Elise had only shaken her head in disbelief when a happy six year old had replaced her totally disgruntled one from that morning. Nick had a smug expression the whole night, absolutely basking in his victory. Harry had sat himself on the couch and read his book well into the evening. In fact, it was only the bright red cake that coaxed him from his perch.

"Little man, it's time for bed." Elise had called from behind the couch, peering over his shoulder.

"Just five more minutes mum, please?" He pleaded, his big green eyes turned on to full persuasion power.

"Ah ah, don't try to pull any of that on me sir." She shook her finger at him. "It may be your birthday but I'm still your mum."

He pouted but closed his book and headed upstairs. His room had undergone many changes since they had moved in. He had a full twin bed now, which he insisted be covered with red sheets. It was his favorite color right now. The walls still had their little clouds, but were now covered in quidditch posters and photos. He had toys messily left out that Elise constantly asked him to put away.

"I'm going to be a dragon tonight." He mumbled, reaching into his dresser to pull out a set of pjs.

"Sounds good, get changed into those and go brush your teeth, I'll wait here." Elise smiled, sitting on the edge of his bed.

He scurried to the bathroom, his book forgotten on the dresser. Five minutes later, he came back freshly changed and with brushed teeth. Elise patted the bed, motioning for him to sit. He did so, tucking him self in the blanket and propping himself up on his pillow.

"So, you went to a library today. How was it?" Elise asked.

"It was big! There were so many books everywhere." He told her about it, his tone full of awe.

"That's so cool." She smiled. "Nick said you made a friend?"

"Hermione Granger! I helped her." He smiled, puffing his chest proudly. "There were some older boys teasing her, and she wasn't saying anything. So I went to stop them."

"Oh? Why were they being mean to her?" Elise felt a bit proud knowing Harry was sticking up for other kids in trouble.

"'Cause she's a genius." Harry shrugged.

"She's a genius?" Elise chuckled.

"Yep! She's six and she's smart enough to go to the third grade, maybe even fourth grade." Harry explained. "The third graders don't like her though, so they make fun of her."

Elise blinked. A six year old developed enough to be in the third grade or higher seemed a little far fetched, but Nick had said something about that. Besides the intrigue that came from that thought, she felt angry knowing there was obvious bullying happening in her school that she was unaware of. She taught fourth grade and none of her kids would be bullying anybody in her watch. She would have to find out who they were.

"Well that was not very nice of them, but I'm so glad you helped her out. That was very brave." Elise kissed him on the top of his head.

"Well, I don't think she really needed the help…" He looked sheepish. "She was the one that scared them off in the end. I think she was just trying to be nice before."

Elise laughed. "Still, you did a good thing. And, you brought a book home. I thought you didn't like reading much?"

Harry considered that. "Um, it's not so bad." He smiled. "Hermione loves to read, so I wanted to try."

Elise raised an eyebrow. "Right. Well, let me know if you want to go back and check more books out and we will."

"Okay mum!" Came his excited reply.

With that, Elise stood and turned off the light. "Good night little man, love you."

"Good night mama." He mumbled, already snuggling into his pillow.

She crept down the stairs, noticing the TV was on in her bedroom. Nick sat on the floor in front of her bed, lazily flipping through channels.

"Why are you on the ground?" Elise stood in the doorway, laughing.

"I didn't want to mess up your bed." Nick looked over to her, smiling.

"Since when have you cared about that?" She raised an eyebrow, walking to him.

He stood and shrugged, pulling her in for a hug.

They had been together almost three years now, and many changes had occurred. Some small, like finding out Nick routinely dyed his hair blonde, for a reason he had yet to disclose. Some big, like him moving in later this week.

She stepped back, looking him up and down. He was 27 now, and very successful at his practice. He'd let his hair grow out to its natural color. The dark brown actually almost matched Harry's black hair. She often laughed at how many people mistook them for Harry's biological parents now. With her eyes and his hair, not to mention the personality traits and habits he was picking up from the both of them, she couldn't really blame them for assuming.

They spent this night like many others; tidying up the house, chatting about their days, and whatever else seemed entertaining. There was something different about tonight though. Nicholas clung to her while she cleaned, always right behind, either helping or talking. She didn't care of course, but wondered what might be on his mind.

"Eli, can we go to bed, I'm tired." He said at some point, pulling her to the room.

She sighed but followed him anyway, climbing into bed and switching her lamp off. He pulled her close so that his head rested on her chest and his arms clung to her back. Elise sighed, playing with his hair absentmindedly.

"Are you alright?" She asked, amused.

"Mhm" He somehow managed to pull even closer. "I love you."

She smiled. A phrase that never got old in her opinion. He said it a lot too, and she still wasn't tired of hearing it.

"I love you too." She kissed him then, and they drifted off to sleep.

—

It had been about a week by now since Nicholas moved into their house, and Harry still woke up excited to see him. He rushed downstairs to greet him again, just like every morning before.

"Nick!" He exclaimed, opening the bedroom door.

He was met with a hurried "shh" from the man. Nick stood by the bed holding a glass of water and a wet rag. He motioned for Harry to come in quietly.

"Mummy is sick, Harry." He sighed, placing the glass on the nightstand and the rag on her forehead.

Harry peered over at his mum. Her eyebrows were knit together in pain and she was flushed and sweaty. He felt incredibly sad seeing her like this and gripped Nick's hand for support.

"What's wrong with her?" He whispered.

"She's okay kiddo, it's just a cold." Nick ushered him out the door. "I already gave her some medicine, she should be perfectly healthy by tonight."

Harry nodded, as long as she would be okay then he didn't need to worry. Still, as Nick made him breakfast in the kitchen, he couldn't help but feel sick himself thinking about her.

"Are you alright kiddo?" Nick asked.

"I feel bad because mummy is sick." Harry answered honestly, clutching his stomach.

"Ahh, that's probably because you and mummy's magic is linked. Did you know that?" Nick placed a bowl of cereal in front of him.

"No!" Harry said, taking a bite.

"It's true, your magic is bound together in a contract. Your magic is reacting to her magic being weakened." Nick explained.

"So…my magic is sad that mummy's magic is sad?" Harry asked.

Nick smiled. "Yea, basically. But I promise she's really going to be okay."

Harry nodded and ate more cereal.

"Actually, since it's just us two, I want you to help me with something, but it has to be a secret. Do you think you can do it?" Nick whispered, a mischievous grin on his face.

Harry looked up excitedly, he loved secrets. "I can, I can!"

"Perfect. We need to get ready to go out then." Nick stood from the table. "Finish your breakfast and get changed, I'll be right back."

Harry did so, shoveling cereal into his mouth and running upstairs to change. He put on a pair of blue jeans and a red t-shirt. The shirt had fire and dragons on it. He put on his shoes then and went to wait downstairs.

Soon, Nick came back out of the bedroom wearing jeans and a red shirt. They looked at each other and laughed.

"You copied my outfit kiddo." Nick said, walking to the front door and ruffling Harry's hair.

"Nuh uh! I was dressed first." Harry crossed his arms.

Nick laughed as he put on his shoes. "You're right, I must have copied your outfit." He sighed dramatically. "I'll go change."

"Just leave it! I want to know the secret!" Harry exclaimed, impatient as ever.

"Alright, alright. Let's get in the car then." Nick chuckled, unlocking the door.

Harry raced to the truck, opening his door and buckling himself into the backseat. Nick got in soon after, starting that car and turning to look at him.

"Alright Harry, what I'm about to tell you can't be repeated to anybody. Got it?" Nicholas looked at him seriously.

Harry nodded, anticipation making him restless.

"Okay, you know that I love your mum very much, right?"

Harry frowned. "But not as much as me, I love her the most."

"Of course, of course. Well, I love her very much but I don't want to be her boyfriend anymore." Nicholas said.

Harry felt incredibly offended. What did he mean by that? How could you love somebody and not want to be with them? His frown deepened.

"Calm down, calm down." Nicholas laughed. "I want to be upgraded. I want to marry your mum."

Harry blinked. Upgrading was a good thing. But, how does one get married?

"So…how am I supposed to help you get married?" He asked Nicholas, utterly confused.

"Well, I need your help with lots of things actually." Nick smiled. "First, I need you to help me pick out a ring for her."

Harry considered that. "Okay, what else?"

"Well, then we need to ask your grandpa if it's okay." Nicholas grimaced. "I need you to tell him it's a good idea."

"Okay, I can do that." Harry nodded.

"And then I just have to ask her." Nicholas said. "I don't really need your help for that part I guess, I just need you to make sure she doesn't find out until I ask. It has to stay a surprise. Do you think you can help me?"

Harry smiled brightly. "Yes!"

Nicholas stuck his hand out toward the boy. "Shake on it."

Harry grabbed as much of his hand as he could and gave his best shake.

"Good man. Alright, off we go!"

—

The two boys had run around to different shops buying Elise presents. Some to make her feel better and some to see out when Nick asked. They found the ring in the third shop they went to, deciding on a silver band with a smaller diamond. The band was two pieces of metal made to look like they were braided together. They chose a smaller stone since she wouldn't want a giant diamond on her hand when dealing with children all day.

By one in the afternoon, they made it to their next stop. Grandpa's house. He sat in the garage tinkering with his car.

"Alright, remember Harry, you're here to convince him it's a good idea." Nicholas remarked as he turned the car off.

"Uhuh, I got it."

They walked up the driveway, calling out to him. He set his tools down and met them halfway, scooping Harry up in a hug.

"Hey there little man! Good to see you." He said, squeezing him tightly.

"Grandpa- I can't- breathe!" Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Oops, my bad." He chuckled, loosening his grip. "What brings you two here? Sarah inside but I don't have much in the way of lunch." He said, mostly to Nick.

"We won't be long, we were just dropping by. Elise is sick today and we needed to be out of the house." Nick smiled nervously.

"He wants to ask you a question!" Harry said, practically interrupting Nick.

Nick's eyes widened and the two men looked at Harry quizzically. Harry smiled widely and scrambled down out of his Grandpa's arms.

"I'm gonna go see grandma, but you have to say yes grandpa. It's a really good idea!" He flashed his most convincing smile and gave two thumbs up before scurrying inside.

The men watched him leave, neither entirely sure what came over him.

"Nicholas." The older man grunted. "What's going on?"

"Garret, I do have a question to ask you." Nicholas stuffed his hands in his pockets, suddenly terrified of the man in front of him.

"Go on then." He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"I want to marry your daughter." He blurted. "Please."

Garret stared at him for a long time, before shaking his head. "Damn boy, took you long enough."

Nicholas breathed a sigh of relief.

Garret clapped him on the back, hard. "I've been waiting for this for two years now. You made me lose a bet to my wife." He laughed joyfully. "Don't mess this up Nick."

"I won't, sir." Nick smiled, overjoyed.

"When are you planning on asking?"

"This weekend. I was actually wondering if Harry could stay here on Saturday?" Nick asked.

"Sure, there shouldn't be anything going on. Are you going to tell Sarah?" He motioned for them to head inside.

"I'm sure Harry has already told her, I don't mind if anyone knows since it's happening in two days." Nick shook his head, knowing Harry would be rambling about everything they did today right about now.

As they headed to the door, it slammed open. "Nick, is he serious?" Came the voice of Sarah, a wide smile on her face.

The two men nodded, sending her into a fit of squeals. Harry stood behind her, two cookies in one hand, one in his mouth, and a drink in the other. He smiled at Nick, his face covered in chocolate. Nick rolled his eyes.

"You're going to eat them out of house and home kiddo." He waved him over. "Let's head back home to check on mum, yea?"

Harry scurried over, letting his grandparents hug him on the way.

"See you on Saturday." Garret waved them off.

"Bye bye Harry!! Bye Nick!" Sarah called from the door.