"For the last time, Potter, NO!" Draco snapped, seconds away from punching Harry. "But why not? I can't do it, okay? I've tried, Malfoy. Why can't you just do it for me?" Harry asked for probably the fifth time. His potions essay was still incomplete. He'd done only two out of the required five feet. He knew that Malfoy was good at potions. It was perhaps the only class in which Hermione wasn't at the top.

"Malfoy, please, why can't you do it?" The chess between them had been completely forgotten about. "Because, it's not my homework, you idiot. I've already done mine." The blonde replied.

"That brilliant! I'll just copy yours!" Harry said, looking pleased with his idea. Draco fixed Harry with a cold glare. "Potter, what on earth makes you think that I'll allow you to carry forward with this idea of yours?"

Harry's shoulders sagged slightly. "Here I thought we were getting along. But you're not even willing to help me with some homework! That's what friends are supposed to do, Malfoy." He hid his grin and put on his best pitiful expression. "Please, just help me out this one time." Harry knew that they were starting to become friends and what kind of friend would he be if he didn't use that to his advantage?

He heard the other boy sigh, visibly annoyed. That's when he knew he'd won. He had far too much practice against Hermione to lose this game. 5...4...3...2...1... and: "Fine, this one bloody time."

"Now go get your books, Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes at the order. Someone was clearly very bossy. "Of course, Your Highness. Might I be so bold as to suggest that we move to the library? Or is it too much work for His Lordship?" He sarcastically asked, bowing low.

"Just come on," said Draco. "Get your books and come to the library. Be quick about it. I haven't got all day." Harry wanted to point out that it had been Draco's idea to stay back and play chess after training. But he didn't say that. "Certainly, Your Royal Bossiness."

In the library, they settled down far away from the Monster Book of Monsters. Harry wasn't willing to risk it again. "Here," he said, pushing his parchment towards Draco. The blonde shoved it back towards him. "I'm not doing it for you, Potter. I'll help you out. That was the deal, in case you're forgetting.

Harry groaned but didn't say anything. Something was better than nothing at all. For the next three hours, they worked on the essay together. Harry had to admit, Draco was exceptionally good at potions.

"So what will you do once the term begins?" Harry asked, as he wrote down the characteristics of the shrinking potion. "What do you mean, Potter?" Draco inquired, not looking up from the book he was reading. "I mean that news of your father's... confinement made headlines weeks ago. People will talk, won't they. So what do you plan to do?"

Draco out the book down and glared at Harry. "You, Potter are the most tactless person I've ever come across." When Harry was unperturbed, he turned his gaze away and shrugged. "I don't know. They'll talk, that's for sure. But there are a few who don't care. Blaise doesn't think any differently, nor does Theodore. People can talk for all I care." He said.

Harry didn't ask anymore questions about it because it was obviously a sensitive topic.

Twenty minutes later, Harry pumped his fist in the air and slammed his textbook shut. "Yes! I've done it!" He exclaimed, barely restraining himself from doing a little victory dance. "You're welcome, Scarhead." Draco commented sarcastically, looking slightly amused.

"Right, sorry. Thank you," Harry said, grinning at Draco. "And don't call me that," he added.

Why did that stupid ball have to take place in the middle of his summer vacations? More importantly, why did Sirius have to attend it? Because he's one of the senior most aurors in the department. The ball was more of a gathering. Important dignitaries from different nations, Senior Aurors, reporters and journalists.

A meeting had been held a week ago among several countries and new decisions and ideas had been implemented to further decrease the number of free death eaters in the subcontinent. They needed to revise the security system.

Now, while Harry was proud that Sirius occupied such a high post in the ministry, he was still bored.

"Am I seriously such bad company? You look like you're ready to pull your hair out." He laughed at Regulus' statement.

"Of course not, Uncle Reg. I'm just mighty bored. Ron's grounded, Hermione is visiting relatives and Draco won't be back from Zabini's till four." Harry complained, burying his face into the photo album he'd been going through. Regulus rolled his eyes and gently pulled the album from Harry's grasp.

"Let me take a look at that. I've not seen a single picture of baby Harry," he said. "Hey no, give it back! They're embarrassing!" Harry tried to reach for it but Regulus was much taller.

"No can do, kiddo. I'm having too much fun right now to listen to you. Oh look at this one, biting a rattle. Hungry?" He flipped through a few more pictures, dancing out of Harry's reach. "Gosh kiddo, if I didn't know better, I'd say that you hated wearing clothes. In all these pictures, there's nothing on you other than a diaper. See this one! You've finally shed it all and donned your birthday suit."

Harry was red in the face. He'd previously thought that his father was embarrassing; but his Uncle Reg was even more so. "You're trying to bite the cat's tail and Potter is pulling you away. Look at this one, Sirius is trying to give you a ba—"

"Uncle Reg, if you don't stop embarrassing me, I won't talk to you for a week!" Harry threatened, although the tears of laughter on his cheeks said otherwise. He had been chasing Regulus around the living room all the while. "No you won't. You wouldn't last two days without your favourite uncle to keep you company. Ah, here's another one."

Harry tried to in vain to get that photo album out of Regulus' grasp but at the end of fifteen minutes, the man had managed to look at and tease Harry for every single picture. Exhausted, the two of them flopped down on the sofa, laughing. "You are pure evil."

"No, I'm Regulus. And you are?"

Harry rolled his eyes at the man's antics. Regulus stared at the picture in his hand and smiled. "Merlin, kiddo! You were tiny!"

"I wasn't. Besides, I'm nearly as tall as Dad now," Harry said and by doing so, he'd exceeded the limit of exaggeration. "That's nonsense, mate. You barely come up to Sirius' shoulder." Harry opened his mouth to protest but closed it immediately. The man was right.

"Besides, it doesn't matter if you're all grown up. Sirius will still see you as his little boy. Nothing's going to change that. He'll still call you embarrassing names and tell your friends about the stupid things you did as a 's how most fathers are." The emphasis on the word 'most' wasn't lost on Harry. He chose not to say anything about it.

"Tell you what, its almost three now; so in about an hour, Draco should be back from his friend's place. Why don't you ask him to come over? Perhaps, if his mother's alright with it, he can stay the night. The two of you could stay up late and do stuff." The two boys had been getting along fabulously over there last few days and Regulus saw no harm in letting them have fun together.

"Sounds good," Harry replied, looking forward to the idea.

"Honestly Harry, do you wish to live in a pigsty?" Those were the first words by Draco when he stepped into Harry's room. "It looks like some unfortunate calamity took place here. An earthquake? An avalanche? Or is this simply your style?"

Harry turned red when Draco commented about the state of his room. Although the other boy was amused, his words were totally true. His room was an utter mess. That morning, he'd misplaced something and had turned his room upside down, looking for it.

"Very funny, Draco," he snapped, hurriedly moving forward to clear his bed. While the two of them were presently on a first name basis, Draco occasionally tended to switch to 'Potter.'

Harry soon discovered that Draco was remarkable at chess. They'd played three games and Harry had lost all three of them in less than half an hour. "You and Ron need to play at least once. He's great at chess too. Or my Dad," Harry suggested. He for one was terrible at it. The only person he'd won against was Seamus and that was only once.

"Weasley is an annoying git," Draco said, his voice filled with disgust. "No he isn't. You don't even know him. You both spent the last two years insulting each other at every instance. Try to get along," Harry insisted. He couldn't survive the entire year if Ron and Draco wouldn't stop fighting.

Harry knew that Hermione would be sensible enough to actually see the change in Draco. Ron, on the other hand would be a whole lot harder. "Harry, I don't need to know him. He's loud, obnoxious and his table manners are appalling." Harry couldn't deny the last one. "Worse than yours. You both eat like barn animals," Draco sounded amused, not spiteful at all.

"Draco, you're sounding a lot like Hermione right now." The blonde rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. Just then, Dobby appeared with a pop, holding a tray full of snacks and pumpkin juice for the two boys. "Thank you, Dobby," Harry smiled at the elf and took the tray.

"Harry Potter is very welcome." The elf smiled hopefully at Draco as well. "Thanks, Dobby," he gave the house elf a smile. Positively delighted, Dobby disappeared quickly.

Harry hoped that Dobby had added the necessary ingredient into the pumpkin juice. The elf didn't know what the secret ingredient did. This was going to be so much fun. Innocently, he took a bite from his sandwich and pretended to down his glass of juice.

He watched with hidden glee as the other boy picked up his glass and took a sip. If this worked, he would give Fred and George Weasley a Hagrid-sized hug. While not a prankster, Harry couldn't resist the idea of playing a harmless trick on Draco. It was very simple but it was bound to annoy Draco to no end.

He barely suppressed an excited cry as Draco's hair colour began to change. It would stay that way for two whole days. It took all his might to not burst out laughing at the sight before him.

A little later, Draco got up to use the bathroom. He'd take a look in the mirror and: There was a shocked exclamation from inside and the door abruptly opened to reveal one furious, pink haired Draco Malfoy.

It was comical to see him in his immaculate outfit and bubblegum coloured hair and eyebrows.

"POTTER! YOU BLOODY LITTLE IDIOT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Still grinning like a maniac, Harry rushed out of his room, Draco hot on his heels.

The ballroom was truly magnificent. The flower decoration, the drapes, the food; everything was spot on. Sirius hadn't expected the party to be this good. There was a band playing an array of songs, both muggle and magical. Several people waltzed across the dance floor with their partners.

Sirius set his glass of champagne down on the counter and smiled politely at yet another ministry official who came to congratulate him. He shook the man's hand and thanked him as the portly fellow went his way.

Why was everyone congratulating him? He had just been promoted to the position of Head Auror. That's right. Sirius Orion Black was currently the youngest wizard to hold that office in Wizarding history. It had been one of the decisions taken by the several officials including Scrimgeour. While he had been surprised, he was also immensely happy.

He'd even danced with a few witches and engaged in many a charming conversation.

It was nearly seven o'clock now so he hoped that both Draco and Harry hadn't murdered each other and that his brother's sanity was still in one piece. Those two were the oddest pair of friends but he was glad that they were friends. Regulus had fire called him earlier, telling him that Narcissa had agreed to let her son spend the night at Black Manor. Sirius had warned his brother to make sure that the two boys wouldn't destroy the house.

Since he hadn't received a call, he thought it would be safe to conclude that everything was going smoothly.

Sirius spent some more time mingling with the crowd and answering certain questions from the reporters and journalists who'd turned up, eager for their breakthrough. Once he'd had enough of being photographed and questioned, he decided to head home.

He was just about to floo home when another set of reporters all but ambushed him with their cameras and questions.

This was going to take a while.

Regulus didn't know whether to laugh or try and keep the two lads from tearing each other apart. "Potter you insufferable little twit! Just look at what you did to my hair!"

Laughing silently, Regulus quietly conjured a camera and snapped a good number of pictures. These would prove highly useful for future blackmail.

Harry barely escaped from the young, angry Malfoy and climbed over the sofa, running across the furniture. He looked at his Uncle Reg for help but the man was too busy cracking up to help him. The prank had been totally worth it. The image of a pink haired Malfoy would forever be ingrained in his memory.

"You know what, run all you like, Potter. I'm going to bed. I refuse to associate with someone that displays such immature and childish behaviour." Harry stopped and groaned. Why did Draco have to be so stuffy?

"Oh for Merlin's sake, stop being such a drama queen, Draco," Harry said, doing a fair impression of Sirius. "It was a harmless joke! It'll wear off in two days or so."

"Two days! You expect me to go around like this for two whole days?"

"Oh come on! It was a joke!" Harry repeated, throwing his hands in exasperation although he was having a hard time talking to the other boy without laughing. "What do you want me to do? Colour my own hair pink? Will that make you happy?"

Harry regretted his words immediately when he saw Draco's lips curl into a smirk. "Actually, Harry, that's exactly what I want you to do."

Before Harry knew it, Draco had wandlessly summoned that glass of pumpkin juice and held it out to Harry. "Go on."

Five minutes later, two pink haired boys went back upstairs, perfectly amicable and the last twenty minutes or so were forgotten.

It was nearly eleven o'clock by the time Sirius apparated back home. He found Regulus in an armchair, reading a book. "You're alive and seemingly sane. Shall I assume that the two boys are also in one piece?" He jokingly inquired.

"Let's just say the situation is now under control. They're both in Harry's room, doing Merlin knows what," Regulus replied, still grinning. "What happened?"

"Why don't you just go upstairs and take a look? I have a feeling you'll hear two very interesting versions of the same story." Sirius chuckled and went upstairs.

He first went to his own room and straight into the shower. He felt less tired once he was done. He changed into more comfortable clothes and made his way to Harry's room. He paused in front of the open door and raised a surprised eyebrow.

He was greeted by two pink coloured heads bent over some game they were playing. Definitely not what he'd expected. It was hilarious. "So, care to tell me what inspired such a bold and funky fashion statement? What's next? Lip piercings?"

Both of them turned around when they head Sirius. "Hi, Dad. We just thought it's necessary to keep up with the times. Right, Draco?" Harry looked at the other boy for agreement. "Whatever you say, Harry. Although I personally prefer sticking to the original version. This modern style is a bit too wild for my tastes."

"It's looks ridiculous, even more than this ridiculous game. What's it called again? Tri-poly? Can't believe the muggles actually do this in their free time."

"Its Monopoly, you dolt and no, it's not ridiculous; it's brilliant," Harry defended. He'd always loved this game as a young child although he had never been allowed to play it. He didn't care that he was probably a little too old to be playing board games.

Sirius watched their exchange fondly. It was heartening to see them become fast friends. He figured Draco could use a friend like Harry and vice versa. "Have fun you two, stay up a bit more if you like. I'm going to bed now. Goodnight, boys."

"Night, Sirius," said Draco.

Harry however got up and followed his dad out of the room after telling Draco he'd be back. "Yes, Harry?"

Sirius stopped in the corridor and turned around to smile at the lad. The boy merely threw his arms around him and hugged the life out of him. "Congratulations, Dad," Harry said. "Uncle Reg told me about your promotion. You deserve it." Sirius wrapped his arms around his boy. "Thanks, pup."

"Now, go and play some tri-poly with Draco." Laughing, Harry went back to his own room and Sirius went to his.

It was only well after two that Harry finally curled up in bed and Draco half stumbled into the guest room next door. It look less than five minutes for both of them to fall asleep.

"Excuse me?" Sirius' voice sounded deadly and if Cornelius Fudge had even the slightest bit of common sense, he would have shut up immediately. The other officials in the room exchanged nervous glances as they fell into an uneasy silence. The minister flinched at the frostiness in the younger man's voice but wasn't deterred.

"Sirius, pl—"

"Black," Sirius corrected sharply. "We're not familiars, minister." Regulus laced his fingers and settled more comfortably into his chair as he watched the scene unfold with amusement. He knew that Sirius would obviously win this particular discussion. But the fact that Fudge had been brave enough to even dare to say something like that to Sirius— the old bloke definitely deserved some credit. Something akin to a good, tight slap across the face.

"Right. Forgive me, Auror Black. But, it's imperative that we make this arrangement. The students' safety is our top prio—"

"Oh and you think stationing dementors around the premises will assure that? I dare say your facts are severely jumbled up if you are assuming that those filthy, soul-sucking creatures will protect the students. Hogwarts is safe. There is no necessity for any additional aid. I don't know why you feel there is a need for extra precautions. On the contrary, the crime rate has gone down." The fat old man didn't know a thing. Dressed in a purple pinstriped suit with a parrot green tie, Cornelius Fudge was easily one of the most idiotic people Sirius had ever met.

His hands were itching to hex the old codger until he was unrecognisable. How dare he even suggest something so utterly absurd! Dementors at Hogwarts? Outrageous!

"Minister, perhaps you should reconsid—" Amelia Bones, who was sitting to his right tried to make him see sense but he silenced her. But, Amelia. It's for the benefit of the stude—"

"Trust me, Fudge, there is nothing remotely beneficial about having Dementors patrol the grounds. Not for students, not for anybody. We've discussed security and safety the other day. The topic 'Dementors' was never brought up. I don't see the need for it to make an appearance now." Sirius didn't yell, he didn't have to. The steel in his words was far more dangerous.

"The. Dementors. Are. Not. Allowed. Have I made myself clear?" Fudge sputtered indignantly at the way he was cut off. He was the minister! People weren't supposed to address him so rudely! He would be having a word with his advisors. Why did they offer such suggestions? Not only had he been snubbed but also insulted, albeit indirectly. "But... this is...very well. As you say."

"But, it is imperative that the students at Hogwarts are safe." Sirius wanted to roll his eyes at the patronising tone. He had a feeling that Fudge's sudden inclination towards safety had more to do with the upcoming elections than anything else.

"Well, since you are so concerned for the students' safety, I'm sure I can make certain arrangements. But, the dementors will remain in Azkaban." Sirius had his mind made up. He did not want those vile creatures anywhere near Harry.

The meeting lasted for another fifteen minutes after which the various members dispersed. Sirius was just conversing with another auror, giving her some instructions when Fudge came up to him. Sirius resisted the urge to walk in the opposite direction. He'd dealt with his share of nonsense for the day. "Auror Black, I do hope that you understand that I only want what's best for Hogwarts." Yeah right.

"And I want wants best for Harry," he replied evenly. "Of course, I understand. You seem to be quite protective of young Mr. Potter."

"Oh I am. So much so in fact, that if anyone tries to harm him in any way, I'll destroy everything they hold dear. Have a wonderful day, minister."

And with that, Sirius walked away without another glance.