A/N: Ha! I outdid myself! I was sooooo pleased after reading your reviews, I got a head start and worked through the night on this one. Don't let it get to your heads. Next one should be up in a week or two.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.

'Naruto, is all your stuff packed?'

Jiraiya's head popped in through Naruto's door, his face split in an excited grin. Naruto couldn't help but mirror the old man's expression. Finally, tomorrow, he'd be headed to King's Cross.

'Yeah, I just finished,' Naruto said, standing and dusting himself off. A large, copper steamer trunk stood at his feet, glinting by the light emanating from Naruto's side lamp.

'You'd better turn in,' Jiraiya said, walking in. Sitting down heavily on Naruto's bed, he sighed. 'Brat. What am I going to do when you aren't here for me to yell at?'

Naruto smiled at him. In his own way, Jiraiya was telling him he was worried about him. He felt his heart constrict a little at the thought of leaving his perverted mentor alone to fend for himself.

'Don't worry, Jiraiya,' he said, sitting down next to him. He let his elbows rest on his knees as he leaned forward. He didn't want to make eye contact – as much as he claimed himself to be a man, he knew he might break down if he looked at Jiraiya now. 'I'll write as much as possible. And I'll send you some of those sugar quills we saw at Diagon Alley.'

'You'd better,' Jiraiya said, and his voice suddenly broke. He struggled to get a hold of himself. Taking a deep breath, he continued, 'I'll send you some Instant Ramen packets when you run out, how about that?'

Naruto nodded slowly. 'That'd be nice. You'd better write, too, though. Or I'll think you died and I'll stop everything and come straight home.'

Jiraiya snorted. 'Me. Die. Right.'

Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Stupid, overconfident pervert,' he muttered, smiling.

Jiraiya lifted an arm and ruffled the blonde's hair. 'I'll miss you, kid.'

'I'll miss you too,' Naruto said softly.

Standing suddenly, Jiraiya quickly brushed an arm across his face. Naruto realized that the pervert had started to cry.

'Well, have you got everything?' he said in a choked voice.

'Yeah,' Naruto said, looking away.

'Did I sign that note? The one that lets you into that Hogsmeade place?'

'It's in the trunk,' said Naruto.

'You finished your studies?'

Naruto grumbled a little. When they had gotten back from Diagon Alley, he had been told by a stern Jiraiya that all the books required for Hogwarts students from year 1 to year 6 had been purchased. As soon as Itachi had taken his leave with his brother, Naruto had been given the year 1 books with instructions to learn everything in them within two weeks.

Naruto knew he was exceedingly intelligent, but even then, it had been extremely hard. Jiraiya had gone so far as to purchase Past Papers for an exam all wizards took at fifteen, called O.W.L's. After learning all the material required of first years, the old man had given him an exam on those topics, specifically selected – with some help from Itachi, who dropped in every fortnight – for him, and he'd had to pass with flying colors. If he didn't, he'd been under the threat of no ramen, ever.

Naruto had grumbled a lot, thrown tantrums, done everything he could to escape his studies, but Jiraiya had been firm. Every two weeks, he'd switch to the next year's studies. Itachi had been adamant, though, that wand work wasn't allowed. He knew the various motions for different spells, but hadn't been allowed to try them out. He now knew everything there wizards had to know, in theory, down from year 1 to year 4. There hadn't been time for him to memorize the fifth year's curriculum.

Still. Naruto felt he had done pretty well, a fact Jiraiya had grudgingly admitted to.

'Yeah,' he muttered, in answer to Jiraiya's question if he had finished his studies. Since Jiraiya hadn't time to give him an exam for the fifth year, Naruto had been ordered to read through the books. Reading material on the train the next day was a book called Defense Against The Dark Arts: The Unforgivables, a Revised Edition by Janice Lockhart, who, according to the back of the book, was the winner of Wizard Weekly's Most Charming Smile award, seven times in a row.

'Good,' Jiraiya said, walking back to the door. 'Be up early tomorrow, Naruto. Itachi is going to be here at eight.'

'I know,' Naruto said. Leaning over his bed lamp, he switched it off, and then settled into his sheets.

'Hurry up, brat!' Jiraiya yelled, dragging the trunk down the stairs as fast as he dared without breaking it. 'Itachi will be here any minute!'

'I'm coming, I'm coming!' Naruto yelled, shoving his arms through the sleeves of his black leather jacket. He paused for a second in front of his mirror. A bright orange tee-shirt underneath the jacket glared back at him, and tight, black jeans hugged his legs. A black cap was crammed on top of his blonde spikes. Naruto grinned at himself. 'Cool.'

'NARUTO!'

Naruto whipped around and ran out the door. 'Coming!' He dashed down the stairs. Jiraiya had managed to get his trunk down in one piece, and was now struggling to pull it across the threshold, which was proving difficult. 'Need help with that?'

Jiraiya grunted in an irritated assent. Naruto strode up to him and heaved on one corner of the trunk. Together, they got it to the door, just as the bell rang.

Naruto let go of his side of the load, and it fell to the ground with a huge bang. He chuckled nervously at the glare that Jiraiya threw him, and edged toward the door. Throwing it open, he ushered Itachi in without looking at him, his eyes trained on the pervert's murderous ones, before slamming it shut.

'Blondie, my brother's out there.'

Naruto threw his head back and let out a groan. Grumbling, he moved back to the door and swung it open.

Itachi threw an amused look at Sasuke. He was driving the latest in British cars, a sleek, black Lightning GT, and was speeding down the highway with amazing ferocity. On most occasions, Sasuke would pale, his palms fisting on his lap, and would endure the ride in his brother's latest toy in tight-lipped silence. Today, however, was different. As Itachi sped toward Uzumaki's home, he glanced regularly at his brother. The boy had opted to dress like a muggle on the ride to the train station, wearing a black shirt and blue denim jeans. Sasuke was fidgeting with his hands, not even seeming to notice the speed. He was quietly contemplating god-knows-what. The only other time Itachi had seen him act like this was when they had gotten back from that trip to Diagon Alley.

Maybe it's something to do with Blondie, Itachi mused. His foot applied more pressure to the pedal, so that the car was touching 200km/hr. Huh. Blondie and Sasuke. Who'd have thought? Itachi thought for a second. Maybe if he gets together with him, I can tell him about Deidara. He's been dying to meet Sasuke, anyway.

'Itachi.' Sasuke's voice was deathly soft. 'Do you realize that if you crash, we will die?'

Itachi smirked. Finally. He glanced once more at the needle. 220.

'Slow down,' Sasuke commanded, his voice threatening.

'Let me introduce you to a concept you have obviously not heard of, dear brother,' Itachi said, swerving wildly around a bend. 'Magic.'

Sasuke scowled. 'Itachi, if you don't slow down, even magic won't help.'

'You'd be surprised.'

Ten minutes later, the car pulled up to the driveway of Jiraiya's mansion. Sasuke leapt out of the car and slammed the door shut.

'If you ever pull a stunt like that again,' he hissed, as Itachi got out through the other side, completely unruffled, 'so help me, I will castrate you.'

'You're so uptight, Sasuke,' Itachi sighed. 'What you need to do is get laid.'

'I'm sixteen!'

'Sixteen, sixty, what's the difference?' Itachi waved his hand dismissively.

Sasuke growled and followed his brother up to the door. The doorbell rang, and Sasuke heard a loud bang inside the house. He frowned at the door. What the hell was that?

Suddenly, the door was thrown open. Sasuke's heart thudded painfully in his chest as he caught sight of Naruto. The blonde looked – Sasuke gulped. There was no other word for it – hot. Try as he might, though, Sasuke couldn't look into the dobe's eyes. This was because, Sasuke realized, irritated, he wasn't even looking outside the door. He seemed to be staring elsewhere. Before the raven realized what had happened, Naruto had pulled Itachi in, and slammed the door shut.

A second later, it was thrown back open. This time, blue eyes met onyx ones.

'Sorry,' Naruto apologized, scratching the back of his neck. 'Didn't see you.'

Sasuke nodded and entered, fighting down the blush that threatened to cover his pale cheeks. He forgot to hold his breath as he passed the blonde. His scent – his sexy, musky scent – overwhelmed him. It took all he had not to inhale deeply and embarrass himself.

He took in the scene before him. Jiraiya was talking to Itachi, standing next to a large trunk. Naruto had left the door open, and was now attempting to drag said trunk outside.

Sasuke sighed. Taking out his wand, he pointed at the trunk and said, 'Wingardium Leviosa.'

Naruto instantly let go of the trunk, and stared at it in awe as it levitated. Then he twisted, grinning, to face Sasuke.

'I know that spell,' he said proudly. 'I've never done it, but I recognized what you said.'

Sasuke stared at him. Inside, he was surprised that the blonde knew what was happening. Itachi had mentioned that the boy was studying, but…well, he just didn't look like the type that caught on very quickly. He made a mental note to add possible genius to the list of things he knew about Naruto, such as sexy, hot, and dobe. None of his inner turmoil, however, made themselves known. His face remained as passive as ever.

Naruto didn't seem put off in the least. 'I thought underage wizards won't supposed to do magic?'

'Actually, the ministry can't detect who does the magic. If you do it in the presence of a witch or wizard of age, they won't be the wiser,' Itachi said.

'Aren't you from the ministry?' Naruto asked curiously.

'Yes,' Itachi mused. 'But I don't care if Sasuke follows the ministry rules or not. As long as he doesn't do anything to kill himself, I'm fine.' With that, he led them to the car.

Bemused, Naruto and Jiraiya followed. Sasuke flicked his wand and strode after them, the trunk in tow.

'Awesome!' Naruto exclaimed, staring excitedly at the car. But then his face suddenly fell. 'How are we going to fit everything in that?'

'The car is enchanted,' Itachi explained, moving to the back and unlocking the trunk. He lifted it to reveal an extremely large space, much bigger than one would have thought if you looked at the outside of the car. Inside, Sasuke's black trunk was already at a side, room for Naruto's next to it.

Sasuke waved his wand so that the trunk floated into the space. The door to the car trunk slammed shut as soon as Naruto's trunk was in.

'Let's get a move on,' Itachi said, ushering Naruto to the front. He opened the passenger side door for him. Inside, the space was large enough for a family of eight. The quality of the interior was different than one would expect though. Although kept in fairly good condition, it wasn't the actual interior of the car.

Naruto climbed into the back seat. Sasuke, after a moment of unnoticeable hesitation, climbed in after him. Once they were strapped in, Jiraiya got up front with Itachi.

'Okay, boys,' Itachi said cheerfully, getting in the driver's side. 'Hang on to your seatbelts!'

'I'm never getting into another car with you for as long as I live,' Naruto told Itachi firmly as they pushed their trolleys down King's Cross, looking for the platforms 9 and 10.

Itachi smirked. 'You know, Blondie, you remind me an awful lot of my brother.'

Sasuke snorted behind them.

'Yeah, right,' muttered Naruto. 'Your brother is a bastard. I'm nowhere near as bastardly as he is.'

Sasuke rolled his eyes. 'Someone got poetic,' he said, smirking.

'Shut up,' Naruto advised.

'Keep it down, brat,' Jiraiya said, trailing after the group.

They reached the wall between platform 9 and 10 after a few minutes. Naruto paused and stared at it. He knew it wasn't real. But still. It looked awfully solid.

'Go on, Blondie,' Itachi nudged him forward. 'Sasuke will be right behind you.'

Naruto took a deep breath. He tightened his grip on his trolley. Closing his eyes, he made a run for it.

The collision he half-expected never came. To his surprise, he suddenly heard a steam engine. Blue eyes blinked open.

He had made it onto the platform! Kids were milling around, talking to friends and family. A slow smile started to form on Naruto's face. He was finally off!

'Dobe,' a voice said, very close to his ear.

Naruto started. He glanced to his left, and came face-to-face with Sasuke. Sasuke smirked at his look of surprise.

'Come on,' he said, nodding at the train. 'Let's get a carriage before they're all gone.'

Dazed, Naruto realized that the cold, Ice Princess Bastard was offering to share a compartment. With him. Naruto thought for a second. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

'Naruto!'

Naruto watched, slightly surprised, as Sasuke's shoulder's tensed in front of him. Deciding to brush it off as nothing, he turned with a huge grin plastered on his face. 'Kiba!' he yelled.

'Come on, I saved you a seat,' Kiba called, waving him over. Naruto glanced back at Sasuke. Then back at Kiba. Then to Sasuke again. Turning back to Kiba, he asked, 'Is it alright if Sasuke comes along?'

Kiba hesitated for a millisecond, before his face split into a wide grin. 'Sure thing.'

Sasuke looked at Naruto in surprise. Then he smirked.

'Can't survive without me?'

'Shut up, and come on,' muttered Naruto. He didn't know what had made him decide to include Sasuke on the spur of the moment. Maybe it was because Sasuke had offered to share a carriage. Yeah, that's it, Naruto agreed.

Itachi and Jiraiya made it through the barrier just then.

'I have never met a more stubborn man,' Itachi told him loudly, annoyed.

'You wanted me to run into a wall!' Jiraiya argued. 'Can you blame me?'

'You just say Blondie and Sasuke run through! How could you have any doubts?'

'Shut up,' moaned Jiraiya. 'I don't think I'll ever get used to that.'

Itachi rolled his eyes expressively.

'Oi, Itachi!' Naruto called. 'Give me a hand with these trunks?'

Itachi nodded and flicked his wand. The trunks levitated and flew into the train. 'Where to?'

'This way,' called Kiba, leading the way.

Once they were settled in, Kiba pointed to the one girl sitting in their carriage. 'Naruto, meet my girlfriend, Hinata. Hinata, this is that idiot I mentioned.'

Naruto laughingly cuffed Kiba on the neck, before offering a hand politely to the blushing brunette. 'Hey there, Hinata. Nice to meet you.'

'Same here, Naruto,' Hinata said with a shy smile. Her pale eyes stood out against her fair skin, as she looked him over. 'I've heard a lot about you.'

'They better have been good things,' Naruto said, glaring playfully at her boyfriend.

'Of course,' she said.

'You've met Sasuke before?' Naruto asked, moving aside to introduce the raven.

'Hello, Sasuke,' Hinata said. 'Yes, we've met.'

Sasuke nodded once to acknowledge her, then instantly settled into the seat opposite, by the window.

'No fair!' Naruto cried, outraged. 'I wanted the window seat!'

Sasuke moved to the left at once, leaving the window seat free. 'Go ahead.'

Naruto blushed lightly, backtracking. He'd thought there'd be an argument of some sort. 'N-No, if you really want it…,'

Sasuke glared at him. 'Do you want the seat or not, dobe?'

Still mumbling, Naruto moved and sat down. 'Thanks,' he muttered.

Sasuke smirked and, ever so slightly, shifted closer, so that no one but Naruto noticed. 'Anytime, dobe.'

'Little brother.'

Startled, Sasuke leapt from his seat. He glared daggers at his brother. 'What?'

Itachi smirked, a perfect imitation of Sasuke's face a few moment's ago. 'Just making sure you settled in. Are you-,' his eyes darted to where Sasuke had been sitting seconds ago, '-comfortable?'

Sasuke snarled at him. 'Perfectly.'

'Excellent,' Itachi said. 'Remember now, kids. Practice safe sex.'

Sasuke practically murdered him right there. To his mortification, Naruto said, in an obliviously cheerful tone, 'Ah, I think Sasuke and I can hold Kiba off Hinata until we reach Hogwarts.'

'Of course,' Itachi said smoothly. Hinata blushed, while Kiba grinned.

'Get out,' Sasuke said, pushing him out the door.

'Oh, and Blondie,' called Itachi, to Sasuke's horror. 'Wave at the old man, would you? He's going crazy out there.' Sasuke sighed in relief.

With that, Itachi left the compartment. Sasuke resumed his position next to Naruto, leaning closer than ever on the pretense of waving somberly at his brother.

10 minutes later, a loud, shrill whistle sounded. The train came to life, chugging forward slowly as all the families on the platform waved enthusiastically at the kids.

'See ya, Naruto!' Jiraiya yelled, loudest of them all. 'Make sure you send loads of pictures!'

'Take care, you old pervert!' Naruto called affectionately.

With one last whistle, the train was off.

A/N: So, you know the drill. Read and Review, please.

I know I mentioned one Janice Lockhart up there. In my perfect little world, Gilderoy's niece was every bit as gorgeous as her uncle, with the added bonus of being a tad more intelligent than most. So there you go. I thought it was such a shame if I let the Lockhart name go to waste. If, by chance, I've messed up some facts and Gilderoy is all alone in the world, with no family to speak of, then remember this is fanfiction, and I can do what I like.

FrostyIceCube: You, my friend, RULE. Thanks so much for reviewing.

Thanks to all the other reviewers as well! I love you all.