Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.
Harry and Draco began packing for Hogwarts and while for Draco it was normal, it was so strange for Harry to have so many clothes to pack! He was used to just having a few of Dudley's old clothes but now he had so much. "I don't think everything will fit," he said happily.
Draco gave him a strange look. "That makes you smile?"
"Last year I had a lot of space in my trunk," Harry said a little ruefully.
Draco paused and then his expression softened. "Right. Mother or Father can add more space."
"Nah, it's not like I need this many clothes and things anyway," Harry began to pull stuff out of the trunk.
"What? Of course you do, you never know what you might want," Draco said with a huff. "I'll go ask."
Harry chuckled as his brother walked out of the room. He didn't see the need to bring so much so he continued pulling out clothes. His stomach gave a little rumble. "Dobby?"
Pop! "Master Hadrian Harry asked for Dobby?" Dobby asked eagerly.
Harry sighed. The sweet but strange house-elf had taken to calling him Master Hadrian Harry. "Could Draco and I have some biscuits and juice? Please?" he asked hopefully.
Dobby's eyes filled with tears. "Master Hadrian Harry is so polite, so nice to a mere house-elf!" he wailed, tugging his ears.
"Calm down!" Harry said in alarm. "Please?" He winced as soon as the word left his mouth.
Dobby burst into tears. "Such a good, kind-hearted wizard you are!"
Harry sighed. He had just wanted a snack. He shook his head. "Never mind, it's okay Dobby."
"No, no! Dobby will get you a snack," Dobby said. He snapped his fingers and a plate of biscuits, and two glasses of pumpkin juice sat on his desk.
"Thank you," Harry said as he picked up a glass of juice.
"Dobby is so happy that Master Hadrian Harry is back home where he belongs," Dobby said.
"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said. "I'm happy too."
Dobby looked around nervously. "Dobby has heard things," he whispered.
"What things?" Harry whispered back.
"That there is danger coming," Dobby said nervously. "Danger for you."
Harry paled slightly. "For me? What kind of danger?"
"Dobby is not sure. But other house-elves have spoken of a great danger at Hogwarts. You must not go!" Dobby frantically closed his trunk.
"Of course, I'm going back to Hogwarts," Harry scoffed as he re-opened his trunk.
Dobby shook his head. "It is dangerous!" He wailed.
"I'll be fine," Harry assured him. "Draco will be there and my friends. And my godfather," he added.
Dobby looked crestfallen.
"Really, I'll be fine," Harry repeated. He sighed as Dobby popped away and then Draco entered with their mother. He briefly thought about repeating Dobby's warning but then shrugged it off. Dobby was very sweet but a little strange.
"You need more room, dear?"
"I don't need to bring so much," Harry said with a shrug.
"Don't be silly, you never know what you'll need," Narcissa said, taking out her wand.
"Told you," Draco said smugly.
Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
/
"Hurry up, boys!" Lucius called over his shoulder before going through the barrier, following Narcissa. They had met up with the Weasleys to see their children off. It was especially exciting for the Weasleys as it was Ginny's first time going to Hogwarts.
"We're coming!" Draco called. "Come on!" he said to his brother and Ron. They pushed their carts and began to run -
Crash!
All three trolleys hit the barrier and bounced back, their trunks falling and them tripping.
"Hey! What d'you think you boys are doing?" A guard demanded, glaring at them.
"Uh, we lost control of our trolleys," Harry gasped, holding his side as he got up. He quickly picked up Hedwig's cage and calmed her, noticing Draco doing the same thing with his own owl, Nebula.
"All three of you?" The guard asked suspiciously.
"Obviously," Draco huffed, smoothing his hair down.
"What happened? Why couldn't we get through?" Ron asked in a low voice as they gathered their things.
"I don't know. Let's try again," Draco said, pushing his trolley carefully against the barrier. Nothing happened. "It's like it's sealed itself," he said, perplexed.
"Oh no," Ron looked up at the clock.
Harry followed his gaze. "The train left!" he gasped. It was five past eleven!
"What if our parents can't get back through?" Draco said, stunned. He had never heard of anything like this happening before. And they missed the train! The train left at eleven sharp, with no exceptions.
"What should we do?" Harry asked worriedly.
"I guess we can wait by the Weasleys' car," Draco said after a moment. The adults would find a way back through, eventually.
Ron's eyes lit up. "The car. We can fly the Ford Anglia to school!" Ron said enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" Harry said excitedly. How awesome would that be?
"Are you two mental? Oh, wait, you're Gryffindors. Same thing," Draco said sarcastically. "What do you think our parents would say if we took a flying car to school? Or your parents?" He added to Ron. "You really think they would be happy?"
"But we have to get to school," Ron argued as they walked to the car.
"Not in a flying car we don't," Draco huffed. "We'll wait for them here and if they don't show up in ten minutes, we can send Hedwig or Nebula with a message to Hogwarts." Gryffindors, honestly.
"Oh, I guess that's a good idea," Harry said reluctantly. It wasn't as fun of an idea as taking the flying car, but he didn't want to upset his parents. It was strange for him, but he now had adults in his life that he wanted to make proud. He wanted to make Draco proud too.
Ron looked longingly at the car. "Too bad, it would have been fun. Well, until my parents got a hold of me." He amended. It hadn't ended well for him or his brothers when they had flown the car before. All three of them had met with their mum's wooden spoon and it was not something he wanted to repeat.
Several minutes went by before they saw their parents hurrying towards them.
"There you are!" Narcissa said in relief as the adults made their way to them.
"Is there a reason you did not come with us to the train station?" Lucius asked sternly, his eyes on his sons.
"The train has already left!" Molly added.
"The barrier wouldn't let us through," Draco said.
"Really?" Narcissa asked, raising her eyebrow.
"It let everyone else through just fine," Molly said doubtfully.
"It wouldn't let us through!" Ron insisted. "Really, it wouldn't! We thought about flying the car to Hogwarts but -"
"Ron," Harry groaned. He had hoped to keep that little tidbit between the three of them.
"You what?" All four adults yelled.
"I didn't think about it! I talked these two out of it!" Draco protested.
Harry looked nervously at his parents. For the first time since he met them, they looked upset with him.
"Honestly, Ronald! Didn't you learn your lesson earlier with the car?" Molly asked, clearly angry.
"Apparently not," Arthur said with a shake of his head.
"We didn't fly it! You can't punish me for just thinking about it!" Ron said nervously.
"Do not tell us what we can or can or cannot do, young man!" Molly snapped at him.
"Well, they don't have to be at school until this evening," Arthur sighed. "I suggest we take Ron home so we can have another discussion."
Now Ron was the one to groan.
/
"Are you mad at me?" Harry asked his parents softly after they had returned to the manor. He and Draco sat on the sofa while their parents stood in front of them.
"We're not pleased that you thought about taking a flying car," Narcissa said. "But at least you didn't do it."
"Only because Draco talked us out of it," Harry admitted. "I wanted to take it. It sounded like fun."
"Merlin, we have our hands full," Lucius ran his hand over his face. He gave Harry a hard stare. "It would have been dangerous, Hadrian. It also would have exposed our world to the muggles if they saw a flying car."
Harry's face fell. "I didn't think of that."
"It sounds like the only thing you thought of was the excitement of flying a car," Lucius said disapprovingly. "This was all brought up when the Weasley boys flew the car here, remember? And we've talked about not being reckless, about not rushing into danger. And we went over the consequences of putting yourself in danger, did we not? I think you know what you would have received if you had flown that car." He raised an eyebrow.
Harry flushed and slowly nodded. In the excitement of planning to fly the car, he had forgotten the punishment that would have been in store for him. "You would have spanked me," he said softly, his cheeks flaming with embarrassment.
"Indeed, I would have," Lucius said sternly. He sighed at Harry's expression and knelt, taking his chin into his hand and lifting it so that their eyes met. "Your mother and I never want to have to punish you or Draco, but we would be doing a disservice to you boys if we didn't. Actions have consequences, this is true when you are an adult as well. It's our job to guide you, correct you, teach you, and love you. And to keep you safe, which you boys taking that car would not have been. Your mother and I won't stand for it, Hadrian. We lost you once and we will not go through that again." He stared intently into his son's eyes. "We will not lose you again."
Harry unexpectedly felt tears fill his eyes and he stood up, wrapping his arms around his father's waist.
Lucius hugged his son tightly, protectively. "Do you understand how important you are to us?" he asked gruffly.
Harry nodded. "I'm sorry. I'll try to think things through better. Honest."
"Well, at least I don't have to say goodbye to you just yet," Narcissa said with a smile after she fought not to cry. "We could spend the afternoon in Hogsmeade." She suggested.
"Hogsmeade? What's that?" Harry asked.
"It's a wizarding village!" Draco told him excitedly. "Third years and above get Hogsmeade weekends during the year."
"They do?" How had he not heard about this? Harry wondered.
"It is filled with adorable cottages and a lot of little shops," Narcissa explained.
"Honeydukes Sweetshop and Zonko's Joke Shop are the best," Draco said.
"A joke shop?" Harry brightened. "That sounds fun."
"Wonderful," Lucius said wryly. "Well, let's go. I wouldn't mind visiting Tomes and Scrolls." At Harry's confused look, he clarified. "A specialty bookshop."
"I could visit the hairdressing salon," Narcissa patted her elegant bun thoughtfully.
"Boring," Draco said bluntly.
"Be nice or we will have lunch at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop," Lucius smirked.
Draco paled. "You wouldn't! You're not that cruel!" he gasped.
"What's wrong with it?" Harry asked, amused by Draco's reaction.
"It's full of frills and bows and couples snogging," Draco said in disgust.
"Draco Malfoy! What do you know about snogging?" Narcissa put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him.
"I know it looks gross," Draco answered with a shrug.
"Good. Keep thinking that," Lucius said with a grin. "For a few more years, at least."
Harry was completely taken with Hogsmeade, finding fascination with everything he saw. He especially loved the sweet shop and had eagerly helped Draco fill a basket full of goodies. And now they were in Zonko's which Harry thought was completely brilliant.
"Dungbombs!" Draco said, gleefully picking up a box.
"I don't think so," Narcissa said, taking the box from his hands and putting it back on the shelf. "I believe those are banned from Hogwarts."
"Aw, come on," Draco whined. "I won't use it to cause trouble."
"No? Then what will you use it for?"
"Um," Draco hesitated.
"Exactly. No Dungbombs." Narcissa said firmly.
"Hiccough Sweets?" Draco asked hopefully.
"One package," Lucius allowed. "One package for you too, Hadrian."
Harry grinned as he picked up a bag of them. He still wasn't used to things being bought for him. Especially things that weren't a necessity, like clothes. Those he could understand but fun, silly things? When it's not even for a birthday or Christmas? He hoped he didn't ever take it for granted.
"Here Harry, try out this Boxing Telescope," Draco said innocently, picking one up and handing it to his brother.
Harry started to grab it when Lucius snatched it out of Draco's hands. "You try it first, Draco." He said in a knowing voice.
"Uh, that's okay," Draco said hastily.
Realizing it had been a trick, Harry picked up an Ever-Bashing Boomerang and pretended to throw it at Draco.
"Don't you dare!" Draco giggled. "Those don't stop hitting their target!"
"I know," Harry laughed.
After some consideration, the two pre-teens also were allowed to get Nose-Biting Teacups and Frog Spawn Soap.
"Thank you so much for buying us these," Harry said sincerely to his parents as they left the shop. "It's so nice of you."
"You're very welcome," Narcissa said warmly. "You deserve to have fun toys bought for you."
"They're not toys, Mother," Draco said in an affronted voice. "They're joke products."
"Of course, how silly of me," Narcissa winked at Lucius.
"Too bad there isn't a Quidditch shop here," Draco sighed. "I heard the Nimbus 2001 is coming out. I wanted to see it."
Suddenly Harry had a thought. He had been told that James Potter had been a star Quidditch player at school, so he assumed that was where he got the talent from. "Did either of you play Quidditch in school?" he asked curiously.
"I was a rather good Beater, if I do say so myself," Lucius said proudly.
"I'm a decent flier but I never tried out for the team," Narcissa said. "I was part of the Gobstones Club instead."
"No wonder you are so good at the game," Harry commented. "I still plan to beat you, one day," he gave his mother a cheeky look.
"Well, you can try," Narcissa teased, ruffling his hair.
TBC: