar after all, if anyone understood Harrison, it was Draco.

'We shouldn't come back here.' Draco said suddenly 'There's no point looking at this.'

'I know' he replied

'Do you want one last look?' he asked, walking towards Harrison, who paused briefly before replying

'No. Let's go'

They wrapped the cloak back around themselves and left.

Harrison was woken suddenly as the duvet was pulled from around him.

'Come onnnnnn Harrison, it's Quidditch day!'

Harrison groaned and rolled over, hiding his face back in his pillow.

'No, you can't go back to sleep. I want good seats.'

'Then go and get them, I'll join you in four hours when the match actually starts' he yawned, sitting up to see that Draco had already woken the other boys in the dorm and was fully dressed.

'No, you're coming with me, and besides, we need to get some food first.'

'That won't take four hours Draco. The next time you wake me up this time for something stupid, I'm putting you on the ceiling and you can stay there until you figure out how to get back down.'

Draco rolled his eyes at the threat and pulled Harrison out of bed by the arm

'Hurry up, don't you want to see your brother get destroyed by the Slytherin team?'

Harrison sighed

'Fine, let me have a shower at least before we go.'

Draco was the only one in the great hall by the time he got there

'Draco, not even the Quidditch team are up yet' he complained

'It'll be worth it when we get the best seats in the entire stadium!' he was practically buzzing with excitement, and Harrison couldn't help but smile at his friend

'See, the very best seats!' Draco announced happily

They were quite good, Harrison admitted to himself looking out at the pitch, you could see everything from here. However, it was rather empty, not a single person in sight and there was still an hour to go before it started.

'They're good, but still not worth it' he complained, wrapping his scarf tighter round his neck in an attempt to ward off the morning chill

'Stop being such a spoil sport! Look, there are people arriving now anyway' he pointed towards the other stands, which were slowly filling up with excited students.

The teachers were some of the last to arrive, Harrison saw his parents sitting next to Professor McGonagall. Of course, they wouldn't miss Nick's first match, his mother seemed to be scanning the crowd, looking for him probably.

Madam Hooch stood ready in the middle of the pitch, Quaffle in her hands waiting. The teams had entered the pitch and flown off to their starting places. Nick was sat in the centre of the field, above all the other players. He was looking around at the crowd excitedly, waving to their parents when he saw them.

Their mother waved back cheerily, but James shook his head slightly mouthing 'focus' to Nick, who nodded, seeming to snap out of his excitement a little.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and released the balls, throwing the Quaffle high in the air before mounting her own broom ready to circle the match.

'And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too- '

The commentator was cut off suddenly, Harrison looked over in time to see McGonagall shouting something at him. He continued and the game went on.

Harrison was rather enjoying the game, it was fast paced, and Slytherin were winning, their Chasers were excellent even if their Seeker was spending more time watching the game than he was looking for the snitch.

He glanced towards Nick, who looked rather overwhelmed by the game and seemed to be struggling to focus, especially when a Bludger came hurtling towards him, narrowly missing his head.

He had to admit, the Gryffindor team were also very good, the Weasley twins worked together perfectly as Beaters, and their Keeper – Wood, he was brilliant.

All of a sudden, Nick shot downwards, the Slytherin Seeker doing the same. They'd found the Snitch! They were neck and neck, Nick was just about to edge in front when Flint shot forwards, blocking Nick's view and causing him to halt abruptly, clinging to his broom.

Harrison heard a sigh of relief from the Slytherin side and an uproar from the Gryffindor's, all calling foul. The foul was awarded, and Gryffindor scored the free shot easily.

'Our Seeker better up his game, Potter would have caught the Snitch if Flint hadn't intervened.' Draco muttered beside him.

'How did Potter even get on the team, he can't even fly properly, look at him!' One of the Slytherin's laughed from behind them.

He caught sight of his brother again, who appeared to be having issues with his broom.

'Something's wrong' he said quietly, watching as the broom jerked from side to side, it looked as though it were trying to throw Nick off the broom.

He looked over to his parents, who were watching with increasing concern, talking rapidly to Dumbledore.

The broom shot sideways again and Nick swung off it, holding on with only one hand now and looking very scared.

Looking back over to his parents, his eyes were drawn to a Professor Snape, whose robes appeared to have caught on fire, he noticed soon after and yelled, throwing his robe to the floor, knocking Quirrell down as he did. Harrison noticed Granger walking rapidly away from the teachers and back to where she was sat with Weasley.

Harrison narrowed his eyes slightly, why would she set fire to a teacher? There was a sudden cheer from the crowd and he looked up to notice Nick back on his broom, which was now seemingly under control.

He was confused. Granger would only do that if she thought – but no. Why would a teacher, and Snape at that, try to do something like cursing the broom Nick was on? It was too risky, especially with all the other Professors as well as his parents, sat right next to him.

No, there had to be some other explanation.

Nick was shooting towards the ground again. Everyone was watching, the rest of the game abandoned. The Slytherin Seeker would never catch up. Nick hesitated and slowly stopped the broom and dismounted, he'd gone quite pale and looked as though he was going to throw up. He put his hand to his mouth slowly and when he looked up to the crowd, he raised his fist.

He'd got the Snitch.

'I've got it!' he shouted gleefully

'I've won!'

The Slytherin team began to protest as the stadium filled with the cheers of the Gryffindors, and the rest of the school for that matter.

'He didn't catch it! He nearly swallowed the thing!' Flint yelled, outraged as Madam Hooch announced that Gryffindor had won the game.

Draco groaned

'We should have won' he said dejectedly

'Cheer up Draco, it was just luck, he didn't even catch the thing' Harrison tried, Draco smiled a little

'Yeah, still wish he'd have fallen off the broom though. What do you think happened?'

'I don't know. It was strange, it's a new broom, so there's no way it was just faulty, someone's messed with it'

'Do you think it was someone in Slytherin?' Blaise asked, joining the conversation 'maybe hoping to destroy any chance of them winning?'

'It seemed quite advanced, too advanced for a student anyway. Except perhaps one of the older ones, but I don't think they'd have done something like that. It was too risky.' Daphne added

'Well, whatever it was, it's over now. Anyone fancy a game of chess before lunch?' Draco asked, seeming to have forgotten the defeat altogether.

Harrison saw his parents stood near the entrance to the castle, they spotted him and waved him over.

'I'll meet you guys in the common room' he muttered, making his was towards his family.

'Harry!' his mother exclaimed happily, pulling him into a hug

'How are you?'

'I'm okay thank you, I'd be better if we'd have won though' he joked easily, his father chuckled

'Yes, I'm sure you would, at least you can be happy that your brother did well, even if your team didn't.'

'Well, he didn't catch the Snitch but sure'

'Yes well, it was an interesting game.' James said, pausing 'You'd tell us if you ever heard anyone mentioning Nick in Slytherin house, wouldn't you?' he asked

'In what way?'

'Well, if anyone had plans to hurt him, or throw him off his broom for example' he said, getting straight to the point

'I don't think anyone in Slytherin would do that, it was too open, too risky, and too advanced.' Harrison replied

'But you think they could try to hurt him?' Lily asked, reading between the lines, Harrison shook his head

'I don't know, I don't really talk to the older students that much. Is there anything else you want to talk about? I have homework.'

'We really should go and make sure your brother is alright, just keep an eye out for him, won't you?' Harrison shrugged and said goodbye as they rushed off towards the Gryffindor changing rooms.

He was lost in thought as he entered the castle, still wondering why Granger of all people would set fire to a teacher. It baffled him quite frankly, it's not something he ever thought a goodie two shoes like that would do. But then again, she did lie to the Professors about the troll incident as well. Maybe there was more to the girl than he'd originally thought.

'Well, look what we have here. A little snake'

Harrison turned to find himself face-to-face with three Gryffindor students, by their height he imagined they were at least fifth years.

'What do you think you're doing little snake?' One of them taunted, Harrison noticed he had his wand in his hand and slowly reached for his own.

'I'm just going back to the common room, nothing unusual' he said easily, unsure as to where this was going

'Now, a snake is never not up to something' one of the other boys said, joining in

'What happened to Nick's broom at the match?' the first boy asked suddenly

'What?' Harrison replied, stunned

'We know you had something to do with it'

'I'm a first year, and his brother at that, I'm hardly going to try to kill him, am I?'

The boys scoffed

'We read the Prophet at Christmas. We know what you are, even if you do have most of the Professor's here fooled. It's only a matter of time before they catch on'

'Are you really that stupid?' he asked incredulously, their expressions changed to anger, okay, maybe not the best thing to say, he admitted to himself.

'You'll regret that.' the first boy said, Harrison was suddenly faced with three wands pointed to his face and quickly pulled out his own in an attempt to defend himself.

Harrison limped towards the common room slowly. He definitely needed to learn more spells, he decided. Granted, he thought he'd done quite well considering the age difference, and the fact it was three against one. He'd managed to fend off a few of the spells, and even cast a few himself, but no matter, he'd lost that battle.

He didn't know where to go, if he went to the hospital wing, he'd be bombarded with questions and his parents would probably even get involved. He didn't want that. He didn't want people to know what had happened, that he'd lost – he couldn't give them the satisfaction. He felt weak, and Harrison hated feeling weak.

Snape. He decided, he'd go to Snape.

Ignoring the common room completely, he went straight to Professor Snape's office. He could hear raised voices coming from the room, Flint was in there, complaining about the outcome of the match no doubt.

Harrison raised a weak arm and knocked three times.

There was a slight pause before the door opened, Flint was staring down at him in shock, he moved his eyes to look at their Head of House who wore an equally shocked expression.

Harrison admitted, he must look quite the sight. He could feel how bruised his face must be and hadn't failed to notice the amount of blood flowing from a large cut on his cheek.

'If you've finished staring, I'd quite like to sit down before I collapse' he said quietly, causing Flint to pull him inside the room and direct him towards the sofa.

Professor Snape had also jumped into action, pulling out potions from a cabinet and bringing them over. Harrison swallowed them as quickly as he could. Someone really needed to do something about the taste of these things, he thought bitterly as he swallowed a particularly revolting concoction.

'What the hell happened to you?' Flint asked suddenly

'I got bitten by a werewolf' he said sarcastically 'what do you think happened?'

'Gryffindor's' Flint muttered darkly. Snape looked up at that

'How many of them? And I want names'

'Three, and I don't know their names, they were around fifth or sixth year though'

'Did they say anything?' Snape asked 'Or did they just attack'

Hmm, this had clearly happened before as neither of them looked surprised at the revelation.

'They read the Prophet. Decided they'd rid the world of evil' he announced sarcastically.

Snape rolled his eyes 'Idiots. Did they think what happened to Nick was your fault?'

'Yup' Harrison said cheerily 'Apparently I'm such a genius I know how to do advanced curses like that one' he then groaned slightly as he'd moved his head a bit faster than he should have done.

Snape turned back to Flint 'Take him back to the common room, keep an eye on him for the rest of the day, any changes to his condition and bring him straight here.'

'You know I can hear you'

Snape turned back to him.

'Take this, it's bruise paste, put it on your face before bed, the bruises should be mostly gone by the morning. Try to take it easy, and stick with your friends if you can for the next few days at least. Don't go anywhere alone if you can help it.' Harrison nodded, too tired to protest.

'What in Merlin's name happened to you?' Draco yelled as Flint helped him into the common room.

The room grew quiet as everyone noticed the state he was in, Harrison groaned internally, he didn't want an audience right now.

'I can walk you know' he protested, trying to pull his arm out of Flint's grip, wincing as he did so.

Flint raised an eyebrow but otherwise ignored him and didn't let go until Harrison was sat in a chair by the fire.

'Gryffindor are on the war path' he announced loudly to the room 'Keep an eye out for the younger ones, Prefect's, a word if you could' calling them over.

Harrison groaned internally, so much for no one finding out. Well, at least no one in Slytherin would tell anyone else, so that was something.

'Was it about what happened to Nick?' Daphne asked, Harrison nodded slightly

'Did you guys read the Prophet article at Christmas?'

'The one where you're basically the next coming of the Dark Lord?' Blaise asked casually, Harrison rolled his eyes

'Yeah, that one'

'Yep. Wish you'd have told us though, it's an odd way for your 'future followers' to find out' he grinned, quoting the article.

Harrison laughed lightly, at least he could count on his friends. He wondered briefly if Nick knew what had happened before shaking it off. They might not get along, but they were still brother's after all.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review and let me know what you think so far...