Chapter Fifty-three

Harry's mouth dropped open, and all he could do was stare at Nathaniel in disbelief. Was he being serious? No, he couldn't possibly be serious about that. He was probably just… kidding, like he normally does…

"What?" Harry managed out, his eyes wide. "Y—you're not coming to Hogwarts with me on September first? Why?"

Nathaniel shrugged, sitting down beside Harry. "I was just thinking about it. I mean, what am I going to do there other than keep you company? I think I'd qualify more as a muggle than a wizard, Harry. After all, all I can do is turn into a snake. I don't even think I have a stick-thing."

"That's not true," Harry argued desperately. "You are a wizard. You're my friend, and I really want you to go to Hogwarts with me. And—and, I bet you do have a stick-thing—I mean a wand, but just not with you at the moment…"

"Lets face it, Harry," Nathaniel said softly. "What good will I be at Hogwarts to you?"

"What good would you be wherever else you're planning to go?" Harry snapped, the words coming out more harsher than he wanted.

"I was thinking I could go to a muggle school. You know, learn some of the basic things there… I bet I'd fit in more there than at Hogwarts."

"That's not true," Harry said, scowling at Nathaniel. "I don't understand. Why not? Just because you want to spend every minute with Amaryllis, you decide that you want to go to muggle school with her too?"

Nathaniel sighed, glaring at Harry. "That's not it at all!" But at Harry's look, Nathaniel gave another sighed. "Okay, it's partially true…"

"See!" Harry exploded, jumping up from the bed. "It's all because of Amaryllis! I bet she was the one that got you to do that, right? How do you know you'll even go to school with her? How do you know that you won't be sent all the way back to elementary school? I bet you'll go to elementary school and make your way up, since you don't even know what one plus one equals!"

Nathaniel scowled. "I do too! It equals four! And Amaryllis didn't talk me into this, I talked myself into it! HAH! Just goes to show how much you know, Harry!"

Harry shook his head, looking hurt. "No it doesn't. Two plus two equals four, not one plus one. Just goes to show much you know, Nathaniel."

Harry turned away, stomping out into the hallway and down the steps. How could Nathaniel do this? Harry had thought that he and Nathaniel were going to spend a lot of his Hogwarts years together. He didn't think that he'd lose his best friend… his only friend, other than Snape…

"I'm not in a good mood," Harry announced to Snape once he entered the dining room, where Snape was sitting and reading something. "I'm in a very bad mood."

"I can tell," Snape replied distractedly. "I could hear you yelling from down here."

Harry blushed. "Sorry. It's just… Nathaniel said…" Harry let out a breath and tried again. "He said he wants to go to a muggle school instead of going to Hogwarts with me. I don't know what to do."

"Do nothing," Snape responded. "He'll come to his senses. Anyway, one way or another he'll realize that he doesn't have the money to go to a muggle school."

Harry started to nod. "I guess so. I just - I don't know. He seemed really serious about it, and I guess it just hurt my feelings that he wanted to be with Amaryllis instead of me. He's known me longer than her."

Snape looked up from the book and stared at Harry. "By the end of the day, Harry, Nathaniel's views will probably have changed. He'll want to go to Hogwarts with you and not to some muggle school."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry said.

Snape raised his eyebrows. "You guess?"

Harry smiled. "I know you're right. Thanks, Severus. I'm going to go talk to Nathaniel." Without waiting for Snape to reply, Harry ran back up the stairs to his room, where he found Nathaniel in the same spot, looking deep in thought.

Nathaniel looked up once he heard Harry enter the room. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know your thoughts must be so jumbled up, and you don't know what to do… The thought just came to me, and—"

"It's OK," Harry replied, walking towards Nathaniel. "I understand. You don't want to come to Hogwarts with me. It's fine."

"No, it's not," Nathaniel interrupted. "It's not that I don't want to go to Hogwarts with you, it's just that if I do then you'll probably get bored of me—"

Harry let out a laugh. "Bored of you? Are you crazy? How could I get bored of you?"

Nathaniel shrugged. "It could happen. That's why I just thought… Do you mind if I go out to think for a while? Just to clear my head… kind of what you did. Just to relax."

Harry nodded. "Sure. Just don't get lost, and don't fall asleep."

"I'll try not to," Nathaniel said with a grin before he left.

-

"I've made up my mind," Nathaniel declared when he arrived back at the manor and was up in Harry's room. While Nathaniel was out to think, Harry had just stayed in his room to think about things as well.

"Oh?" Harry said, looking at Nathaniel. "Let's hear it."

Nathaniel took in a deep breath, let it out, and smiled. "I've come to agree with myself that… I'll go to Hogwarts with you."

Harry smiled. "Good. I was hoping you would say that."

Nathaniel frowned, leaning against the door frame. "That's it? Just a 'good'?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "What did you want me to do? Throw a party?"

Nathaniel rolled his eyes at Harry, who stood up from the bed and walked past Nathaniel.

"Hey, where are you going?" Nathaniel called after him. "Don't tell me you're mad."

Harry frowned and turned around, just as he was about to go down the stairs. "Mad? Why would I be mad? I'm going to go check out Severus's library."

Nathaniel followed Harry. "Why? Are you even allowed?"

Harry let out a laugh. "Allowed? Why wouldn't I be allowed? I do live here now."

"Yeah but… it was just a question," Nathaniel said, shrugging his shoulders and tagging along behind Harry. "I didn't know Snape had a library. Do you know where it is?"

"Yup. Well… he must, right? This is a huge house, and huge houses usually have a library," Harry replied. "Maybe he has some good books that I can look at."

"But you're not certain that he has a library? Harry, we could be looking for nothing," Nathaniel said.

"Well…" Harry paused, going down a corridor. "Come on. We can look for it. It'll be a fun adventure."

"Yeah, an adventure that we're not sure even exists," Nathaniel muttered.

"Look, here's a door," Harry said as he and Nathaniel faced a plain-looking door. "This could be the library."

Harry turned the handle and walked inside, his eyes widening at the shelves of books. It wasn't as big as he imagined, but it was still fairly large.

"Wow," he breathed, taking in the room. "Look at all the books. It's huge."

He walked over to one of the bookcases and plucked a random book off the shelf, blowing some dust off the cover. "It's a Potions book."

Nathaniel snorted. "What did you expect? A cheesy romance novel?"

Harry grinned and threw Nathaniel a look. "I know, but I was just telling you." He opened the book and started to flip through the pages before he closed it again and set it back on the shelf.

"There are a lot of books here," Harry said as he went to another bookcase. "I wonder if they're all Potion books."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Nathaniel said. "Come on. What if Snape's looking for you and can't find you? We'll tell him about the discovery of the library and maybe he'll let us come back. What if he doesn't want us in here, anyway?"

Harry frowned, looking at Nathaniel. "Why would he have a library in his house if he didn't want us in it?"

"Because he didn't have a kid in the house before," Nathaniel explained with a roll of his eyes. "As far as I'm concerned, anyway."

Harry nodded. "I guess you're right. Let's go."

"Of course I'm right," Nathaniel said as he followed Harry out of the library. "What did you expect me to be? Wrong? Never."

Harry cast a glance over his shoulder at Nathaniel. "So today, right now, are we going to start the search for your parents? Maybe Severus has a book in that library that may have something in it other than Potions. Maybe a book dedicated to famous witches and wizards."

"I don't think my parents were famous," Nathaniel said, biting his lip.

"Well…" Harry trailed off, letting the word hang in the air. "Do you… remember their names?"

"I'm not sure. Never really thought of it—hey! You just went the wrong way," Nathaniel said. "You were suppose to go the other way."

Harry stopped in his tracks. "No, it was this way."

"I'm positive it was the other way."

Harry sighed, looking irritated. "Fine. You can go the other way. I am going this way."

Nathaniel looked behind him. "I think I'll just follow you. I don't want to get lost."

Harry continued on through the dark, feeling triumphant as they closer to a light. But as they grew nearer, the light didn't get brighter.

"It's a door," Nathaniel said once they were up close to see what it was. "Open it."

"I am," Harry said as he turned the doorknob. "Give me time."

"Oh, yes," Nathaniel said sarcastically. "Because it takes so much time to open a door. Hours and hours and hours."

Harry ignored Nathaniel and opened the door, stepping inside of a room. It looked almost like a guests room.

"So… that door leads to another room?" Harry went forward and opened another door, only to find the hall that led to his room.

"Hey, look," Nathaniel said as he opened the door that went back to the library. It was just a closet.

Harry went out the door to another room. The bathroom. Going inside he saw a door, and when he opened it there was the darkness again. Possibly the one that led back to the library, but he wasn't going to test it to find out.

"It's in here now," he called to Nathaniel, who came into the bathroom to see.

"Close it again," Nathaniel instructed. Harry did so, and when he opened it back up he saw it was just a closet filled with random supplies.

"Apparently," Nathaniel started as he looked at the closet in wonder, "every time you shut the door, the passage that leads to the library goes into another room. Like it may be in a closet or something this time."

"I wonder what happens if you leave it shut the whole time," Harry mused.

"Well obviously it stays in that spot," Nathaniel replied. "Until someone opens and closes the door again, that is. Weird."

Harry closed the door, turning back to Nathaniel. "Let's go find Severus. Maybe he knows something about your parents that will help us find them. On the way try to think of their names."

Nathaniel frowned. "I don't like thinking."

Harry gave Nathaniel a look as he exited the bathroom and descended down the stairs. "Put up with it."

-

Nathaniel now was looking at Snape, his head held high. Harry had just told him about how Nathaniel wanted to find his parents, and all Snape could do was say, "You want to find your parents?" in a tone which made Nathaniel scowl.

"Yes, I do. The problem with that is...?"

"Well," Snape started, as Harry settled down on the sofa next to him, "you had always complained about wishing that you didn't have any parents when you attended Hogwarts."

Nathaniel frowned, sitting in an armchair across from them. "So? That was then. I can barely even remember then. And… I don't think I always complained about that." He paused, staring at Snape. "Did I?"

"I found the incessant complaints to become aggravating," Snape replied. "Why the sudden decision?"

Nathaniel shrugged his shoulders. "I want to see what they look like. If they remember me."

"They'd obviously remember you, Jacobs," Snape responded in annoyance. "You haven't aged a bit."

Nathaniel grinned. "Oh, thank you." Then realizing that Snape was being serious (though he wondered why he didn't think that in the first place. It'd take a miracle for Severus Snape to kid about something), Nathaniel gave his eyes a swift roll.

"Will you help us?" Harry asked before Nathaniel could say anything else.

Snape looked down at Harry before emitting a sigh. "Yes, I suppose. What am I to do?"

Harry glanced at Nathaniel. "We don't know. Do you maybe know Nathaniel's parents? Do you know their names?"

"You talked—or rather, complained—about them as much as you did, I should," Snape said to Nathaniel. "But unfortunately for you, I don't."

"I don't even remember their names," Nathaniel said, shaking his head. "Other than the surname of Jacobs… that's it."

"Maybe tomorrow you'll think of them," Harry said gently. "Or maybe even tonight."

Nathaniel snorted. "I wish I had a memory like that."

Nathaniel stood up from the armchair and went upstairs, causing Harry to glance at Snape before he got up and followed.

-

"You ok?" Harry asked quietly when he found Nathaniel sprawled out on his bed.

"No I'm not," came Nathaniel's muffled voice. "I can't even remember my parents' own names."

"You'll think of it," Harry said, approaching the bed and Nathaniel. "You just have to give some things time. You still don't remember half of your past, do you?"

"No," Nathaniel said, lifting his head from the pillows. "But I get quick flashes every day."

Harry smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed as Nathaniel collected himself, and sat up straight. "See? In a few days I'm sure you'll either get flashes of your parents faces or you'll just remember their names."

Nathaniel grinned at Harry. "I hope. Did anybody tell you, Harry, that you have a lot of optimism?"

Harry looked at Nathaniel quizzically.

"Optimism means to have confidence. Mainly, right now, in me," Nathaniel explained. "Thanks."

Harry smiled in embarrassment and gave his shoulders a shrug. "You're welcome."

As Harry got up to go back downstairs with Snape, Nathaniel quickly stopped him. "Harry?" he called just as Harry reached the doorway. "About what I said earlier. The not-going-to-Hogwarts-with-you?—"

Harry shook his head. "It's all right."

"I never meant it," Nathaniel said, biting his lip. "I just didn't want you to get bored of me and then… I dunno. Leave me."

Harry's face shone with surprise. "What? Leave you?"

Nathaniel nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. It was wrong to even think that, but I did."

"I'm not going to leave you," Harry promised firmly. "You're my friend, I wouldn't do that."

Nathaniel smiled, looking down at his hands before looking back up at Harry. "I think I've known that all along. But I am going to go to Hogwarts with you, if you still want me to."

"Of course I do," Harry said with a laugh. "I wouldn't change my mind about it, either."

"I wonder," Nathaniel said suddenly, "how Snape got the rest of the rooms to stay in their permanent place. It's just the library that keeps switching entrances. Hm. Sort of confusing though, isn't it?"

Harry nodded. He turned around and went down the stairs, hoping to get information out of his guardian about that library…

-

A/N: Just to let you know, if you have ever read my Sirius-Adopts-Harry fic (Innocence) then you should know that that is the first in the series that I had going… and the very last one I said was going to be Unbreakable. Of course, I had an idea, so I just posted the sequel to it called The Existance of Reality. So if you were one of the people that had read one of those stories then you can check the unexpected Unbreakable sequel out if you'd like.

Thanks to everybody!