Just so we're clear here, I fully intend to make this a story. This is one muse I don't intend to give up without a fight! Also, to clarify this Constantine is initially from the current show, but I will delve into the movie when I plan to send Cas to the Winchesters. He'll just be a lot less cryptic and a lot more snarky this time around.


September

Cas, who was once again forced to go under the name Potter, patiently waited for the sorting. He had avoided most of the fame-seeking hounds thanks to the fact his scar no longer existed and the fact he had the common sense to ask the Father to cast a spell to draw attention away from him.

Five minutes of people wanting a piece of 'Harry Potter' would have him scouring the library once sorted for the notice-me-not charm. It was the first real piece of magic he would master...and would consequently allow his magical core to stabilize, as it had been fluctuating for years between atrophying and surging. Apparently whatever power he used before didn't agree with magic so readily. At least not until he forced it to.

"Potter, Harry!"

It took the hat five seconds before it yelled 'Hufflepuff' to the shock of the school, most of whom believed he would end up a Gryffindor like his parents.

Cas was more concerned with the vile presence he sensed at the staff table. It would take him a week before he pinned Quirrel, the defense teacher as the culprit.


October

Cas was frowning. It had taken him two weeks to realize Quirrel was knowingly possessed by a demon, and another week to pin down which amulet affected him the most. (John had given Cas an entire set just in case as a joke. He knew most of the exorcisms, but this demon was an obscure one.)

Cas waited until he heard back from John, who officially disliked his owl Angel because she felt it her duty to get him to stop smoking by attacking his cigarettes or biting him on the ear. To be fair, Cas hated the smell and it was funny enough to let her continue.

Though John had found someone else who disliked Angel when he ran into Loki and she immediately stole his candy before he could eat it.

Angel flew in with a book. It took Cas an hour to find the ritual, and he grimaced at the thought he would have to cut himself just to rid the school of a demonic menace.

Cas made a point of bringing a bandage and learning a cleaning charm used by healers to avoid people finding out he was the one to get rid of the demon.

He waited until Quirrel was close before he tagged him with blood. It took him five minutes to exorcise the demon, and thankfully no one noticed him chanting under his breath in Latin. When the smoke broke the windows, he fled in an orderly panic while cleaning the blood off his hand and covering up the bandage. Like most of his wounds, it healed over a few minutes later. Thankfully no one noticed him hit the teacher with a charm meant to dispose of blood shortly before the panic set in.

As a consequence of his actions (and the fact he had been fortunate enough to see the events leading to a Gryffindor girl being bullied by her housemate) Hermione Granger was now a semi-permanent fixture at the Hufflepuff table.

Apparently the fact he could get his hands on obscure books and wasn't put off by the girl's abrasive personality qualified him as her friend.

Cas spent a full hour watching the Quidditch match before he grew bored with the sport and went into the currently abandoned library. While the thought of flying sounded great, the idea of chasing balls all around a field for no apparent purpose did not.


November

Ron Weasley, youngest son of the Weasley family, was annoying. It was bad enough he still bad mouthed Hermione when she was just barely out of earshot, but he had been stalking Cas for the better part of two months now. He had enough.

Cas did something he normally wouldn't. Physical violence in lieu of talking. He punched Ron in the nose, breaking it with ease since he had been trained in how to throw a punch by John (in preparation for the day Cas finally became old enough to drink and would inevitably end in a bar fight...and because knowing how to throw a punch without breaking your hand should be common knowledge) and while the boy staggered back in surprise, Cas told him with irritation "Stay away from me, Weasley. I would sooner befriend Draco Malfoy before I would even consider you an option. At least his attitude is caused by ignorance and his upbringing. Yours is caused by sloth, greed and jealousy."

Cas could see Ron's soul, and there was no way in heaven or earth he would ever befriend someone as cruel or petty as him. Draco Malfoy was arrogant, but that was entirely due to his ignorance. Cas could fix that. What would be more difficult would be to turn Ron into a decent human being. The fact Cas was firmly routed in the same belief structure that caused the witch burnings would also cause friction.

It had already caused a few problems learning just how Catholic 'Harry Potter' was.

Draco had been in hearing distance when Cas said that, and the fact he considered a Malfoy a better friend than Ron had him pause. Perhaps a friendship with the Catholic wizard would be possible after all.


December

Cas jumped on the opportunity to correct Malfoy's arrogance when he offered his hand in friendship. He asked if Draco was interested in seeing how the other half of the world lived, I/E muggles.

Draco had been instructed by his father to befriend Potter if possible. And to be honest, muggles somewhat fascinated him.

Which lead to a full three days of Hermione and Cas doubleteaming Draco to teach him what words or phrases were socially unacceptable. He had been offended for a few moments before Cas explained he didn't want Draco to act like Ron Weasley. That seemed to temper his annoyance and anger.

Draco nearly bolted when Cas' ride came to pick him up.

"You get that book I sent you?" asked John.

"The demon has been forced into the forest. The Centaurs were not pleased, but they seemed to understand I was doing it to keep the foals inside safe from possible possession," said Cas.

"Good. Wasn't expecting you to run into a soul-leech this early. Those things are a pain in the arse to kill, especially if they made more than one container."

"Why are you so upset?" Cas asked Draco.

"Do you have any idea who that is Potter? John Bloody Constantine, one of the biggest mercenaries in the Ministry!" hissed Draco.

"Oi. I do not work for those jumped up paper-pushing morons. They only call me a mercenary because I prefer to freelance and not bother with the wand like they want," said Constantine offended.

"John may seem gruff, but you'll be hard pressed to find a better man. Just try not to hex him too badly when he eventually does something to offend you. If you behave I can show you how to prank him with no chance of him being able to retaliate."

John looked at the kid with a scowl. He was like a little brother to him (a feeling Cas reciprocated fully) but there were times having a kid brother could be annoying.

Draco was taken aback by muggle inventions. Father Rick accepted him in the church with ease, once Cas explained why he was there.

The 'mystery' donation (which John explained when Rick asked) had gone a long way to keeping the orphanage running.

Still...it was one of the better Christmas days Draco had. He had been surprised when he heard 'Harry' sing in the church choir.

The only hiccup was the invisibility cloak that had been left among the presents for 'Harry Potter'.


January

Cas was irritated beyond belief. Dumbledore kept trying to find a way to trick him into a private meeting. Unfortunately for him Petunia had waxed eloquently about how furious she was at Dumbledore for 'lying' about the 'inheritance money'. If she knew Cas had deliberately cut them off, she might not have tolerated his presence during the summer.

He could care less what Dumbledore had against the Church, but he was not letting the man have a foothold in his life outside of school matters.

John had been quite eloquent about what a hypocrite Dumbledore was, preaching for muggleborn and creature rights, but at the same time keeping the pure bloods who oppressed them in charge. He could have pushed for a better Minister, but he allowed that idiot Fudge to stay in his office.

He also wasn't a fan of Constantine. Everyone knew what John did, knew it was a necessary evil to keep monsters, but that didn't mean they would bend over backwards to help him. If Dumbledore could, he would do away with John Constantine and his ilk without hesitation.

So no, Cas was deliberately avoiding the man because he had no grounds to force him into a meeting.

He had already told Sprout if the subject matter did not pertain to school related subjects such as detentions, then he had no business with the Headmaster. The maternal witch happened to agree with him.


February

Cas was having a panic attack, and damn Draco to hell and back, he was laughing at him!

The girls in the school were trying to get into his good graces on what many considered a romantic holiday, but Cas considered his new private hell. Apparently females went wild for the 'handsome, quiet and brooding' types, which fitted Cas perfectly.

To make matters worse, Hermione was helping Draco while quietly giggling.

He was going to get them for this. Damn them to hell for conjuring that witch-light so the girls could track them!


March

Draco and Hermione both looked at their friend in amusement. Cas had caught a cold due to the rain, and now looked like a drowned cat.

He looked positively adorable with that head cold.

On the plus side, he had also roped in an extra friend in the for of Neville Longbottom. Apparently Ron had moved on from Hermione to the shyest Gryffindor in the school. Cas had broken his nose when he caught him at it.

As such, Neville started sitting with Cas and Hermione during mealtimes. Draco only occasionally joined in.

Cas sneezed. Christo jumped into his owner's lap and Hermione cooed at it. Apparently she liked the smash-faced menace of the Hufflepuff dorms.

Christo had already made a reputation for himself by scaring off Mrs. Norris from the kitchens.

Cas hated March.


April

It had taken a week to get over his head cold, mostly because he wasn't stupid enough to take a 'pepper-up' when the Headmaster was just waiting to pounce.

During that time, Cas had gotten warning from the centaurs that the demon had possessed someone new and was attacking the unicorns. The idea of a demon harming something that pure made him sick.

So he crept outside after hours (Christo keeping Filch and Norris away) and went to the forest. He had to exorcise the damn thing again. This was becoming a serious nuisance.

The demon took one look at Cas and sneered.

"Potter. I don't know how you killed my last host, but I'll make sure you..." started the spectre. Cas sent up sparks for the centaurs to see.

It wasn't long before the man was peppered with as many holy water coated arrows as they could make. And Cas had been happy to supply the sanctified water.

He didn't know what this spirit was, only that it needed to be killed. And it screamed like the damned when the arrows hit him.

Bane nodded in Cas' direction.

"We thank you, bright one, for allowing us to purge this demon from our forest."

"It was my pleasure. The very fact it exists offends me, wise ones," replied Cas.

He found that the best way to deal with the rather angry centaur herd was to treat them as wiser and more experienced than he was. Though he was confused why they insisted on calling him Bright One.


May

Cas was very, very glad the finals were over. Hermione was a slave driver with salt and a whip in hand. His cat Christo was just as glad, as the only thing that seemed to get Hermione off her 'study' drive was putting Christo in her arms.

Needless to say his pet cat was thoroughly spoiled more that single month alone than he ever had with Cas. And the next time he went to Diagon, he was getting Hermione a Kneazle of her own so she wouldn't turn his half-breed one fat from all the food she was feeding him. Draco was just glad Cas found a way to distract the rabid bookworm before they all hexed her. He still didn't understand how Cas could tolerate being around her in full slave driver mode without snapping at least once.

When asked after the tests were over, his only cryptic reply was "Patience is a virtue I've had a lot of practice with."

Draco merely gave him a look.

"Constantine?"

"Constantine and my so called family," Cas deadpanned.

Draco nodded in agreement. John Constantine was a man that many had to take time to get used to. Five minutes with him and Draco had been fully prepared to break the 'no magic over the holidays' rule just to shut up his smart mouth. The mere fact John not only liked Potter but the fact Potter had yet to shoot him in the ass with the guns he demonstrated for the pure blood was a miracle.

Harry Potter had the patience of a saint, in Draco's mind. He did not want to be there when that patience snapped.

"So what exactly are your plans for the summer Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Same as every year. Stay with my friends while my 'family' goes overseas. They've never bothered to pay for me to join them, and frankly I would rather be at the Church anyway."

"I still can't believe you're Catholic," muttered Draco.

"It was either go to a church and learn how to survive my gift, or my aunt exorcise me. She wasn't exactly pleased I kept screaming every time I saw a demon's real face under the mask they hide behind on the street. It was just luck the Father knew about demons being real and called Constantine to help."

"Gift? What gift?" asked Draco. What could Constantine possibly help with?

"I'm a psychic. It means I can see things as they really are, not what people think them to be. It was a nightmare until I went to the Church and found out I wasn't going crazy seeing monsters everywhere. My aunt couldn't leave me in the place fast enough," said Cas shrugging.

"What number am I thinking of?" asked Draco sarcastically.

Cas slapped him on the head. Draco scowled at him.

"I said I was a psychic, not a telepath you dunderhead," said Cas annoyed.

There was a loud crash and they all turned to see some wizard they didn't recognize trying to run away from the school. Several teachers were chasing him grim faced, among them the replacement Dumbledore had to hire and fast when Quirrel was turned to dust early in the year. He was an auror who recently retired and didn't want to be dragged into teaching rookies who thought they knew everything.

"What is that about?" asked Neville.

"I have a better question. Why should we care? Clearly it is a matter best left to the adults. We are children and as such I think it's time we took advantage of it. Look what I got from Father Rick," said Cas.

It was a board game called Monopoly. Thanks to Cas' donation, he was actually able to afford proper gifts for the children.

"Dibs on the hat," said Hermione immediately.

"I call dog," said Cas before saying "Not it."

"Not it," said Draco, though he was wondering what he was getting out of.

"Not it," said Neville.

"I hate playing the banker," said Hermione scowling.

"But you're better than any of us with numbers," countered Cas with a smirk.

That seemed to pacify Hermione. It wasn't until later that they found out what the man had been after.


Cas took one step onto Privet Drive and sighed. He was glad Constantine had taken his things to the Church. Knowing Vernon he would try to keep Angel caged all summer just out of paranoia alone.

"I'm home...I guess..." said Cas tiredly. Might as well get this over with. He could go to his real home inside the church in a few days.