Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter or Eyeshield 21 or any of the affiliated characters. What I do own is a kick ass Ash Ketchum hat, a freezer full of fudge pops, and a collection of gold medal winning maple syrup. None of which will appear in this story.
Warnings: OC's, some OOC, Het, Slash, AU, fluff, language
The Twelfth Tackle
"I think he looks a bit peaky," George's voice broke through.
"Nah, he looks fine. Just wet," Fred responded.
Harry wanted to smack the twins. Peaky and wet? Really? The last thing he remembered was blacking out when Dementors entered the pitch. Even he knew that wasn't a good thing and that he was probably in worse shape than wet and a tad pale.
Opening his eyes, he was happy to see his friends surrounding him- even if they were bickering over his head and ignoring him. He was the patient here, where was the tender love and care they were supposed to provide? Although, he didn't see Oliver so maybe he was hurt too and they used up all their sympathy on him. If that was the case he wouldn't be mad. He loved his captain and really hoped the older boy was okay. Looking around, Harry tried to see if any of the beds around him held his captain. He needed to make sure that Oliver was okay.
"Could you guys move so I can see behind you?" He asked, trying to peer past the girls.
"Harry!" Hermione cried and threw herself on top of him.
"Ow!" He whined. Injured person here!
"Oh I'm sorry, it's just we were all so worried. You fell over 100 feet!"
Harry gave her a kind look and waved it away. "It's okay. Just gentle, yeah? And where's Oliver? Is he okay?" He asked.
Fred snorted while George pretended to swoon. "Oh Oliver." He cried.
"Shut up!" Harry blushed. "But where is he? Did he get hurt too?"
Dean stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Oliver is fine. He's talking with the teachers right now about the match."
"Oh Merlin! The match! Did we win?" Harry asked. His heart was racing and his mind was spinning and he honestly couldn't believe that he forgot about the outcome of the match.
"Harry, look at your hand," Dean said quietly.
Biting his lip, Harry lowered his eyes to find his right hand tightly curled around the snitch. He caught the snitch. He actually caught the snitch despite everything that was happening. He caught the bloody snitch! "I… I… I think my hand is cramped. I can't open it."
He could hear laughter bubble up around him but he ignored it as he couldn't look up from the wonderful and amazing little golden ball in his hand that he worked so hard to catch.
"Trust me mate, we were just as surprised and happy," Dean said with a chuckle.
"Diggory looked devastated when they found it in your hand as the carried you off the pitch. He was still in the air searching," Seamus spoke up.
"I'm still… we won." He worked hard for this but even he had a small doubt when he threw himself forward and blacked out that he wouldn't catch the snitch. Then again, he needed to give his body a round of applause for muscle memory and managing to snag the elusive ball even as he was about to plummet to his death.
The group laughed again, looking happy and relieved that their seeker was okay but they got cut off as Madam Pomfrey bustled up and started herding them away. "Alright you lot, Mr. Potter needs to rest. You can visit him again in the morning."
They started leaving when Harry remembered another very important fact. "Where's my broom?"
The group froze. It was Dean and Ron that turned around first and approached him. "Look Harry," Dean started. "You remember how windy it was out there? You were being bashed around and you weigh a lot more than your broom. When you fell… well…"
Ron stepped forward and dumped a pile of twigs onto his blanket. "Sorry mate," he said before turning away and running.
"My broom…" Harry whimpered.
"We'll figure something out Harry, tomorrow. Just sleep for now okay?" Dean gently said.
"My broom…"
Dean sighed and looked back before sitting down on his bed. "I'll risk Pomfrey's anger but you need a friend," he said as he wrapped an arm around him. "Just close your eyes and think positive thoughts. You caught the snitch, Gryffindor won, and all those early mornings and late night practices you put in weren't wasted."
"But I did all that with this broom… my first broomstick is nothing now," Harry whined. "I know I shouldn't whine but I can't help it. It just felt like every time something good happens to me, something bad happens and when something bad happens, something even worse happens after that. Why can't I just be happy? Why can't something good happen and then something better happen after that?"
Dean squeezed him tight. "I don't know but hey… at least good stuff happens right? You can whine all you want because I don't mind listening. I'm your friend and I think that was a pretty great something that happened."
Harry giggled. "I think so too. I'm really happy you stayed. I probably would have sat here staring at a pile of twigs until Pomfrey poured a potion down my throat and forced me to sleep."
It was amazing how Dean could just make him smile and laugh. His broom was something so special to him. McGonagall had bought it for him and it was one of the first gifts he received and especially the most expensive. It was a gift he earned with his own talent and now it was gone. His heart hurt thinking about it and seeing the evidence that it was gone forever but at the same time his heart was being surrounded by a warm hug from Dean's presence.
"Everything's going to be okay, I just need sleep like you said and maybe tomorrow you can come back and we can look at broom catalogs?"
Dean ruffled his hair as he laughed. "I'll be here first thing in the morning. You can even borrow my broom until your new one arrives. It's only a Cleansweep 11 but it's better than a school broom."
"Dean, no. You don't have to lend me your broom. What will you fly on?"
"It will only be for a few days. Then your new, exciting broom will get here and we can test it out together. But I totally get to ride it before the other guys and I get at least an hour the day it arrives," Dean argued.
Harry laughed and leaned against his friend. "Deal. If you keep this up I'm going to have to title my autobiography 'Dean Thomas – the man behind the legendary Harry Potter'."
"I like that. You should make a note of that so you don't forget when you're not so potioned up," Dean laughed. "As for all the bad stuff… my mom used to tell me that bad days are storms. After a while the clouds move away and the sun comes out bringing happiness and light. You just have a few more storms than everyone else, but that just means your sunny days will be more meaningful."
"How are you already a wise old black man when you're only 13?" Harry joked.
Dean laughed and wrapped both arms around him, squeezing him tight before ruffling his hair again. "I'm an early bloomer."
"Mr. Thomas, I have allowed your presence for long enough. It's time you leave and let my patient rest," Madam spoke as she approached.
"Yes ma'am!" Dean mock saluted the woman. "I leave my most precious friend in your overly capable and wonderful hands." Dean smiled as he stood up, but he had to get in one last hair ruffle before he completely detached himself from Harry.
"Don't go trying to charm me Mr. Thomas. I've been here for 40 years and not one student has managed it so far," she warned. "Now, will you be taking that pile of wood from Mr. Potter's bed or shall I be adding it to the fire?"
Harry winced at her words. It was true that he couldn't keep his broken broom but he did want one last moment with it. "You can take it Madam Pomfrey but… can I keep one piece as a souvenir?"
"Of course Mr. Potter," she said warmly. "May I suggest the piece that still has 'Nimbus' written on it."
Harry smiled widely at the woman. "Thank you." He easily plucked the mentioned piece from the pile and held it close. It was one of the bigger scraps but not the biggest, but it did still proudly display the gold lettering.
Madam Pomfrey promptly vanished the remaining pieces and gave Dean a stern look before turning away. "Time to leave Mr. Thomas."
"Right, I'll be back in the morning and then we can eat and shop, yeah?"
Harry giggled. "Yeah. Now go. I saw her throw out a student once. She actually picked him up from his collar and physically threw him," he warned.
Dean laughed and Harry watched him leave the hospital wing. He was a good guy and he made Harry feel so much better. With a smile on his face, Harry snuggled down and closed his eyes. He was looking forward to a good rest and the morning.
o.O.o
"A Firebolt."
"Seamus I'm not buying a Firebolt. I don't even know how much they are. You have to ask for the price and even I know that that means it costs way more than I have in my trust vault," Harry pointed out. He was walking to class and once again they fell into a conversation about brooms. Harry tried, he really did… but it was hard. How was he supposed to choose a broom overnight? He didn't even buy his first one.
"How about a Nimbus 2000 like your last one," Dean spoke up. "You know how to fly on that model already so you wouldn't need to learn to adjust."
"I don't know… it feels like trying to replace Hedwig with another snowy owl. It wouldn't feel right." Harry bit his thumb nail as he thought about it. It was a conversation they had been having everyday – every chance they got.
"A nimbus 2001?" Neville added.
Harry pulled a face. "And be like Malfoy?"
Seamus opened his bag and took out a licorice wand that he stole from one of Harry's get well baskets. "Yeah, but the 2001 is the best broom on the market after the Firebolt. If you want to have an edge over the competition you need a good broom. The 2000 was good for now because you are like super talented and stuff but you shouldn't settle on a broom because of Malfoy or that stuff."
"Yeah but the 2001 is so expensive. How did Malfoy's dad afford an entire team's worth?"
Dean chuckled. "Just don't take too long. I saw Oliver scooping out the school brooms this morning and crying at their sorry state. Dude, you need a new broom. Or I could tell him you're borrowing mine, but something needs to happen."
"Maybe McGonagall will buy you another one," Seamus offered.
Harry shook his head with a small laugh. "I don't think banking on McGonagall is a good idea. She already spent so much on me the first time I could never ask her to do that again. This time I need to make the investment."
"Wise words, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said as they entered her classroom.
"Professor, I am so sorry about the broom. You spent so much on it and I let it get broken," Harry said hurriedly. He felt horrible about the fate of his broom. It was the first time he saw her since the quidditch game and he felt a strong need to apologize to her.
"I assure you Mr. Potter that it's quite alright. When I was in school, I once broke two brooms before Christmas. It happens in the sport."
"But you bought me that broom. I should have taken better care," Harry argued.
"You fell Mr. Potter. What if it were Mr. Wood, or Miss Johnson? Would you say it was their fault if they had an accident and their brooms broke?" McGonagall asked.
"No, I don't think so…"
"Exactly Mr. Potter. It's not your fault and I don't blame you."
"Thanks Professor…" Harry smiled at this Head of House.
"Now, the reason we are here is to learn and to teach. I suggest you boys take your seats now. I would also like to congratulate you on your marvelous job during the game."
"Thanks Professor. I tried hard… I didn't want to let Oliver or you or the house down."
"You didn't Mr. Potter. We are all proud of you. I look forward to what you will do in the future." McGonagall sent him a proud smile before she turned to the chalkboard to start the lesson.
"She smiled right? Why does she only smile at Harry? She's never smiled at me…" Seamus pointed out as he stored his stolen goods away. "Has she smiled at anyone else?"
"She smiles at me," Dean said with a smile. "Whenever she sees you, all you do is blow stuff up. I wouldn't smile at that either."
"It's me Irish blood. I need to lighten up those dreary classes," Seamus responded with a grin.
Harry watched his friends fondly and as he looked them over his eyes settled on Dean and he felt all warm again. He could do this. He could do anything if he had their support. Screw mass murderer godfathers, screw Dementors, and screw the Dursleys for separating him from his brother. Everything would be okay.
At the end of the class, Harry was gathering his things when Hermione approached him. "Harry, I think we need to talk."
"About what?" He hadn't really spoken to Ron and Hermione all that much. To be honest he didn't know what to do about them. Ron hadn't said much to him and when he tried to rope the red head into a conversation about quidditch or brooms he would ignore Harry and leave the room. Even Hermione didn't talk to him all that much. She would complain that all Harry all wanted to do was talk quidditch and wasn't taking his studies seriously.
"Look, I know we haven't talked as much as normal this year and I think that's because you have been pulling away from us and replacing us with Dean, Seamus and Neville, but I'm willing to look past that if you listen to me now," She started.
Harry felt a warm presence at his back and then Dean's arm settled around his shoulder as he appeared. "What's taking so long Harry? We need to get to Charms."
Sending the tall boy a smile, Harry turned back to Hermione. "Sorry, Hermione wanted me to listen to something."
Hermione frowned. "I really think we should talk in private Harry."
"I don't mind you saying it in front of Dean," Harry responded.
"No Harry, this is private. I rather we just meet alone."
It was Harry's turn to frown. "Maybe we can talk later Hermione. Like Dean said we need to get to Charms. How 'bout after dinner?"
Hermione huffed and shook her head. "Fine, just come alone."
"Let's go," Dean said as he grabbed Harry's bag. The tall boy steered him out of the classroom to meet up with the other two. "Look, I know it's not my place but I don't think you should meet her alone."
"Why not?"
"Ron and Hermione are good people. They care about you and they try to protect you. I can understand that. Sometimes you give off this weak animal feel that just makes a person feel like protecting you. But at the same time they are very overbearing. They haven't been the most supportive of you getting closer to me, Neville and Seamus. I don't like being upset with them for trying to keep secrets from you, or getting us to agree to keep secrets from you. I don't like that we hid things from you because we're your friends and friends are supposed to trust each other. I wish I could turn back time and tell you the truth at the start.
"I think that Hermione wants to convince you to be more careful, to stay in the castle and keep your head down. I heard her talking to Ron about you. She thinks you're going to run off and chase down Black and get yourself killed. You are having doubts about him right now. You said he was the one to comfort you that night. Honestly I'm confused too but I think if you went to talk to Hermione she would just lay down a ton of facts and convince you Black is bad. She will bombard you with information and force her opinion on you until you agreed to her way of thinking and I don't want that for you. You have been so free this year, much more open and happier. I'm scared that if you meet her alone with no buffer you will revert back to how you were last year when you had the world on your shoulders and no direction to turn for help."
It was a lot to take in. Dean had clearly been thinking about these things for a while. Harry reached up and started playing with Dean's fingers as he thought things over. "Am I really such a push-over?"
"No. You are strong, determined, and stubborn as hell, especially when on a broom. But when it comes to your friends you are softer. Last year when Ron wanted to play chess, even when you had other things to do you dropped them to play with him. You just want to make your friends happy, there's nothing wrong with that." Dean reassured him. He wiggled his fingers and Harry giggled as he chased them.
"I didn't have friends before Hogwarts, so I don't know how to be a good friend. I just want everyone to be happy and to like me," Harry explained.
"And we do, you don't have to try so hard. Just be yourself," Dean said.
They arrived at Charms and as soon as they entered Seamus was flagging them down.
"Hey Lads, everything okay?" He asked.
"We're fine, I just needed to voice some of my thoughts and Harry offered to listen," Dean quickly answered.
Dean directed Harry to a seat as he pulled his arm away to pull out the chair. Harry sat down and pulled out his parchment and quills to prepare for the lesson. Although he was taking notes his mind was elsewhere. His mind was a bit of a mess and it wasn't like he could just close his eyes, slip into his mind and organize everything.
He really needed to think this through. Like make a list or something. That was how other people stayed organized right? Hermione had her planners and he was pretty sure he saw Dean separate and file his homework into his old textbooks. He was going to make a list and hopefully his thoughts wouldn't be so chaotic.
First Hermione wanted to meet and talk about something important. Dean said that she wanted to talk about Black and staying away from him. That wouldn't be so hard – he was a murderer after all. But then again in the past he did kind of just run into some dangerous situations without properly thinking things through. Like last year. Yes he did tell Lockhart about the Chamber but in hindsight maybe he should have gone to another teacher. Like McGonagall or Dumbledore- someone he trusted and liked way more than Lockhart. She may have a valid point there.
Second- the whole Black issue was something he needed to figure out. The Ministry said he killed a ton of people. The teachers and students were starting to whisper that Black had come to Hogwarts to kill Harry. Everyone was saying that Black was a bad guy and you really shouldn't go running after bad guys. But Black had been there when he was in pain. It couldn't have been anyone else. He was there for Harry and that wasn't a bad guy move. Bad guys killed people and stole things, and did a lot of other bad stuff until the good guy hero came along and saved everyone. So he wasn't a bad guy- at least not the stereotypical movie bad guy. So for now he wasn't going to worry about him until Black actually made an attack against him.
Third he needed to think about his relationship with Ron and Hermione in general. They kept things from him and tried to keep his new friends away. He had fun now. He was slowly finding his groove in life and neither of them seemed supportive of that. In fact most of this year he barely hung out with them anymore and when he did it was full of nagging and trying to relive the good ole days. But he was 13, what good ole days were there to relive? That was something old people said. He wasn't at that age yet so when Ron talked about how awesome the past was… Harry didn't get it. In fact, first and second year wasn't that great memory wise. All that combined that he really didn't miss his friends was probably telling…
"What bee is in your bonnet?" Seamus asked as he flicked Harry on the forehead.
Harry glared at the Irish boy as he rubbed that sore spot. "Just thinking" He whispered so he wouldn't catch Flitwick's attention.
"Dangerous stuff that," Seamus responded. "Me mam says when I get thinking she feels years or her life running away. Course by her logic she should be dead by now."
Harry giggled. "Your poor mother."
"Nah, she's a strong woman… more stubborn than a brooding mule me Pa says." Seamus grinned and turned back in his seat to resume taking notes.
o.O.o
"Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree. Why am I the only one singing?" Seamus belted out waking up the dorm. "My boys are still sleeping in bed, but its time to get us fed. Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, Christmas time is here finally!"
"Seamus," Harry whimpered as he rolled over. "Christmas isn't for another 2 weeks," he pointed out.
"Harry's right. Why are you so chipper in the morning?" Dean asked.
"Because it's a Hogsmeade weekend! And I need all your help finding me mam a gift. Last year the gift of my smile wasn't enough."
"I wonder why?" Harry asked as he buried his face in his pillow. "It's the gift that keeps on giving."
"I know mate! She hit me and said to try harder next time," Seamus explained.
Harry whimpered again as Seamus came over and started tugging on his blanket. "Come on mate, me mam loves ya. If you choose the gift she will love it more, simply because the precious Harry Potter picked it out."
A whining noise left his throat as the cold aggressively rubbed against his newly exposed skin. "Can't you lie and say I picked it."
A shuffling noise met his ears. Peeking out, Harry watched as Dean walked towards his bed, wrapped up in his blanket. "Leave Harry alone. Let us have another hour then we will happily go to Hogsmeade," Dean said before he plopped down on Harry's bed and covered them both with his toasty warm blanket.
Harry snuggled closer to the older boy and sighed happily as the heat from the taller boy and the blanket seeped into his skin. "I second that," he muttered.
"Ah, you two…" Seamus muttered. "Neville, me old buddy and pal!" He cheered. "You wouldn't let me down like these two, right? You want to help me make me mam happy."
Neville grunted.
"Bloody hell, Seamus!" Ron suddenly yelled. "Let a bloke sleep alright? It's bad enough when Hermione comes storming in here waking us up for class, now you."
"Oh shush Ron. I need me mates to help on this and the earlier we get there, the better the gift for me mam," Seamus explained.
Dean rolled over and pulled Harry against his chest, his mouth was right next to his ear. "Maybe we should get up. I don't think he's going to let up."
Harry hummed.
"He's not going to stop," Dean warned.
"I know…"
"Okay, this is the deal, I give you all 20 minutes then I want all your butts out of your beds –or Dean out of Harry's- and then we are going to Hogsmeade!"
"If I join Harry and Dean in bed, can we ward Seamus out?" Neville asked.
Dean chuckled behind him. "I don't think there's enough room, but you can try."
Some more shuffling footsteps sounded and then another weight was added to his bed. Dean pulled him even closer and then shuffled them closer to the edge to make room for Neville. His bed was getting very crowded.
"Ya lay abouts!" Seamus cried before he did a running jump and landed on them. The collective 'oomf' was loud and winded. Dean took the full brunt of the hit as he was in the middle, but the other two weren't spared.
"Fine, we're getting up," Harry caved. "Just get off." The weight of Dean and Seamus pressing down on him was too heavy. One friend was okay, but two was just too much. Unless he gave in now he would soon be crushed under them and he wasn't a very durable person. As Madam Pomfrey would loudly declare, Harry was slightly on the delicate side but he totally blamed that on the Dursley's. He started adding more milk to his diet and eating the protein rich food to balance his highly active life style now.
"You're too soft," Dean whispered.
"Yes!" Seamus cheered as he finally got up. "I knew I could count on you Harry." Seamus squirmed and then he was leaning over Harry and pressing a sloppy kiss to his forehead.
"Bloody affectionate tosser," Dean muttered as his got crushed by Seamus' hand.
"This is great, now maybe we can get Harry a new broom. You've been putting it off for too long now."
Slowly, all three boys removed themselves from Harry's bed and got ready. Ron had gone back to sleep once Seamus stopped yelling, letting the other four boys get ready in peace. They got dressed, grabbed their winter cloaks and money bags and trooped out of the room.
They saw Hermione sitting in a chair by the fire, reading a book surprisingly, but they ignored the girl and kept going. Harry had talked to her and more or less said that he wouldn't go looking for trouble, no he wouldn't stop going to Hogsmeade, and he didn't care that they were best friends since first year because he wasn't going to stop hanging out with the guys just because she felt they weren't as close as they were before. Actually he may have said he was happy that they weren't attached at the hip anymore and that having some breathing room was nice. The girl had gotten upset with him and stormed off, ignoring him since then. He probably could have worded things better but he didn't really think the conversation through beforehand and well… he wasn't going to apologize for telling the truth.
They stopped by the Great Hall briefly to grab some food before out the doors they went.
"So do you have any idea what to get your mom?" Dean asked. "I got my mom a set of earrings. She likes sparkly things."
"I got my gran a scarf. Her old one started mottling…" Neville chimed in.
"I don't buy my Aunt anything, but my Uncle liked to get her pearls. I think she's up to 10 pearl necklaces," Harry added. He didn't think it was practical for Seamus to buy his mom pearls but it was the only thing he knew to buy older ladies.
"Scarf sounds cheapest, lets go with that one," Seamus decided. Harry looked at Dean and could see the tall boy shaking his head fondly at their friend.
"We'll make sure it's a pretty scarf," Harry offered. "One that won't molt."
"You know they do make scarves that aren't made with Feathers, right?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, I think there was a unicorn hair one that I saw. It was super soft. But my gran doesn't like white. She says white is a young brides colour and not for old ladies."
Harry thought back to his Aunt and had to agree. Aunt Petunia didn't wear white a lot either, unless it was the base colour and there was a floral pattern splashed on top. Even in summer when they were packing for a tropical vacation, she never picked white. She only owned a single cream blouse, he would know since he did the laundry.
"We'll find something. We have all day," Harry said.
"Maybe we should split up after getting the scarf," Dean spoke up. "I need to finish getting gifts for you guys and it's hard when guys are with me."
"Well I finished," Harry responded. "I mean looking at all those broom magazines were really great at helping pick gifts."
Dean placed an arm around Harry's shoulder and gave him a concerned look. "You didn't buy us broom's did you?"
Harry laughed. "Hardly. I have so many broom stats running through my head it feels like it's about to burst. I needed a break so I looked at some of the other owl order catalogs sitting around. It's amazing… you can order like everything under the sun from those things."
Neville stepped up beside them and nodded his head. "You need to be careful though. Sometimes they promise you one thing and then its shows up different than you expected. I ordered an Ipomoea Obscure once from a herbology magazine and they sent me regular morning glorys."
"Those jerks," Dean answered.
"I mean I knew it was a hard plant to get, but even I expected a prestigious herbology magazine to at least come through. Well I sent them back with a very strongly worded letter from my gran. She says no one walks over a Longbottom."
"Did you get your money back?" Harry asked. Neville was scaring him and Harry hoped that if his gifts didn't pan out he could at least get his money back and buy new ones.
"I got a full refund and I got to keep the morning glorys, but I think that was mainly due to my gran," Neville said as they arrived in the village. "I let her keep them but she killed them in two days."
"So you didn't get your green thumb from her side then?" Seamus asked.
"I didn't get it from either side. I was talking to Professor Sprout and she said that she was surprised that I was so good since both my parents were terrible in herbology. Apparently my dad once set fire to an entire wall of jade climbing vines when he was trying to water a singing tulip."
The guys laughed, letting Neville have his moment. It was rare for the chubby boy to talk about his parents. He would normally get sad and then close up, but it was times like this when he could tell an anecdote about them and be happy about it.
"Your mother wasn't that bad though, right?" Dean asked.
Neville shook his head. "Nah, she never killed any plants, but once she did knock over all the new pots that Professor Sprout bought to plant the seedlings. She said something about a potions essay and how my mom tried to get the teething tarantula to eat her homework."
"Brilliant!" Seamus cried. "Why have we never thought of that?"
Dean chuckled, "Because we wouldn't get away with it just like Neville's mom didn't…"
"Ah, posh! You never know until you try, right?" Seamus waved away Dean's concerns.
Arriving at the clothing shop, Dean opened the door and pushed Harry through first. Neville stepped through next, but Seamus stayed outside looking at the window in deep thought. The store had mannequins displaying some of their items, showing the more popular pieces. "Do you think me mam would like that hat?" He asked.
The hat in question was an emerald green that was decorated with shiny clovers with a gold trim. It was nice… but it was also sitting on the child display.
"Unless your mom took an aging potion and lost 20 years, I don't think it suits her, it's a child's novelty hat," Dean answered.
"Yeah but me mam can't wear normal hats anyway, that hair and all."
Dean sighed. "Okay give me your money bag. I'm getting your mom a gift. I'm not letting you buy her that hat."
Seamus grinned brightly at Dean's words. "Perfect. That's what I was aiming for!" Seamus grabbed some money from his bag and dumped it in Dean's hand. "You handle me mam and Harry and I will go shop for everyone else. I'm trusting you and Neville to get her something good."
Seamus grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him away from the shop. "This is great. I need your help. Last year I bought Dean some candy and he looked happy but I knew he was disappointed. So while he makes me look like a great son, we need to get him something great. I already got Neville one of those mini trees that live like 200 years without water. But Dean… he's been my best mate since the train ride here and he's harder to buy for."
"Well I bought him those chaser gloves he's been eyeing. Maybe you could get him something quidditch related too?"
"Yeah? But what else does he need?"
"I don't know… Maybe a Falcons sweater? That's his favourite team and he doesn't have a lot of team gear. You could pad his closet," Harry suggested.
They arrived at the quidditch shop and Seamus dived towards the team swag. He quickly discarded all the hats and scarves, claiming that Dean didn't look good in hats and it would be weird to buy a scarf for his best mate and his mom.
Harry went to join his friend when a sign caught his eye. The store was advertising an exclusive Christmas offer where someone could buy pack of quidditch tickets for two for any two regular season games. Any team, any game, as long as they were regular season.
"Hey Seamus, how about this?" Harry pointed at the sign.
The Irish boy walked over and took in the details. "It seems cool but it's a little out of my price range. Dean would love it though."
"He really would…" Honestly, it was the perfect gift for Dean. The tall boy loved sports and watching, and he would often talk about how exciting seeing the event live was. Dean's favourite activity was being part of the crowd and cheering. If he received these for Christmas, he would be so happy and considering how amazing of a friend he was, Dean deserved it.
"Seamus… what if… I sell you my gift to Dean, and then I can buy this for him?" Harry offered.
Seamus grinned happily. "You drive a hard bargain Mr. Potter, but I'm willing to agree to your terms." He stuck out his hand and Harry quickly shook it to seal the deal.
Harry smiled as he waved down the sales assistant. It was a little pricey but it was only a couple galleons more than the gloves. It would just be a one-time purchase. He just felt a strong need to spoil Dean, not only for supporting him and being kind, but also because his mother and step-father were being the greatest friend's parents ever.
"I wish I could see his face when he opens these on Christmas," Harry spoke to himself.
"You won't be with Dean or me, but you will be in America with your brother. That has to mean something, right?" Seamus asked.
Harry couldn't help the smile on his face. It was so big it hurt. Honestly, in the summer it seemed so far away- meeting his brother. December was such a distant idea but now that it was here and he was going to be leaving for the States soon, it was all a bit dream-like. Hundreds of miles away and over an ocean was his brother and he was going to meet him. He was going to be spending Christmas with his brother…
"I think it's going to be amazing and I'm trying really hard not to think negative right now. Like what if he doesn't want to see me or what if he has a happy family and doesn't want me to be part of it? But I'm not going to think like that." Seamus sent him a look. "I'm really not," Harry tried to assure his friend.
"Right, sounds like its nowhere near your mind," he teased.
"Shut up," Harry hissed. "It's hard. We've been separated for so long. Maybe the reason we're not together now is because he doesn't want to see me. He's older… he has to remember me right? So why hasn't he searched me out?"
"You sound so positive right now. Look mate, he's only what… one, two years older than you? Plus he's a squib, he doesn't exactly have the resources that you have. Maybe he's waiting until he's older and has the freedom to look for you. We don't know. Think happy thoughts. Come on, it's Christmas and you are going to go meet you brother and it will be awesome," Seamus reassured him.
"Yeah, happy thoughts… Brother, Christmas… I'm just getting nervous."
"What are you getting nervous about?" Dean asked as he suddenly appeared.
Harry 'eeped' and quickly hid the quidditch tickets. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
Dean laughed. "Looking for you guys. I bought your mom a great scarf Seamus," Dean said as he turned his attention to the Irish boy. It gave Harry the opportunity to further shove the gift into his cloak and hide it away.
"Thanks mate, knew I could count on you!" Seamus threw an arm around Dean's neck and pulled him down to smack a noisy wet kiss on the tall boy's head. "Now we tell her Harry picked it out and it's perfect."
"So what did you guys get in here?" Dean asked as he stood up straight and tried to wipe his forehead.
"Oh nothing much… just… things…" Harry tried to answer.
Neville and Dean gave him a weird look. "I think this is why you are always getting in trouble. You can't lie," Neville pointed out.
Seamus smiled. "It's true but it's so cute when he tries."
Harry blushed. "It doesn't matter," he hissed. "We have things to do. Let's get out of here." Harry quickly brushed passed the three of them and proceeded to leave the store. He was going to Honeydukes and those three better catch up or be left behind.
Fun Football Fact
The Superbowl trophy costs $25,000.