Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OTHER CHARACTERS, J.K. ROWLING DOES!

I'm so sorry this took so long I cut the chapter in half so I could give you something so ya its short :[[

Much thanx reviwers:

Amaherst: glad your sticking with the sory hope you enjoy this!! one more chapter before he goes back

Queen of My Own Little World: thanks for reviewing and not coming down too hard on my mistakes i brushed up chapter 1 as best I could at 3 in the morning so there are less- if any mistakes! hope you like this chapter : )

Feathertail 1021: thanks for reading this glad you like it : )

and thankyou madmax666 and missvamp16 for your late 1st chapter reviews

A/N: Sorry for my Slughorn not as good as original

hope you like!!! read and review

Home Coming

Harry got to the gates that used to posess such immanent powerful magic. He knew that no Death Eater in their right mind would dare come back to this school, the place they had lost more than three quarters of their... kind and what they thought was tthe most powerful wizard to walk this earth after Salazar Slytherin.

Apparently McGonagall thought they wouldn't come back as well because the gate was now nothing but a fair addition to the landscaping. She had taken almost all of the charms off it so now all he had to do was push the gate open, with some force. When he was on the school property he shoved them back together before turning around and heading towards the place he had called home for years.

He walked through the entrance hall recalling the sorting hat and its decision. He made his way past the Great Hall remembering the Yule Ball and how idiotic he was to notice how Ginny was glowing.

He passed that corridoor where he first saw Ginny and the others during first fight for Hogwarts; almost four years ago.

Then he started going down the hall that lead to the entrance of Dumbledore's- McGonagall's office. He remembered watching the old man's pale and sweaty face. His face was not calm for the first time Harry had seen since the name drawing from the Goblet of Fire. And then Snape obliged to end the man's aching. Thinking of Snape made him lost in the memory of his mother as a kid.

Until he had reached the stone eagle, he hadn't realised he didn't know the password. He didn't have a lot of time. If he waited, there would soon be students up and about- and first years. That reminded him of the perpetually stimulated Colin Creevey. He wondered if Dennis had ever come back for his seventh year.

Harry shook it off. He had to think of the task at hand.

Speaking of hands, Harry noticed one abnormally fluffy hand had been on his shoulder. "Well, son you are mighty big to be goin' to the Headmistress. What could you possibly have done this early in the mornin'?" Harry recognized that chubby hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Slughorn. His face went from plain to care free to his face lit up with excitement. Harry gave him a smile and shook his hand. "Harry, ma' boy!" he said shaking more exicetedly and thumping Harry on the back.

"Hi professor."

"Oh no, no, no, no, no! I'm not even your professor anymore so please call me Horace, Mr. Potter."

"No just Harry. And-" Slughorn cut him off,

"Exactly! Make you feel old dudin' it?" He let out his Santa-like bark of a laugh.

"Uhh yeahh. Ummm any way, Horace, can you tell me what the password is?"

"Oh nonsense. You don't nee to wait for Minerva, she is just up at the Astronomy Tower as usual. I'll walk with ya; though it would be wise to speed up the process,"

Harry opened his mouth but was to late,

"We wouldn't want the whole school listening in on your convertation now would we."

Harry wanted to tell him that he didn't come here to talk to McGonnagall but that would bring up the question of why he needed to speak to Dumbledore after all this time. A question he didn't need right now.

Slughorn talked about all of the sorts of things that you would expect from him: he talked about Hary's and his mother's nat for potions, how he didn't have a student like either of them yet, he asked how it feelt being the Harry Potter, if Harry would enjoy coming to his next Slug Club formal to introduce himself.

Harry did not answer because he honestly wasn't listening. Then Slughorn added, "You can bring a lady friend..." nudging Harry in the core of his stomach.

Harry was so very close to discarding a tear from his watery eyes, but not because of the whale fin poking him but because he caught what Slug said this time. Alright maybe it had a little bit to do with the elbows the size of Harry's head cutting off his circulation.