Disclaimer: You want to know what I OWN?! I'll tell you what I OWN…nothing, nada, not a friggin' thing! How unfair is that to my wallet?!
Chapter Summary: Harry and Draco finally see each other again, in person, following the events at Malfoy Manor.
A/N: W00t for another double-whammy quick update with both of my fanfics! Chapter 35, our last chapter of dear Harry as a six year old. –Cries.- I'm going to miss him, and I hope this chapter does him justice as a good-bye, but every little boy grows up sometime, and it's his turn to go about that 'aging' thing again. –Sighs.- Well…we'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out. –Nods and smiles.- Hope you all like reading this chapter as much as I did writing it. :-)
Chapter 35: Christmas
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As the months drew closer and closer to Christmas, Sirius felt both excited – he never missed a beat when it came to opportunities to buy Harry gifts – and uncertain. Dumbledore wanted Remus, Snape, and he to alternate days all throughout the week leading up to Christmas with Harry spending time up at Snivellus' house with Draco, and Draco spending time at Marauders Abode with Harry, the boys switching location every other day.
Sirius, of course, had been adamant against this idea. Why not just let them spend 'one' day together, instead of the whole bloody week? But Dumbledore insisted that it was best that way, considering the two Elementals would be unable to see each other at all but on these rare occasions. Remus, conformist that he was – in Sirius current opinion - , had nodded and agreed straight away.
Well, no matter how high of a belief Dumbledore had of this being beneficial to Harry and Malfoy's little brat, Sirius could not see how that coming week was going to go by smoothly…let alone without he or Snape killing each other...
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Harry laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The lovely magicked ceiling had the young Potter's favorite Quidditch ball zipping here and there, two Seekers dashing after it on their brooms. The emerald eyed six year old usually always liked to watch this before finally falling asleep, seeing for how long he, himself, could keep track of the fast little Snitch, but tonight he was watching it because he 'could not' sleep.
He was going to be going to see Draco tomorrow at Mr. Snape's house… Now while he did not much mind the thought of seeing Draco again, in person, rather than in dreams occasionally with Xantos, he did not find any excitement what-so-ever at seeing Mr. Snape. Padfoot had encouraged him many a-time to call Mr. Snape, Snivellus, but Harry did not dare. Merlin, no! Mr. Snape seemed far too much like Uncle Vernon for that, which was the main reason the Elemental was so warily nervous. He really hoped he did not have to stay alone with the man… That would be terrible…
But, he supposed, it was just every other day that he would have to visit Mr. Snape's house, which was somewhat a relief. And for New Years Padfoot had promised they would be spending it far away from Mr. Snape's house. Harry was not sure how far away that would be, but anything Sirius promised turned out great, so the young Potter was at least really glad for that.
As it were, he digressed. The point was that he could not sleep. Normally on nights like this, which were few and spread apart, Harry would go and climb in Remus' bed, because the lycanthrope was much easier to wake up that Padfoot was, but…tonight Uncle Moony was in the basement going through the Full Moon. Which meant the messy haired boy would have to sneak into Padfoot's room instead…this was fine, but Sirius was just such a heavy sleeper…
Either way, mind made up, Harry tossed back his covers and crawled out of bed. The house was extremely quiet at night, as apposed to how loud and happy it was during the day, which was a little unnerving, but not terribly so. The young Potter had been living here for going on four years now, and he was pretty much used to it all.
Tip-toeing from his room and into the hall, Harry looked around for a moment before making his way to Sirius' bedroom. Entering the room, Harry paused for a moment before continuing over to his Godfather's bed, silently climbing up onto it. As he had imagined, the elegantly black haired man was fast asleep, the bright moonlight streaming in through the window, casting a bluish glow over the Black.
The Potter heir smiled to himself, situating himself next to the twenty-six year old, and pulled the covers up and over his lower half. Emerald eyes stared, once more, up at the ceiling for a beat, before he shook his head, closed his eyes, and turned to snuggle up against Sirius.
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Harry had not needed to explain himself to his Godfather come morning, the man knew how Harry felt about Severus, but as the three got ready for their day and had breakfast, he said,
"Really, Prongslet, Snivellus can't and wouldn't do a thing to you. For one, he knows I'd kill him, for another, he knows Remus would kill him, and one more for good measure, he knows Dumbledore would fire him…so, see? He's all bark, no bite. Always has been." The Black, of course, said this with a mouth full of toast, but Harry understood well enough.
The young boy nodded, knowing all this to be true, but…still…that did not mean he had to be happy about it. Mr. Snape was mean, and his emotions were always so dark and hateful and…the Potter just really preferred to not be around him whenever he could help it, but… Dumbles said it was a good idea, so…he supposed it had to be.
"And if you really, really don't want us to all go, cub…we could just tell Dumbledore 'no'," Remus stated sincerely, if not a little tiredly after his previous night.
Emerald green orbs shifted to the much paler than usual man, who was giving him an exhausted smile. A soft sigh left the Potter's lips as he shook his head, looking back down at his now empty plate.
"No, it's okay…I do want to see Draco, again," Harry said, finally looking back up at his Guardians. Remus nodded knowingly and returned to his food.
Harry knew he would have to get over his fear of Mr. Snape sometime, considering the man was going to be one of his professors at school and running from class when he was older would most certainly be no plausible option. Why bother forestalling what was so clearly inevitable? And so that became the six year old's mind set.
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Well, it had been his mind set…anyway…two or so hours ago. That was, of course, before he found himself – along with Padfoot and Uncle Moony – standing on the doorstep of the last house on Spinner's End. The place was dark and dreary and the sky was grey despite the sun being out. There was no sound of running and playing children like in most neighborhoods; in fact, there was really no sound at all…the whole place looked dead in its own way, as if it had come out of its own nightmare. On top of this all, there was a smell in the air that Harry could not quite identify…but it was definitely not pleasant in the least.
"Merlin…ten sickles says you're the first pureblood to set foot here, Padfoot…" Remus murmured in faint disbelief, looking around at all the rundown brick houses, cobblestone streets, and various busted lamp lights.
"…Heh, probably. No wonder the greasy git never washes his hair…I bet he doesn't even have running water!" Sirius smirked at this. After all, Snape had to have enough money to get a better house than the one he had grown up in, what with his job at Hogwarts and all, but…apparently the life of simulation poverty floated his boat.
"I bet he just likes the quiet," Remus replied, shaking his head before stepping up and knocking on the door. "Though I do have to say I'd prefer if the boys met at our place, exclusively…"
"I like that idea!" Harry interjected quickly.
"I wouldn't have doubted it," Remus chuckled, taking a step back from the door as sounds came from inside.
One would think the door would be, in a matter of seconds, opened. However it is not, and remains closed for another full minute or so…much to Sirius' ever growing annoyance.
"That greasy git; he knows were out here, and he still—" the dog Animagus growled, releasing his Godson's hand to step up to the door, lifting his fist as if to pound, but it was at this moment, instead, that the door did open.
"Patience is a virtue, Black, one I can see you've yet to learn…," drawled the onyx eyed man from the doorway with a sneer curling at the corners of his lips.
Sirius glared at the man as he lowered his hand, "Last time I checked it wasn't my patience we were coming here to talk about, Snivellus."
"Who said we were discussing? I was stating a fact," the Potions Master replied with a mocking smile, lazily stepping to the side to let the three inside.
Sirius took a threatening step towards the greasy black haired wizard, but Remus was quick to reach out and grab his arm decisively. Bluish-grey eyes snapped to the werewolf, who merely shook his head once. This was neither the time nor the place to be starting a row or a fight with Severus. They were at his house, after all, an automatic disadvantage.
Releasing his friend's arm, Remus moved passed him and entered the very small sitting room first, hand in hand with a very hesitant Harry. The place looked very similar to a padded cell, what with there being no walls almost, just shelves upon shelves of books, a threadbare sofa, two recliners, and a tea table.
"Werewolf taming the dog…why does that not surprise me?" Snape sneered condescendingly as Sirius darkly followed the first two into the house.
"I swear to Merlin, Snape," Sirius snapped, rounding on the undercover Death Eater, going for his wand.
"Draco!" Harry said, relief evident in his youthful voice.
Sirius stopped mid-draw, as did Snape who had triumphantly been going for his as well, all eyes turning to the eye-brow-raised platinum blonde standing on the narrow staircase that had apparently previously been hidden by book shelves.
"Hey, Potter," Draco replied with a somewhat amused smile at the scene. His Godfather had his hand on the handle of his wand, as did the man his Godfather referred to as Black and Harry referred to as Padfoot, both clearly wavering on how to proceed.
"Are you two done?" the silver-grey eyed boy inquired with a snobbish Malfoy-like air, directing this question at the two men that the amber eyed male next to Harry was currently thinking of as being childish.
Severus Snape was the first to remove his hand from the wand in the pocket of his robes, Sirius following suit a moment later, evidently trying to ignore how much he wished he could throttle the Potions master.
Your Godfather really hates mine… drifted the blonde's thoughts to Harry, the emerald eyed Potter's eyes widening a fraction.
Yeah, I know, and yours hates mine, too…could you sense their feelings?
No, Potter, Draco rolled his eyes, I can't do that. I can just hear what they're thinking…remember?
Mmhmm… Harry nodded slightly.
"Hey, hey," Remus cut in suspiciously, "that's not fair at all."
This is Moony, Harry smiled.
Well…I guess I have to admit he's smart… Draco sent back before directing his attention to the lycanthrope. "What's not fair?" he asked with well feigned bemusement.
You know exactly what's not fair, Remus thought to himself with a smirk slowly forming on his lips, more so when he saw Draco raise a lone aristocratic eyebrow.
"Enough of this, Draco," the silky voice of Snape finally ordered, shaking his head ever so slightly, before moving over to his preferred recliner and seating himself.
Draco sighed softly before nodding and following, taking a seat on the second recliner.
Sirius blinked a few times, trying to deduce what everyone had apparently figured out…that had somehow missed his perception. Remus offered his friend a 'Sirius…sometimes you are just…hopeless' kind of look, before leading Harry to the threadbare sofa and sitting down, the young Potter following suit next to him.
The canine Animagus waited a beat before grumbling darkly to himself and moving over to plop himself down on the sofa next to his Godson. The Malfoy kid had the ability of Telepathy…no wonder.
Snape sneered at the bluish-grey eyed wizard, it being more than obvious that he had been about as excited about this coming day and week as Sirius, himself, had been.
The odd group sat in a somewhat awkward silence for a few good beats, apparently unsure of what to say first, and who should be the one to say it.
Well, an awkward silence for most save for Draco Malfoy, who had anything but an awkward silence to listen to. His Godfather was busy wishing this was over and done with and that maybe Black would untimely drop dead in the process; Potter's 'Moony' – who Draco had to also admit to himself was perhaps worth having saved, not that he would ever admit that to Harry, himself, thank Merlin the boy could not read minds – was pondering over how to start some form of conversation; and Potter's 'Padfoot' was having thoughts so similar to his Godfather Sev's, that it was surprising that the two did not get along better…forgetting the whole 'wishing the other would die' bit.
Adults were definitely weird, this much the platinum blonde knew. As to Harry, the boy was just wishing they could have this whole get together without Severus being present in the room…
Why don't you like Sev? Draco asked mentally after another few beats.
Surprise flitted across the emerald eyed boy's face only briefly, and by the end of the week, Draco was sure that randomly hearing the Malfoy's voice in his head would be no novelty to Harry.
Well…he's just…er…I don't know, he reminds me too much of my Uncle Vernon…who just…erm…wasn't a very nice man, Harry replied with a somewhat sad smile.
Oh…hmm…he's really not that bad once you get to know him…he just 'looks' like an overgrown bat to people who don't know…
Harry actually snickered at this, bringing a hand up almost immediately to stifle it, eyes turning quickly, nervously now to the narrowing eyed Snape.
"Well I guess we should say this," Remus finally said, knowing that if something was not said, Draco and Harry would just continue to carry own their own conversation between themselves, unheard by the rest. "Sirius and I would like to thank you, Draco…we're extremely grateful for what you did for Harry and me. It was something you didn't have to do, but that you did, and it—"
"Means a lot to us," Sirius finished, sitting up a little straighter, nodding slightly when Remus glanced briefly at him. "We owe you…it's a life debt, twice over."
Draco was unsure of what a life debt was, and was officially sure these were the only other people, other than Harry, to ever thank him for something, but he supposed he did not really have to understand…yet, anyway. Maybe he would ask Uncle Sev later or maybe Xantos.
"Now I see where he gets it…" Draco muttered to himself, eyes falling to his lap, in reference to Harry, who merely grinned. "You know… You're 'welcome' and all that," he shrugged lightly, "…but can we all just forget it now? If my mother or father ever found out about that…"
"The Malfoy family would have its first member burned off the good ol' family tree?" Sirius chuckled, and Draco looked up at him incredulous as to how the man could find it even 'remotely' funny.
"Yes! And that'd be the worst!"
"It's alright, we're not exactly on civil speaking terms with your parents," Remus smiled softly, and Draco relaxed a fraction.
"…Still…" Draco sighed, sinking into his chair gloomily despite knowing his parents would kill him were they present to see him not acting completely aristocratic.
"Anyway…Severus," Remus said in his most civil and conversational voice, used most when having to talk reason into a person, shifting his attention to the Potions Master.
"Lupin," Snape replied with a curt 'go ahead' nod. Sure, he disliked the man, but no where near as much as he disliked Black.
"I was thinking that maybe it'd be better if Draco and Harry were to spend time at…our house, rather than…here."
"And why would that be?" the man inquired lazily, if not a little annoyed at the idea that his home was unsuitable for children.
"It's just…we have more outside space than you do, and we have charms around our place that'll let the boys do magic outside and inside without being detected," the lycanthrope replied reasonably.
"They can do any magic just fine in here."
"Er…true, inside the house, but…I mean if you want your books burned to a crisp…" he trailed off, glancing side-long at Harry, who sank deeply into his seat at the look Snape shot him at this.
"…Fine," Snape said, lips thinning. He did not like the thought of it, but there was always his books to take into account…he could always torment the Potter brat when the boy reached Hogwarts.
"Is that alright with you, Draco?" Remus asked, amber eyes shifting back to the blonde who merely shrugged, not really caring much where they were going to do this, considering he had never really had a…play-day with a child his age before.
"Sounds like a plan!" Sirius grinned, jumping up to his feet. "Why don't we get the hell out of here?"
Snape rolled his eyes at this before glancing over at his blonde Godson, who had looked over at him at the same moment.
Harry was, of course, the first to scramble off the couch and grasp his Godfather's hand, more than ready to leave. Remus slowly pushed himself up as well.
"I'll be over to pick him up at seven, sharp, every day, and will drop him off at noon," Snape said firmly, as he too stood, Draco following suit after him.
"Sounds good," Remus replied easily, knowing better than to argue any different arrangement with the wizard. "Anything you want to take?" he asked, directing this question at Draco, who merely shook his head.
"I'm good."
Nodding, the lycanthrope outstretched his hand for the Malfoy to take. Draco stared at the appendage for a good beat, eye brow slowly rising.
It's just a hand…nothing new, right? Remus thought to himself with an indulgent smile, earning himself a slight sneer from the boy before Draco finally took his hand.
And with that the four made for the door, Draco glancing back to wave a bit to Severus, who allowed his first true, however very faint, smile of the day to cross his lips.
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"That was brilliant, Moony, absolutely brilliant! Worthy of the Marauder name, indeed! Have I ever told you that you were a genius?"
The two sat at the kitchen table after having showed Draco the house and left him with Harry up in their Charge's bedroom. They knew that while it was not impossible for the blonde to read their thoughts down here, it was bound to be a little more tricky…and besides, it was not like they could pry the boy for information on Xantos or anything, lest he go back to Malfoy manor with plenty more to tell about their knowledge than he likely already had.
"More times than I can count," Remus sighed, bringing a hand up to rub at his temple.
"Well, you are…just so you know, Siriusly. And that's Siriusly not Seriously."
"You know if I was Prongs, we'd be exchanging hexes right now for that."
"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" Sirius cried in mock hurt. "Prongs 'loved' the Serious/Sirius pun!"
"Yeah, the first five times a school year that he let you use it, after you over-killed the joke second year, and not a single time after that," the light brown haired wizard smirked.
"Naw, that was all Jamesy's show of affection for the pun!"
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-Flash back, Christmas Break, Sixth Year.-
"Er…hi, Prongs," Black greeted, having just shown up while the Potter had been upstairs, stepping away from Rebecca Raydon, James' current girlfriend.
"Padfoot," James said warily, knowing Sirius did not care much for the girl being over for Christmas, and hoping his friend had not said anything…too cross.
"I came to see your mum," said Sirius, awkwardly. After all, the woman had just had a terrible fainting spell yesterday, Remus had owled.
The corners of James' mouth twitched upwards in a smile. "And not me?"
"Why the hell would I come to see you?" Black demanded.
James raised an eyebrow and Sirius smiled, if only slightly.
"Okay, you got me. Still, though. I seriously want to see your mum. And that's ser—"
James whipped out his wand from his pocket and pointed it at Black, who grinned. "Finish that pun," the Potter heir said levelly, "and I'll blow your bloody brains out."
Sirius grinned and snatched James' wand out of his hand; Rebecca marveling at their easy friendship. She could honestly say she had never seen anything like them before.
Sirius clapped James on the back and the Potter grinned, and that was that.
-Seventh Year, Christmas Break.-
"Yes, but I mean—seriously. Are you okay? Everything tip-top? And that's Siriusly, not Seriously."
James groaned and reached for his wand. "Now you've done it, Padfoot. Duel. Right now."
Black nodded, taking out his own wand and grinning widely. Both boys stood, James with a little stagger—how tired is he?—and moved to the center of the room. They stood with their wands crossed, and Alexis could barely contain her laughter at the sight of their grim expressions.
"Begin," she said, getting into the spirit and hiding a smile.
Both boys drew their wands away and shouted jinxes at each other at exactly the same time. Lily, sitting in-between her best friend and Remus, gasped and put up a quick shield in front of the beautifully decorated Christmas tree, as well as the fire. James Potter and Sirius Black were completely liable to light anything on fire, no matter how difficult it might seem to do so.
By the time she turned back to the mock duel, James had vibrant yellow feathers as hair, Sirius was doing a crazy jig, while unsuccessfully trying to level his wand at James, and Alexis was trying to not lose her breath with laughter. James grinned, shot a beam of blue light at Sirius, and jumped up on to the table, right in front of Lily. His feathers had disappeared, much to everyone's disappointment.
"Are we entertaining enough?" he asked mischievously, before ducking his best mate's hex, which hit a mirror and shattered it with a resounding crash. Remus instantly repaired it and the three on the couch were quick to dodge out of the way of the next hex.
Remus shouted when James aimed a Tickling Jinx at him and jumped up, shooting an Impedimentia at him and smiling when he froze. Sirius turned to him, breathing hard, and frowned mockingly. "Now, now, now, Moony" he said, "you know that a duel is between two people, and not three?"
"I'm well aware of that fact," he said tiredly.
"And do you also realize," Sirius continued, his eyes dancing with roguish amusement, "that you just Impendimented Prongs and not me?"
Remus raised an eyebrow. "Impendimented isn't a word, Pads."
"'Tis now," the Black said dismissively. "So the question here is: why are you helping me and not Jamesy?"
"He just sent a 'Tickling Jinx' at me, Siri, what did you 'expect' me to do?"
"To not play favorites, mate, that's completely unfair and un-Marauder!" Sirius grinned surreptitiously - causing Remus to warily back up a few steps. Sirius took a menacing step toward Remus, silently casting the counter curse on his best friend, who swiftly sprung to his feet, breathing just as heavily as the Black.
"Let's show him what he's won for playing favorites!" James exclaimed, sharing a conspiritory smirk with Sirius, before the two leveled expert dueling wands on Remus.
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"Your Moony and Padfoot think of the weirdest things…" Draco informed Harry matter-of-factly, glancing back at the door from where he laid on his stomach on the Potter's large bed, flipping through one of the Quidditch books he had been handed, Harry next to him a foot or so away on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
"I think it makes them fun," Harry replied with a hint of defensiveness.
"Hey, you don't have to get cross about it…" the blonde grunted unperturbedly, flipping the book closed and pushing it away as he pushed himself up and onto his knees before sitting cross-legged, silver-grey eyes fixing on the Potter.
Sensing the eyes on him, emerald green eyes turned slowly to meet Draco's. "…What?"
"Can we try something?" he asked, barely hiding his eagerness. The messy raven haired boy gave him a wary look as he too pushed himself up to sit cross-legged across from him.
"…Try what?"
"Something Xantos showed me that only you and I could do, and I've been wanting to try it for days and days and days and days and days now."
"Oh!" Harry said, grinning slowly, curiosity perked at the thought of something his cousin might have taught the Malfoy. "What do we got to do?"
"Here, give me your hands, be open, and you'll see," Draco replied with a true grin, lifting his hands up as if to play some form of patty-cake.
Harry blinked a few times, before nodding and lifting his hands to meet the Malfoy's, before their gazes fixed on each other once more. It was here that the two boys felt a tingling in their hands, starting there and swiftly spreading throughout their arms and the rest of their bodies. Unbeknownst to the Potter heir, his emerald eyes shined with red fire flickering across the green, though he could certainly see the blue water-like waves flickering across Malfoy heir's shinning grey.
"W-What's happening?" he asked, breath hitching in his throat briefly as their hands began to glow with a bright white light.
"S-Something awesome…" Draco replied cryptically, breath hitching briefly in his throat, as well, their eyes never wavering from each others.
And as soon as it had come, the light surrounding their hands disappeared, the tingling in their bodies gradually leaving the same way it had come, through their arms and ultimately their hands. And as their eyes began to return to their true proper coloring, the boys retracted their hands slowly, both breathing a little heavily.
"What…what was that?" Harry demanded.
"It felt good, didn't it?" Draco countered knowingly.
"Well…yeah! But still—"
"Watch," the blonde smirked, snapping the fingers of his right hand and opening his palm to reveal a brightly burning flame.
Harry's eyes widened to an almost comical size.
"How'd you do that?!"
"Xantos said that Elementals can share their powers for small bits at a time, which is why they're stronger when they're together…having all four main elements makes us, so he says, the strongest wizards in the whole wide world," Draco replied, as if sharing the most deepest of secrets. "And that after we did it like this once, you know, with our hands, we could do it anytime we touched, on the spot, without having to wait."
"So you didn't…take my powers?"
"No, Potter, don't be dense. You still have yours just like before, but you shared some with me, and I shared some of mine with you. Try it, we've only got it for a few minutes."
Harry nodded, trying to wrap his head around this, before snapping his own fingers, concentrating fully on water, and opening his palm to see a floating orb of liquid.
"Wow…" he said breathlessly.
"I know, right?"
"Do you want to play?" Harry asked, both boys closing their hands at the same time, extinguish the water and fire, respectively.
"Outside, come on."
And with that the two boys were up and off the bed in a heart beat, dashing for the door, and down the stairs.
"Hey, where are you two going?" shouted Sirius from the kitchen, hearing both the running stomps and seeing the two boys dash past the kitchen entryway.
Going to play outside! Harry called back excitedly…mentally, the two boys not missing a beat on their way to the front door, opening it and exiting swiftly. Sirius and Remus shared briefly confused looks…had Harry just used Telepathy? But their Charge did not have that power… The two men were up a second later, following after the boys.
What ensued outside – after Draco explained to Sirius and Remus what they had done - had to be the 'funnest' time Harry had had while playing with his powers – and powers that were not his. Granted, he had fun playing with Padfoot and Moony, but he was always a little worried he might blow them away – literally – or worse, burn them. But with Draco, every action had a proper reaction, fire was blocked with water, or the other way around, air blew away fire, water protected from earth shakes, fire burned vines, and the list went on rather extensively.
"No fair!" Draco exclaimed indignantly, as Harry waved a hand and water appeared over the blonde's head, dropping, and soaking him completely.
"Yes fair!" Harry giggled as the two ran around the yard.
Draco's body glowed red briefly, clearly with heat, before every drop of water on him sizzled and dried up.
"Oh, yeah?" he called, before coming to halt in his running, breathing coming in laboredly.
"…Aww…I lost it again," the Malfoy groaned, finding himself no longer able to use fire or air, their time of 'sharing' having already spent. "Here, come here," he called, moving over to touch the Potter's shoulder like they had done various times now so as to have the power back for another brief bit of time.
"No, no more," Harry said tiredly, breathing laboredly, too, trying to produce water and finding himself unable, before dropping down onto the ground. "M'too tired…" he yawned, lying back on the cool grass.
A yawn escaped Draco, too, who pouted for a moment before moving over to drop down next to Harry, lying back tiredly as well. "Yeah…I guess I'm, too..."
"That was…a lot of fun," Harry said through deep breaths, turning his head to look over at the blonde with a smile.
"Mmhmm," Draco said, turning his head to look over at the messy haired boy with a smile of his own.
A silence fell between them as the two shifted their gaze to the now colored sky of twilight.
"Draco…?"
"Yeah…?"
"…Are we friends?"
"…I don't know…I don't think we're allowed to be friends, Potter," the Malfoy replied softly.
"Oh…because of our last names?"
"I think so…"
"Well…can we be…secret friends?" the green eyed boy asked hopefully, the two turning their heads to glance at each other once more.
"…Secret friends?" Draco repeated amusedly, blinking a few times.
"Mmhmm!"
"I…hmm…" He seemed to have an internal talk with himself, clearly torn between wanting to say yes, and knowing better.
Secret friends…really secret…? he asked mentally...tentatively.
Really, really secret, if you want…we don't have to act like friends in front of anyone ever, if you don't want, Harry replied quickly, a grin tugging at his lips.
…Ever?
Never.
I…okay…Secret friends, Draco relented with a sigh, but a grin was soon on his youthful face.
So am I Harry now? the Potter inquired playfully.
Here, you are, Draco stuck his tongue out at the other, "But here, you're Potter," he stated seriously, alright Harry?
"Alright, Malfoy," Harry retorted, sticking his tongue out at the other in turn. Draco rolled his eyes.
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And so went the Elementals' fun week together; Draco being dropped off every day at lunch time, and being picked up every evening at eight, the two getting to know each other, and each other's powers, extremely well over the course of every day. Power sharing became a part of every day, so that the two could finish each others sentences while sitting at the table for lunch and dinner, and the more times they practiced it, the longer times they could use vast amounts of either fire, air, water, or earth, without getting extremely tired. Whoever coined the word, 'unforgettable', would have been sure to dub their week just that.
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Christmas came and went and was happy and exciting as every single one before it ever since the young Potter moving in with Sirius and Remus, Harry getting a multitude of presents, from both his Guardians and the Weasley family, as well as a hand-drawn card from Draco that had two childishly drawn stick figure boys, one with yellow hair and one with black hair, and the four elements surrounding them in a circle.
But now, days after Christmas was over, and days after he had said his final sad good-byes to Draco until they could see each other again in the summer, Harry found himself meeting someone altogether new to him.
Padfoot had said they would be spending New Years far, far away from Mr. Snape's house, and Merlin had he not been lying… The family of three found themselves in Ireland on New Years Eve, in the living room of whom Sirius was introducing as Regulus Black, his little brother.
"Hello, Harry," the younger Black greeted with a warm smile, hunkering down to the Potter's level, outstretching a hand that Harry shook uncertainly. The man 'looked' a lot like Padfoot, but with somewhat icier-colored eyes, and from what he could sense of him the man seemed to be a very nice person, indeed, but…well, Harry supposed he was always uncertain around strangers, no matter what, in the beginning.
"…'Ello," the young Potter replied shyly.
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Sirius and Regulus and Remus spent most of their evening catching up with each other, while Harry thoroughly enjoyed the view of the ocean from Mr. Regulus' balcony. He had never seen the ocean before, after all, but he had officially dubbed it extremely magical with the way the moon reflected off it majestically.
"Like what you see?" inquired a curious voice behind him, causing the bespectacled boy to give a start, turning around quickly to see a grinning Regulus handing him a cup of pumpkin juice.
"I…yeah, it's beautiful," Harry replied quickly, sincerely, taking the cup. "Thank you, Mr. Regulus."
"I've always thought so, too," Regulus sighed, glancing out at the sparkling water. "And please, if anything, call me Reggie…"
Harry looked doubtful at this.
"Honestly, you're like my…God-Nephew, right?" he chuckled. "And I'm definitely not old, I'm no 'Mr.', Sirius'll reach that age before I ever do, so Reggie sounds just perfect to me," the twenty-five year old nodded at this.
"Okay…thanks…Reggie," Harry said with a smile.
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The countdown to midnight was unquestionably done on the youngest Black's balcony, in the midst of Sirius making cracks on his little brother about having picked up an Irish accent to cover his former British one, and when the four shouted,
"Happy New Year!!" Sirius, Remus, and Regulus all shot fireworks into the air from their wands, much to six year old Harry's delight.
It had been an eventful year, a partly scary year, but the close of it had been wonderful, and definitely something Harry would likely never find himself forgetting.
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A/N: And that's that for six year old Harry Potter…the next chapter will have him aged a few years, but not terribly, so no worries. –Grins.- This chapter is actually longer than the previous two, which surprised me, considering I had been aiming for the length of the other two…but, eh, I'm sure you all were not complaining about length as you were reading. xD
Either way, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and if you're readers of my prequel story 'The Beginnings', I hope you enjoy that one's new chapter, as well, and I'll be sure to get the next ones out soon. –Nods.-
Now onto this chapter's 'Curiosity Filler'!
"Do you think Harry's son, Albus – because we obviously know about James – was ultimately sorted into Gryffindor…or Slytherin? And Why?"
I'll be sure to reply with my response when you tell me yours; I've been really curious about where he ended up for a while now. xDD
Anywho, thanks for reading and reviewing, and I'll see you all next time around!
Until then…
-Chloe
-Japanime1