I know this is shorter than most chapters, so I'm sorry. But...well, I wanted to end it there. Also, this isn't very fluffy. :( I'd have loved to make it so, but...well, I have to stick with the story line. Your suggestions are always welcome, and I love hearing them, but please, what I DO NOT want is people telling me exactly how this story should have been. I've got the plot down. A few extras here and there is okay, but really. Don't tell me how to do my job. Forgive me if I sound harsh. I'm trying to put this nicely. If you're mentioned down below, you did nothing wrong, and I love you, and I loved your suggestions.

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

When Naruto awoke the next day, the memories of the previous night assaulted him, causing him to muffle a groan into his pillow as he rolled over and hugged it tightly.

Stupid Sasuke, he grumbled. Bloody teme. Freaking stick-up-the-pasty-ass.

When he was done ranting in his head, he rolled over once more, letting the pillow rest on his stomach, and then sighed. It was still extremely early, he knew. There wasn't much sunlight in the room, and he could tell it was dawn. And he was wide awake.

Jiraiya, he thought suddenly. He's probably worried about me. I should let him know I'm okay. After weighing his limited options, Naruto decided to get up and dressed, then write his mentor a letter.

10 minutes later, the blonde could be found in one of the squishy armchairs in the Gryffindor common room, garbed in form-fitting black jeans and a bright orange t-shirt. His school robe lay draped over the head of the chair, while Naruto remained bent over a piece of parchment that had been carefully place atop his school bag. The last embers of the fire that had roared merrily last night died while the scratching sounds of quill against parchment filled the otherwise silent room.

The blonde didn't notice a pale figure walk silently up behind him, pausing behind him as he watched the boy frown over his letter in concentration.

'Naruto, right?'

Naruto leapt up in fright, taken by surprise, for even though the voice had been fairly soft, it had sounded like a gunshot in the roaring silence of the room. His quill slipped and scraped against the parchment, leaving a long mark that crossed from halfway down the page to left corner. Naruto twisted around, to come face-to-face with the long-haired prefect he'd seen the night before.

'Sorry,' the boy nodded, looking at the parchment. 'Let me fix that.' With a quick wave of his wand over the parchment, Naruto watched as the mark disappeared, leaving the rest of the words intact.

Naruto looked back up from his letter. 'Thanks,' he said, but then added, 'but that was technically your fault anyway, so, I should say, you're forgiven.'

The barely visible smile appeared on the pale boy's features as his eyebrows went slightly up. 'Very kind of you.'

'I know,' said Naruto in mock modesty. 'I try.'

'What are you doing down here this early?' the boy said seriously. 'You should be asleep.'

'Couldn't,' Naruto shrugged. 'Is there a rule against being here in the early morning?'

'There should be,' the boy muttered. 'So, you're Naruto?'

'That's me,' the blonde said, puffing out his chest. 'Who're you?'

'Neji,' he said, offering a hand. 'My boyfriend, Gaara, told me about you.'

'You're Gaara's boyfriend?' Naruto asked, taking the hand and looking at Neji with a new-found interest. 'I didn't know Gaara was gay.'

The hand in his tensed. 'That a problem?'

'My god, no!' Naruto said, looking surprised. 'That would be slightly hypocritical, seeing as I go both ways.'

'Oh,' Neji said, and relaxed. 'Well, then, yeah. I'm his boyfriend.'

'Cool,' Naruto grinned at him.

'So what're you doing?' Neji asked him, nodding at the parchment in Naruto's hands.

'Ah, letter to my dad,' Naruto said. 'I was just signing it when you came in.'

'It looks pretty long,' Neji commented. 'Do you really have that much to say since you saw him last?'

'Yeah, I'm from a non-wizard family, plus this is my first year,' Naruto smiled sheepishly. 'I've written down everything.'

'Oh,' Neji said, nodding understandingly.

'So now I'm not sure if I should toss this in the fire and say his name and address, or what.'

Neji looked at him in surprise. 'Why would you do that?'

'Isn't that how floo powder works?'

Neji almost laughed out loud, but held himself in check. Instead, he opted for smirking. 'No. We don't send letters by floo powder.'

'Oh.' Naruto looked visibly disappointed, as though he'd been looking forward to throwing his letter at the dying embers.

'We use owls.'

'Oh!' he said, instantly cheering up. However, just as quickly, he suddenly deflated. 'But I don't have an owl.'

'Easily fixed,' Neji said, moving to the portrait hole. 'Do you have an envelope?' Naruto picked and held up one of the yellow envelopes he had bought in Diagon Alley that he had left on the table. 'Then come on.'

Naruto set his bag down on the floor and hurried after Neji, folding the letter in his hands into quarters as he went.

Neji told Naruto that they were headed to the Owlery, which was at the top of the West Tower. 'There are thousands of owls in there,' he said as he led Naruto up yet another flight of stairs. 'You can choose one to use to send your dad the letter.'

The Owlery was a cold and drafty circular room. Nestled in perches were hundreds of owls of different breeds, most of them asleep, save for a few yellow eyes that glared balefully at them. None of the windows, Naruto could see, had glass in them. Straw and hay were strewn on the ground, along with several clumps of owl droppings. The blonde wrinkled his nose at the smell.

'Which one do I use?' he asked, looking around at the several colors of feathers that surrounded him.

Neji walked over to one small, sleeping owl and picked it up. It fluttered awake and hooted indignantly, but Neji didn't let it escape. He brought the owl to the wary looking blonde.

'Go on,' he prompted, when Naruto just gaped hesitantly at the snow-white bird. 'It won't bite.'

'Are you sure?' Naruto asked cautiously, his arm reaching owl slowly.

'No teeth, remember?' smirked the pale-eyed prefect.

Naruto instantly whipped his hand back. 'Then it won't peck?' he asked, irritated.

Neji's smirk grew even wider. 'It won't.'

'It'd better not,' Naruto warned, and then extended his arm out completely. 'Here, birdie. Come to Naruto,' he cooed.

"Birdie" hopped onto Naruto's arm immediately, although it's glare at being woken up never ceased. Naruto sighed with relief, and then watched carefully as Neji took the letter from him and showed him how to attach it to the owl's leg.

'Now just tell him where to go, and he'll take it,' Neji said, leading Naruto to one of the large open windows.

The owl hooted angrily.

'I mean "she",' Neji corrected himself, rolling his eyes at the owl, which fluffed out its feathers and held its head high.

'Um, go to number 7, Blackberry Street, in Breadcove, Surrey,' Naruto told the owl, feeling utterly stupid that he was talking to a bird.

Without a sound, the owl spread its wings and took off through the window. The sun was up now, and Naruto watched the bird till the glare was too much for him, and he turned away.

'You're sure that she'll reach the place?' Naruto asked Neji worriedly as they made their way out.

'Owls have hardly ever gotten the place wrong,' Neji said, as he led the way back to Gryffindor tower.

'Was the address I gave clear enough?'

'Clear as it'll ever be,' Neji said. They reached the Fat Lady, and after Neji gave the password, they stepped through.

Sasuke was standing on the other side, with Kiba pacing next to him.

'Naruto!' Kiba said loudly with relief, and he pounced on the surprised blonde. 'You bloody moron, we were worried sick!'

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who was staring stonily at Neji, who stared back. 'We?' he asked.

'Sasuke's a cold bastard, but you could tell he was about to pass out,' Kiba grinned and assured him.

'Kiba,' the raven said warningly.

'Where were you, anyway?' Kiba asked while dragging Naruto to the very arm chair the blonde had been sitting in before Neji had led him to the Owlery. 'You left your school bag and robe. I was sure you'd been lost forever in the halls of Hogwarts, never to be seen again!' Kiba ended this theatrical performance by brushing away a fake tear.

'Neji took me to the Owlery, to post a letter,' Naruto shrugged.

'Oh.'

Kiba looked disappointed. You could tell he had expected a much more exciting story. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked pissed. Without another word, he turned and left through the portrait hole, his bag on his shoulder.

'Jeez, what's his problem?' Naruto asked, staring after him as the portrait swung shut.

'Aw, you know Sasuke,' Kiba said, waving a hand dismissively. 'He's just acting like the royal pain he is. Hey Neji,' Kiba called out to the prefect, who was heading back up into the dorms. 'Have you seen Gaara? I've been meaning to talk to him.'

'I'll tell him you're looking for him,' Neji said, then disappeared through the doors.

Naruto and Kiba looked at each other and shrugged.

Down at the Great Hall, Naruto and Kiba made their way up their table until they spotted Hinata, who was sitting next to a very moody looking Sasuke.

'Why so glum, chum?' Naruto said, grinning and dumping his bag underneath the bench and plopping down next to the raven.

Kiba was at Hinata's side in an instant, and one second later, their lips were locked in a passionate embrace.

'It's nothing,' Sasuke sighed, picking at his breakfast. 'I guess I just don't like cereal.'

'I'll finish yours when I'm done,' Naruto offered, slurping down the milk in his cornflakes.

Sasuke threw a puzzled look in the blonde's direction. The dobe was acting completely normal. After last night, he had expected some form of embarrassment, in the very least. It seemed, however, as though he had completely forgotten. Sasuke shook his head. Stupid dobe, he thought.

'What?' Naruto suddenly asked, catching Sasuke's curious look. 'Do I have something on my face?'

'As a matter of fact,' a smooth voice interrupted before Sasuke could answer, 'you've got a little milk, right about there.' A pale hand reached out and wiped the edge of Naruto's mouth with en equally pale thumb.

'What the hell?' Naruto said, slapping the hand away. He turned, and came face-to-face with a smirking Gaara. 'Oh, hey Gaara. What's up?'

'Nothing much,' Gaara replied, his green eyes shifting to meet glaring obsidian ones as he maintained his position behind Naruto. 'Why hello there, Sasuke.'

'Captain,' Sasuke said coolly, his eyes ablaze.

Naruto followed the exchange, and a confused expression appeared on his face. 'Captain?'

'Gaara's captain of the Quidditch team,' Neji said, suddenly appearing behind the red-head. 'Sasuke is on the team, too.'

'Really?' Naruto asked excitedly. He knew all about Quidditch. One of the books Jiraiya had gotten him was a brilliant one all about the national wizarding game. He had read the book several times, intrigued. It was like a good old game of football, only way cooler, because it was played on brooms. And if Naruto like football, he loved Quidditch. 'What position do you guys play?'

Sasuke looked a tad surprised. 'You know what Quidditch is?'

'Hey, I read,' Naruto informed him. 'Well? What positions?'

'I'm Keeper,' Gaara said. 'Sasuke plays Seeker.'

'Woah,' Naruto said, glancing at Sasuke, impressed.

'It's not a big deal,' muttered Sasuke, returning to poking his cereal with a spoon.

'Hey, Gaara,' Kiba suddenly called out. 'When are tryouts?'

'Next week, Friday.'

'Sweet, I'm so making the team this year,' he said to no one in particular.

Sasuke snorted. 'Good luck with that.'

'Why can't Kiba play?' Naruto asked.

'He's tried out every year since he turned twelve,' Sasuke said. 'And he's never made the team.'

'You wait,' Kiba said, glaring at the Uchiha. 'I'll show you.'

Just then, Shizune walked up to them, shooing Gaara and Neji away. 'Here you go,' she said, handing a piece of paper to Sasuke, Kiba and Hinata. 'These are your timetables.'

'Hey, Professor Shizune,' Naruto said, before she walked on. 'What classes should I go to?'

'Just go to whatever sounds interesting, Naruto,' Shizune said, smiling. 'Make sure you've been in all the classes at least once during the week, so you can choose which subjects you want.'

Naruto nodded to show he'd understood, and Shizune walked on.

'Ugh, double potions with Asuma,' Kiba groaned, looking at his sheet.

Sasuke hadn't touched his sheet, having just returned to staring at his cereal as it grew soggier and soggier.

'Oh, hey, Sasuke, isn't Itachi your brother?' Kiba suddenly asked, frowning at his timetable.

Sasuke's head snapped up so quickly, his neck cricked. 'What?'

'Here, he's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts,' the shaggy-haired boy said, pointing at his paper.

Sasuke snatched up his timetable and stared at it. He growled. 'Shit,' he cursed.

A/N: Okay, so the real reason this is short is because...wait for it...IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW! 17th October, people! So I'm trying to finish all the work on my hands, so I don't have to worry about anything.

As always, much love to the reviewers. That last chapter got way more reviews that I've ever thought I'd get. I love you all so much. Special love to my faves: SangoStar, FrostyIceCube (So how'd those essays go?), Jadej.j, anomie86, Kyorose (it was him! It was! Congrats, you figured it out first!), bluegirlami21, Prauge(I'll mention Ino's house in another chap, k?), bellandedwardLS, Plain Jane Is A Vampire, sasukexnaruto4ever, cardcaptor111, StainedGlassCuts, Narutofan4ev, Bloodypassion, Glittering Cyan Wings, and Eovin.

Thank you to all the people who put this on your Story Alerts as well, and put this story on your Fave Stories, and added it to your C2s. There are so many of you, I'd write down all your names, but its so, so very much...but anyway, I love you guys too.

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