Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Harry ignored Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, as he was all but pushed into the room that had become the boy's new home until September 1st. Flopping on the bed he did his best to push most of the thoughts of the last 24 hours out of his mind not wanting to think about the Dursleys, Minister Fudge, or even Tom who he was pretty sure was still waiting outside the door trying to listen in on him. The tenseness in his shoulders didn’t begin to subside until he heard the sounds of footsteps moving away from his door and down the stairs, finally Harry felt like he could breath for the first time since Marge Dursley walked into the house at Privet Drive. The exhaustion that Harry always felt began to hit him hard as the adrenaline from the day finally started to die down until finally he was unable to keep his eyes open any longer and he passed out still in his day clothes and shoes.

Harry woke the next morning to thundering knocks on his door and voice telling him that he's going to miss breakfast. While still halfway asleep he couldn't help the panic that coursed through him knowing that if he slept in then Uncle Vernon would use his belt again, Harry scrambled out of bed ignoring the screaming pain in his ribs that he's pretty sure Dudley and his gang broke the other day. He ripped the door open pausing when he came face to face with Tom the barman instead of his thunderous uncle, that's when everything that happened came back to him in full force Marge telling Vernon he needed to think of a new type of punishment for him since the beatings obviously weren’t working, her badmouthing his parents so badly that his magic couldn't help but react, and him running away to the leaky cauldron where he was found by Fudge and Tom. 

“You okay there boy?” Harry tried to suppress the full body flinch that always happens whenever someone calls him ‘boy' knowing that Tom would not care for the reason, but he didn't want to give anyone something to lord over him as a weakness. After the whole ‘Heir of Slytherin’ thing Harry was now aware that people will use whatever supposed weakness they can against him. “It's already almost noon and we are about to shut down breakfast for the day.”

Muttering his thanks for the wake up call Harry quickly threw on his least appalling clothes which included a way too large pair of Dudleys old jeans that were being held up by a shoelace he stole out of the trash a few years ago and a shirt that Ron gave him after he outgrew it last term. Knowing he didn't have anything better to wear that was appropriate for the stifling summer heat he ran down the steps two at a time and scarfed the food down that he found waiting for him in front of Tom at the bar. After he finished he waved goodbye to the older man and rushed back up to his room unsure what to do now. 

“Hey, sweet girl.” Harry whispered to Hedwig letting her through the window to sit upon a perch that was sitting in the corner of the room he didn't notice earlier. He cursed himself wishing he would have thought to save some of his breakfast for her. He could only hope she was able to hunt for something on her way back to him, but promised her to buy some food for her as soon as he could. “Fudge did say to stay in Diagon so surely I can just go whenever I want, right?” 

Hedwig cooed at him while nibbling his fingers which Harry took as an affirmative gesture. He knew she would be excited to get proper owl treats since he was only able to give her ones that his housemates shared from their own supplies. He threw together everything he thought he would need to venture into Diagon. 

The first thing that Harry knew he needed to do with his new found limited freedom was head to Gringotts to pull out money so he could get a head start on his school shopping before the alley fills up with Hogwarts students and their families. As he wandered down the stairs he did his best to avoid Tom’s eye feeling uncomfortable knowing that a strange grown man was keeping such a close eye on him, and quickly tapped the pattern into the wall with his wand and slipped through the crack in the wall before it was able to fully open. He let himself take his time as he began making his way to Gringotts since in the past he was never able to fully take his time and enjoy everything that Diagon Alley offered. 

First year with Hagrid meant they were rushing from place to place because Hagrid had his own mission of getting the Philosopher's stone and his own desire to head to the pub as quickly as possible. This meant that Harry was barely able to spend any time in the places that the two of them did visit as Hagrid kept pushing and pulling Harry wherever he wanted and the young boy knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop it from happening no matter how much he wanted it to.

Second year had Harry joining the whole Weasely family as they did their own Hogwarts shopping as well. He was able to spend more time looking through the stores that they got their supplies from since there were too many kids with too many different supplies which meant they were not able to do anything quickly. However that time ended up being monopolized by Ron who has no interest in wandering stores that are all things he grew up with or is something he finds boring. The one time he probably would have been able to separate from the Weasleys without getting in trouble for it would have been in Flourish and Blotts since it was so busy, but Lockhart ruined that hope as soon as the boy's name flew out of his mouth. 

This time he took a mental note on which stores he wanted to explore as he slowly walked through the alley. He also took notice of the many different alleys that branched off of Diagon; Knockturn, Horizont, Alkimic, Aura, and Vertic Alley. Harry knew that Fudge told him to stay in Diagon Alley, but would they even notice that he went to the other alleys? Tom wasn't able to follow him out of the Leaky and he hadn't noticed anyone else paying him any more attention then what he thought was normal, but he knew that there could be someone watching him discreetly. Harry decides to look into ways to temporarily change his appearance after he gets out of Gringotts.

Harry wandered through the sparkling lobby of Gringotts until he made it to a free teller that was closest to the far wall and furthest away from everyone else. The Goblin ignored him as he talked to another Goblin that was wearing a chest plate that appeared to change colours as the light hit it in different spots. Harry waited patiently not wanting to disrupt their conversation and instead took a more in depth look at his surroundings. He had heard off handed comments from other Wixen that showed the boy that Goblins were not well liked or appreciated by the wizarding world, but now he could tell by looking at the interactions around him that Goblins felt the same way about Wixen.

“Can I help you youngling?” The Goblin had a viscous looking sneer on his face directed at Harry as he turned back to face them. He felt his cheeks flush embarrassed that he was too distracted to notice the Goblins had finished speaking to each other. 

“Sorry sir. I just need to get some galleons out of my vault.” Harry stammered out trying to sound confident while the Goblin began sorting papers and continued to glower at him. He saw a plaque that said ‘Sharpclaw’ that he had missed when he walked up to the podium initially that Harry assumed was the Goblins name.

“Name and vault key.”

“Um. My name is Harry Potter and I don't have my vault key.” The Goblin froze which made Harry panic afraid that he had messed up. He hurriedly tried to explain why he didn't bring his key with him. “I'm sorry, I think either Mrs. Weasley or Professor Dumbledore still have my key.”

“One moment Heir Potter.” The Goblin rushed away from the teller desk leaving Harry there wondering what he did wrong. He knew from previous experience that he needed his vault key to get into his vaults, but he had assumed there would be another way to validate his identity. 

“This way please Heir Potter” Harry jumped as Sharpclaw appeared through a door right behind him. Sharpclaw led him through the door and down a long winding hallway before pausing in front of a door labelled ‘High Prince Ragnork’. The two waited outside the door for nearly five minutes in silence while Harry contemplated asking if they should knock on the door or not when finally the door began to open and Sharpclaw practically shoved him through the door.

“Hello sir High Prince Ragnork” Harry bowed as he came to a stop in front of the desk sitting in the center of the room. He wasn't sure if the Goblin before him was an actual Prince since he couldn't remember any form of governmental hierarchy being taught by Binns, but he didn't want to offend anyone accidentally. Harry flinched as Ragnork let out a high pitched gurgling sound that he assumed was supposed to be a laugh.

“Heir Potter, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am High Prince Ragnork, but feel free to call me Ragnork. I have been your family's account manager for many decades. Please take a seat.” The harsh look that he was beginning to think was just the way Ragnorks face looked smoothed out and he began to smile as the boy took a seat. “We have much to discuss today. I am going to assume you were not aware that we have been trying to contact you for the last 2 and a half years?”

Harry was confused since he had never gotten a letter from Gringotts in his whole life. Ragnork growled at the expression on his face, making Harry freeze up in fear. Noticing this the Goblin calmed himself down not wanting to take his anger out on a child. 

“No matter. We can discuss everything with you now, but first we need to verify your identity.” Harry watched as Ragnork pulled out a roll of parchment and a fancy looking dagger and placed them in front of Harry. “We will do an inheritance test which will require about 5 drops of blood on the parchment.”

“How come I didn't meet with you the last two times I was at Gringotts? I thought that Griphook was my family account manager?” Harry questioned as he grabbed the dagger appreciating the weight in his hand. He punctured the skin on the fatty part of his thumb and watched as the blood fell and sizzled as it made contact with the paper. Blood red ink swirled around the paper. After another couple of seconds watching the ink swirl and waiting for Ragnork to answer his question, the parchment filled with words before his eyes.

Before he could get a good look Ragnork pulled the paper away and read through the first couple of lines. Seeming satisfied with what he was seeing he handed the parchment over to Harry. “Well Heir Potter, Griphook is the Potter account manager who deals specifically with the properties that your family owns. Since you were accompanied by non-family or approved people Griphook acted as the main account manager.”

“Why is all the secrecy necessary Mr. High Prince Ragnork?”

“I am the Prince of my nation, Heir Potter and I only take the most influential and old clients. This involves much more discretion for you and your family specifically.” 

“I didn't realize the Potters were that old of a family.” Harry knew the Potters were considered a ‘Noble and Most Ancient House’, but he wasn't aware it was more ancient than most other houses.

“The Potter name itself is actually younger than the Black name by quite a few decades, but before the Potter's your family comes from the Peverell's.” Ragnork began explaining how the Peverell's were one of the first wizarding lines to establish itself on the European continent, but also had many offshoots around the world. He told Harry about how the Peverell's began to go extinct as they were hunted down because of their family magic which is rumored to be connected to Death itself. “One of the last living Peverells married a Potter who was a lesser known Wixen family. So despite the Potter name being the one who lives on, the Peverell magic and legacy live on with you.”

Harry was shocked at the history behind his family and was hopeful that Ragnork would be able to point him to where he would be able to learn even more about his family. Before he was able to keep questioning him, Ragnork made a motion for Harry to read through the inheritance test that the young boy had already forgotten about.

General Information

Name: Harrison James Potter Black 

Date of Birth: 31st of July, 1980

Gender: Male

Blood Status: Pureblood (by blood adoption)

Parental Information

Mother: Lily Jane Potter neé Evans ( deceased)

Father: James Fleamont Potter (deceased)

Blood Adopted Father: Sirius Orion Black III

Oathsworn Godfather: Sirius Orion Black III

Oathsworn Godmother: Alice Marie Longbottom neé Biswick 

Magical Guardian: Remus John Lupin (Acting Magical Guardian is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore)

Heir and Lordships

Heir to Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter

Heir to Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell 

Heir to Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

Heir to Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Slytherin*

Lordships are available upon coming of age for House Peverell, House Potter, and House Slytherin 

*By Rite of Conquest

Magical Anomalies on Person 

• Magical Core - 50% Bound 
• Blood Adoption - 70% Bound     
  • Metamorphmagus Abilities - 90% Bound                        
  • Glamour keyed to James Potter and Lily Potter 

• Horcruxes - Soul Piece from Tom Riddle Jr.       
  • Occlumency - 98% Bound

• • Legilimency - 60% Bound

• • Wandless/Wordless Magic - 30% Bound

• • Healing - 40% Bound

• Mùirn Beatha Dàn 
• Mail Ward 

Harry read through the list multiple times not sure what he should focus on first as his mind kept jumping from point to point. The fact that his name isn't actually Harry or that he was blood adopted by Sirius Black the mass murderer (whatever that even means?) or even whatever Mùirn Beatha Dàn was. However, Harry felt that the most important thing to go over was whatever the hell a horcruxes was and why he had one. “I have so many questions, Mr. Ragnork.”

“I will do my best to answer any question I can Heir Potter, ask away.”

“Well… what is a horcrux?” The air in the office grew tense as Harry waited for Ragnork to give any type of answer; however the Goblin simply stared with his mouth gaping open. 

Ragnork carefully took the parchment out of Harry's hands and read the whole page himself. When he got to the bottom where the part about Horcruxes sat he snarled to himself and yelled in his native tongue into an amulet that he wore around his wrist. “Heir Potter we will soon be joined by a colleague of mine who focuses on dark artifacts and a Goblin Healer to come take a look over you. If it is alright with you I would rather wait for them to join us before I discuss Horcruxes with you as they are more knowledgeable than I.”

Harry nodded knowing based on the set of Ragnorks mouth he wasn't going to be getting anything more out of him for the time being, so instead he turned his attention to the next point on the list he wanted to discuss. “What does blood adoption and oathsworn mean?”

“They both are fairly simple yet more uncommon practices outside of the Most Ancient Houses.” Ragnork began by detailing how a blood adoption is exactly what it sounds like. The consensual sharing of blood between a non-parental person and most usually the pregnant parent which genetically and magically makes the other person a parent of the unborn child. “Now an oathsworn godparent is much more rare in the Wixen world nowadays because it means that the sworn godparent would never be able to cause purposeful harm either by themself or by outside means to their God child lest they lose their magic and in some cases their life.” 

Harry couldn't believe that his parents used such practices as oathsworn godparents for him or that they even agreed to do it because the consequences were so extreme. Harry chuckled to himself as he realized possibly the only upside to a mass murderer being his oathsworn godfather, “Ha. At least I know Black can’t do anything to harm me right?”

“Heir Potter I want you to know that Goblins do our best to stay out of Wixen issues that don't involve the bank.” Ragnork started looking a little green in the face, “however, even we know that the main reason Sirius Black was arrested was because he betrayed your parents and yourself to the last Dark Lord.”

“But that wouldn't be possible right?” Harry asked, feeling confused and unsure if he really understood everything that Ragnork was telling him. “Wouldn't he have lost his magic?”

“That's correct. With the magnitude of the harm he supposedly caused you I am surprised he is still alive.” 

“So you're saying he didn't betray us?” Harry wasn't sure what to think of the new revelations that just kept coming into the open, but he has a feeling this one might be the most important one to get to the bottom of right now. If Sirius Black was innocent and technically his father then he would be able to live with him over the holidays and never have to go back to the Dursleys ever again. 

“I cannot say for sure, but it is incredibly unlikely.” 

“I know you don't get into Wixen issues, but is there anything we can do to prove his innocence or something?” He was fully prepared to be shot down for asking such a thing since it's obvious Goblins have no interest in helping Wixen, but the small fire of hope growing in his chest was enough for him to take the chance. If his godfather really wasnt what everyone said he was then Harry desperately wanted him in his life. 

“Of course Heir Potter, long ago I agreed to do what I can to aid in the children of Potter's lives.” Ragnork smile still looked unnatural on his pale face, but he was sure the Goblin was being sincere. “We have no way to prove his innocence unless the ministry gives him a trial since Wixen do not trust Goblins.”

Harry felt as his face dropped and the hope he was feeling began to extinguish at the thought of such prejudice keeping him from what is probably the last of his family. Ragnork interrupted him out of his spiraling thoughts as he continued on, “however, we can send a missive with a port key to Lord Black Assumptive  and see if he will come to Gringotts to meet with us.”

Before Harry was able to thank Ragnork for everything he was doing for him the door opened and two more Goblins walked through the door. They stepped up on either side of Harry waiting to be acknowledged as they bowed to Ragnork. The three Goblins held their own conversation in their native language obviously not wanting Harry to be a part of it. He couldn't find it in himself to care as he was confident that Ragnork would make sure he knew what he needed to know and wouldn't leave him in the dark. 

The Goblin to his left was wearing a simple metal circlet and an off white robe that covered them from head to toe and had a sash the colour of pure gold wrapped around their waist. To his right the Goblin was wearing sleeveless pitch black robes with a deep green sash and two bejeweled bracelets. Glancing back at Ragnork he paid attention to his own colour scheme wondering if those colours the Goblins had had any official meaning. The High Prince wore a suit instead of robes like the other two, but Harry caught sight of two different sashes snugly wrapped around his chest and hips. One was a deep blood red and the other one looked like molten silver. 

“Heir Potter please meet Healer Balgruff,” Ragnork gestured to the Goblin in white who gave Harry a subtle bow of their head before turning to the one at his right, “and Artifactor Frogorsh.” 

Harry greeted both Goblins as politely as he could and bowed his head deeply hoping that was something they would appreciate. Based on the shocked yet gleeful expressions worn by the three of them Harry assumed he made the right decision. “Thank you for being here today.”

“Of course Heir Potter, now to begin I want to assure you that we here in the Goblin nation will do everything we can to help you remove the Horcrux.” Artifactor Frogorsh had a deeper voice then Harry had expected as he began to explain exactly what a Horcrux was to him.

As Frogorsh finished his explanation Harry felt as if the room was beginning to close in on himself. How was it possible to have a soul piece of his parents' murderer in himself? What did that mean for Harry? Was he even himself or was the soul piece influencing him more than he could ever imagine? 

The boy felt himself continue to spiral as his vision began to blur at the edges. If he had the ability to think clearly he would realize that he had stopped breathing entirely and all three Goblins were attempting to get him to take a breath in. 

Harry felt an uncomfortable coolness flow through his stomach, but he was finally able to calm down and take a breath. As his vision cleared up he found himself against a wall with Healer Balgruff in front of him holding an empty bottle. 

“I apologize, Heir Potter, but I had to force the Calming Draught into your system before you passed out.” He allowed the Healer to all but drag him back into the chair he was previously sitting in and muttered his thanks to her. The potion worked through his system completely and he found himself feeling the calmest he has felt in a very long time so he signaled that he was ready to continue. 

“It is true that we have never had a case of a Horcrux in a living being before, but we are confident we will be able to remove it after we do some of our own research.” Ragnork took over the explanation, wanting to assure Harry that they would do everything in their power for him. “In the meantime please allow Healer Balgruff to look you over and clear as many of the blocks and the mail ward as possible.”

Harry followed Healer Balgruff through a couple of halls until they made it to a large white room that had a single hospital bed set up. She gestured for him to take a seat on the bed as she gathered some Crystal's and placed them on the floor in a circle. He had never seen a ritual circle before and was flabbergasted as she placed the final crystal, the area within the circle lit up with symbols that he had never seen before. “First I will give you a general check up and then we will move on to removing the magical anomalies that we can.”

Healer Balgruff waved her spindly hand through the air in front of him and a piece of parchment paper appeared out of nowhere. It didn't take long for the writing to stop, but it took longer than Harry expected for the Healer to look it over. “Um… is something wrong?”

“Youngling, how much pain are you in right now?” 

“Not any more than usual?” Harry was not sure what answer Healer Balgruff was looking for, but the sneer that appeared on her face was enough for him to realize that that wasn't it. He tried ignoring the flare of panic that shot through him at the thought of giving an incorrect answer and instead focused on watching as she began pulling potions out of a cupboard that was hidden in one of the walls. 

“Heir Potter. You should be in immense pain right now.” She handed him the parchment that held the results of his check up. He didn't feel as surprised at the results as he wished he could have been feeling the twinges of all the injuries listed as he was once again made aware of them.

Current Ailments

• 3 broken ribs 
• Right wrist fracture 
• Hairline fractures through fingers on left hand 
• Severe malnutrition
• Eyesight reduced due to malnutrition 
• Bone degradation due to malnutrition 
• Mild concussion 
• Horcrux shard in skull 

“This is a very basic diagnostic spell that tells me the most pressing issues.” Harry nodded knowing that he had managed to come out lightly from the Dursley's since he left so early and they had to keep a semblance of an appearance for when Marge came. “After the removal ritual I will give you some potions to help speed up your healing. Hopefully your body will have enough time to catch up before you go back to school or else we will have to figure out what to do then.”

She handed Harry a set of white robes to change into and instructed him to lay in the center of the circle. He felt oddly exposed despite being fully covered and there only being the two of them in the room, but that feeling quickly left his mind as Healer Balgruff became chanting in the Goblin’s native tongue. The circle seemed to glow around him and encase him in the bright white light that blinded him as he originally tried to keep his eyes open.

Harry was nervous that the ritual would cause him pain as it fought to remove whatever enchantments were placed upon him. Thankfully all he felt was a warmth flood through his system and force it's way out of his body. The chanting lasted for a total of 15 minutes before Healer Balgruff took a step back and the light dimmed down again until it was barely visible. “Alright youngling, that should have removed the mail ward and the block on your blood adoption to Sirius Black. The block on your magical core is still in place, but now it should be open enough for it to begin dissolving naturally the more magic you use.”

Harry couldn't help it as he thanked the Healer continuously. She handed him a mirror to look over his new appearance and a small bag that she told him held the potions and their instructions that he needed to take for the next month before he had to come back for another check up right before school starts. 

The first difference in his appearance that he noticed was the bone structure in his face. It wasn't a drastic difference, but his whole face was slimmer and his nose now upturned slightly at the tip. His skin was a few shades lighter taking on a more olive toned look instead of the obvious indian descent from his father. And finally his hair was still an unruly mess, but the colour of it had shifted to a deep black colour with blue undertones. Overall, unless you were really looking he looks as if he just grew up over the summer, but Harry thought he looked a little bit more aristocratic and pureblooded.

After he was changed back into his normal clothes Healer Balgruff led him back into Ragnork's office where they found the two Goblins still in a heated discussion about Horcruxes.

“Ah Heir Potter. You're back hopefully everything went as planned?” Ragnork asked Healer Balgruff who nodded and slipped the diagnostic results onto the Goblins desk. He slid the paper into a folder that was sitting on his desk without another word to either of them about the contents which Harry was relieved with. “Before we finish today all that is left is the claiming of your Heirship rings.”

“What exactly does that entail?” Ragnork reached underneath his desk and pulled up 4 small boxes that each had their own distinct style. He opened each box and laid them out in front of Harry who couldn't help as he gaped at the beautiful rings that now sat in front of him.

“All you have to do is put each ring on in the order I tell you and allow the rings to accept you and share their magic.”

Harry steeled himself as he looked to Ragnork for guidance on which ring to start with. He hardly noticed as Healer Balgruff and Artifactor Frogorsh left the room. 

“We will go from youngest to oldest. Go ahead and take the Potter ring.” Harry reached out for the golden ring with a ruby and onyx inlay. He could already feel the warmth that the ring was radiating before he picked it up out of the ornate red box that displayed the Potter Crest on the top. 

As he slid the ring onto his right ring finger he felt the warmth of the ring rush through him all the way to his bones. The heat subsided just before it began to become unbearable leaving behind a soothing warmth he would associate with sitting besides a lit fireplace. 

The next ring to put on was the Black Heirship ring,it had a twisting silver band and a large pearl and amethyst inlay, which Harry slid onto his right pointer finger. The magic inside the ring had the exact opposite effect on Harry. Instead of warmth he felt an oppressive cold that seemed to be attempting to drain every ounce of feeling out of his body. The cold feeling lasted much longer as the magic seemed to be testing his resolve, but Harry held strong somehow knowing that despite the chill encompassing him the ring and its magic would never harm him. He was proved right when not even a moment later the feeling calmed down and he was ready to move to the next ring.

Next was the Slytherin ring which was more rudimentary then the last two rings as it was a simple silver band with three emeralds that spanned the top of the ring. He slid the ring onto his left pointer finger gasping as the magic in the ring fell upon him. It felt very thick and almost seemed electrified as it swirled around his own magic. It settled itself much quicker then the previous two did and he was able to move to the final ring.

The Peverell ring had a black band that shimmered in the light with twisting inlays that held multiple sapphires through the divots. It was easily Harry's favorite ring by appearance alone as it seemed to glow and shift as he moved it around the light. Ragnork advised him to put the final ring on his middle finger instead of his left ring finger as the ring finger was to be left empty until he married. When the ring touched his skin Harry felt as the breath was forcibly taken from his body which almost made the young boy panic. He was able to suck in air again as he felt a sense of belonging and welcoming rush though him from the rings magic. He could almost feel the excitement from all four of the rings he now wore making him giddy as well.

“That will be all that we can do today, Heir Potter. We will contact you as soon as we hear anything back from Mister Black.” Ragnork handed him an emerald green coin purse that will provide the amount of money that Harry requires whenever he holds his hand into the bag and thinks about which vault he wants it to come from. He would have to ask at a later point for specifications on what each of his vaults hold, but for now he will just pull money from his normal Potter Heir vault which he knew held more than enough money for his shopping. 

As he finally exited Gringotts he realized that he had spent most of the day within those white walls and it was already almost time for dinner. Knowing he was apparently an important political figure in the wizarding world, not just some fake hero “boy-who-lived” nonsense made him feel like he should start dressing as if he didn't just roll out of a sewer every morning. Thinking back on it, Harry wasn't sure why no one had allowed him to buy more clothes than just his school robes before since most people liked to comment on the rags he was forced to wear. 

He wandered down Diagon Alley until he came to a store that he took note of on his way to the bank. ‘Twilfitt and Tattings’ appeared to be a decently well off clothing store which was exactly what he felt he needed. He scanned the racks of clothes looking for anything that caught his eye, but he really had no idea what to look for. Not only was wizarding clothes so new to him, but he had no idea where to start with muggle clothes either. Luckily an attendant seemed to realize he was out of his depth and quickly came over to assist him. 

“Hello sir. Is there anything I can help you with today?” 

“Yes please. I would like to purchase a whole new wardrobe.” The attendant, Arthurian Tattings, stared at him in shock. Harry was sure he was an interesting sight, a 13 year old boy in much too large muggle clothes in a fairly fancy clothing store. 

“The estimated price of a whole new wardrobe is about 500 galleons. We will take half the payment up front at the time of ordering and the other half at the time of pick up.” Harry nodded his acceptance before allowing Messr Tattings to drag him from corner to corner and answered all the questions that he could keep up with. By the time he insisted it was time for Harry to begin trying on clothes it was decided that Harry would fit best in earth tones of black, brown, green, and cream colours with some jewel tones accessory pieces specifically in blues and greens. 

By the end of the whole experience Harry had 6 sets of daily robes, 2 sets of formal robes, 5 button up shirts, 5 dress shirts, 5 sweaters, 7 pairs of comfortable slacks, 5 sets of silk pajamas, 2 pairs of sturdy boots, 1 pair of loafers, and a myriad of underthings. The total ended up being just under 500 galleons which Harry insisted he pay the full price of now and have the whole thing owled to him once finished. 

Harry finally made it back to the leaky cauldron where he bought some dinner to take to his room and collapsed onto his bed. He heard a hoot from the corner of the room and found Hedwig staring at him expectantly, he jumped as he realized she was waiting for the owl treats he had promised he would get for her today. “Shit. I'm sorry sweet girl, I swear I'll get them for you tomorrow.”  

Hedwig nibbled his ear in annoyance, but allowed Harry to preen the feathers on her chest that she struggles to reach. After sharing his dinner with Hedwig and taking his nightly potion with dinner Harry let himself pass out after an exhausting day.

Chapter Text

The next two days passed in a whirl of shopping and reading new books from Flourish and Blotts. Harry actually found a bunch of pamphlets meant for muggle-born children in the back corner of the book store that helped him understand a lot of the things he had questions about throughout the past couple of years. There were also a few explaining the elective classes that he had to choose between at the end of second year. Looking through them now he realized he didn't actually choose the classes he wanted, but he figured he could blame that on being delirious after almost dying from basilisk venom so he just went with whatever Ron and Hermione recommended for him. 

Right after reading through those pamphlets he decided to write a letter to Professor Mcgonagall to see if he was able to switch his electives. He sent Hedwig out the previous day with the letter, so Harry was confused to see an owl flying towards him that wasn't Hedwig. 

“Hey there.” Harry held out an arm for the bird to land on since he was just outside of the leaky cauldron and there were no good places for an owl to land. He grabbed the offered letter and before Harry could even give the owl a treat it flew away making him shrug. 

Heir Potter,

Please make your way to Gringotts as soon as you can. We have much to discuss. 

Goblin High Prince Ragnork 

Account manager for Houses Peverell and Potter

Acting Account manager for Houses Black and Slytherin

The only two topics that Harry could imagine warranting a meeting like this is either Sirius Black answered his missive or they found out more information about the Horcrux living inside of him. He doubted it would be about the Horcrux since it appeared to be an extremely dark and complex piece of magic especially since he is a living host, but he also didn't want to get his hopes up in case Black wanted nothing to do with him. 

He logically knew that he was stalling by overthinking every possible outcome, so he steeled himself and took a deep breath before heading down the alley towards Gringotts. 

He barely walked into the building before he had a Goblin he had never seen pulling him away through a side door and down a long narrow hallway. They walked in silence before reaching a nondescript door that the Goblin shoved him through. Ragnork was standing in the middle of the room next to a chair that had an older man chained to it. 

He knew the man was Sirius Black from all the pictures that have been circling both muggle and wixen news since the beginning of the summer. His hair was a matted mess that fell long down his back and his clothes were barely hanging onto him because of his malnourished form. The man looked halfway insane as he lifted his head and made eye contact with Harry. 

“James?”

No one said anything as Black studied Harry. The older man's face scrunched up as if seeing something he didn't understand. “No, not James. You're Harry. My Godson.”

A glimmer of clarity shined through the grey eyes that bore into them before a shadow blocked it from view. Sirius began to rush through an explanation of what happened the night Harry's parents were murdered, but it was hard to keep up with the way Black jumped from piece to piece. 

“Mister Black, am I hearing you right?” Ragnork interrupted, saying that they were never going to get anywhere if someone didn't steer the conversation. “You were never the Potters secret keeper and you never killed those muggles?”

Sirius nodded so hard that Harry worried he would give himself whiplash, but instead he focused on Ragnork's face wanting to know how the Goblin was feeling about what Black was saying. “Is there any way to confirm this Ragnork?”

“If mister Black will consent for Healers here at Gringotts to heal his mind as much as we can then we can use a couple of methods to determine the truth.” Harry looked at Black expectantly waiting for some kind of answer. 

“My mind is perfectly fine Goblin.” Black muttered glaring down his nose at Ragnork who sneered in his direction. Harry couldn't stop the scoff that escaped him, causing Black to turn to him with a heartbroken look. 

“I've never met you before and I can tell you're not sane, Black.” 

“You do know me Harry! I was there the night you were born and I was over with you whenever I could be.” Black didn't seem to realize how being around him when he was a baby was not the same as Harry knowing the man.

“That's not the same Black. If you want me to know you or you want to get to know me then I need you to allow Ragnork and his Healers to do what they need.”

“You won't be around me if I don't go through with this?” The older man whimpered while Harry nodded showing his agreement in that statement. Harry knew he probably wouldn't cut Black out of his life completely since he couldn't bear to lose more of his family, especially his Godfather and technically third parent.  He stayed silent as Black thought over his options and studied the older man, hoping he would make the choice that Harry needed. Looking at him up close and in person Harry could see where he gets a few of his new features like the upturned nose and the colour of his hair, but he also realized that he might have gotten his lithe form from the man as well. He had always assumed he got his stature from his mother, but looking at Black now he would believe it came from him. “Okay. I'll do it for you Harry.”

The warmth that spread through Harry's chest was alarming. He knew that the fact that Black even had to think about it should have been upsetting, but he wasn't used to anyone doing anything for him like this. The gratitude that welled in his chest threatened to explode out of him. “Thank you Sirius.”

Ragnork called in a group of Healers who quickly took Black away, which the man did not like, but one pleading look from Harry made the man choke on his complaints. 

“What will happen after he's healed if he is innocent?” 

“Well, the ministry will still be after him but he can claim his lordship which would allow him to access the Black estates and vaults.” 

“..okay.” Harry sighed as his mind wandered back to the fact that he won't be able to stay with Black even if he is innocent and that means that he will have to return to the Dursleys again.

“Heir Potter, if Mister Black is innocent then he can safely hide within one of the Black properties.” Ragnork must have seen the confused look on Harry's face as he sighed dramatically. “If it's to be believed then anyone can be hidden at the Black estates from anyone .”

Harry laughed incredulously as it clicked that Ragnork was basically saying that Black could kidnap Harry from the Dursleys and keep him hidden from the ministry and even Dumbledore. It made him giddy thinking about all the possibilities that could be opening up for himself. Now all that was left to do was wait for Black to finish with the Healers.

Chapter Text

It took a little over 4 hours for the Healers to allow Harry to see Black again. According to Ragnork the more damaged the individual's mind the longer it'll take even the most skilled Healers to fix. Healer Balgruff warned Harry that while they did all they could he wasn't completely sane again and he wouldn't be for quite a while, but that time would help heal him.

“Do we know if he's telling the truth Ragnork?” Harry needed Black to have been telling the truth. There was too much hope resting on this one man that Harry doesn't know anything about, but he couldn't help himself. His whole life could be changing in a matter of moments.

“After the Healers finished, Artifactor Frogorsh questioned Black about what happened that night.” Harry waited impatiently for Ragnork to tell him what he needed to hear. “Heir Potter, it seems Lord Black was telling the truth.”

Harry froze as the words seemed to jump around inside his brain not sure where to settle. The world seemed to slow around him as the two sat quietly until he was able to think properly again. Tears began welling up in his eyes, feeling happier than he had felt in a very long time that at least one thing seemed to be going right for once. He was still slightly nervous that Black was going to be a type of person that Harry didn't want to be around, but he was sure that he would be happier with him then he ever could have been with the Dursleys. Ragnork waited until the tears subsided before dragging him through more maze-like halls.

They walked into an office where a much cleaner and healthier looking Sirius Black sat with another Goblin that Harry had yet to meet. Black slowly stood up to face Harry as the two walked into the room and held his arms out as if he was going to pull the boy into a hug. He let his arms drop as he seemed to think better of it, but that didn't stop him from hungrily taking in every feature on Harry's face.

“You don't look as much like James as I heard you did.” Black's voice was no longer scratchy and strained as he spoke, instead it was slightly deep and velvety smooth in a way that all pure bloods seem to possess. 

“I used to,” Harry studied Black as they faced each other trying to take in everything he could about the man now that he wasn't fighting himself and raving like a lunatic. “but that was before they removed the block on your blood adoption.”

“Someone tried magically blocking my adoption of Harry?” Black asked Ragnork over Harry's shoulder who nodded back. There was a tension in the air which made Harry shift uncomfortably, he watched as Black clenched his hand into a fist before taking a deep breath and relaxing. Harry felt as if he was ready to bolt away from Black at the first wrong move but thankfully Black didn't seem as explosive as he did before his healing. “Okay do you have any ideas who would do that?”

The Goblins explained how they were kept out of wixen problems which meant they didn't have the means to figure out who was behind everything that happened to Harry without causing serious issues. Harry thought back to anyone that would have access to him as a baby to do all of these things, but the only three people he knew saw him after his parents were killed was Black himself, Hagrid, and Dumbledore. 

Black obviously wasn't the one to do it and Hagrid wasn’t competent enough with magic to complete such complex spells which only left one logical option. “Professor Dumbledore was the one who insisted I lived with my Aunt and Uncle.”

“I'm sorry, do you mean to tell me that you were sent to live with Petunia?” Black asked, face darkening in his building rage. Harry took a step back wondering what the other man knew about the Dursleys that could make him that upset. Noticing Harry's fear Black forced himself to calm down, refusing to make Harry afraid of him after he just got back to him. “Harry, if you don't want to go back to them I will do my best to ensure you never have to.”

Harry nodded as tears began to build in his eyes for the second time that day. After 13 years of begging for someone to save him and take him away from the Dursley's he finally found someone who was willing. He threw himself into Black's arms letting out gasping sobs as the weight of the hope he was holding crashed down around him. He no longer had to hope because now Black was here and he wanted him. “Please take me with you.” 

As Black wrapped his arms around him and gripped the boy tightly Harry felt the Black Heir ring pulse on his finger. It felt as if it was happy now that the two of them were together as if it was waiting for its family to be back together once again. 

Family. Family. Family. Family.

Harry sat in one of the chairs in the Black family account manager, Hitbringer's office as Black and Hitbringer finalized everything for Black to officially become lord. Harry allowed the words and time to flow over him as he got lost in his thoughts. He finally felt like he could hope for a future for himself, he no longer had to worry about when he would be able to eat next, or whether he would get beat up for something minor again. 

“Hey pup, let's go home okay?” Black was crouched next to Harry as he held his hand just above his elbow not touching him without permission. The gesture was small, but Harry found himself appreciating it more than he expected. He has never liked being touched by anyone especially when he wasn't expecting it, but no one has ever realized or cared about that before. 

“All my stuff is in my room at the leaky cauldron.” They agreed to make a pitstop at the leaky before heading to the Black family ancestral home in London, but as they walked toward the main hall of Gringotts Harry remembered that Sirius Black was a wanted man. “Um… how are we going to do this? You're still wanted by the ministry?”

Instead of answering Black just winked at Harry before he was suddenly gone. He looked around wildly wondering what Black did to make him disappear without having anything in his hands, but as he looked down he saw that in the man's place was a huge black dog looking at him innocently. “Sirius Black?” Harry muttered as the dog happily yipped and ran circles around his legs. 

“You have to tell me all about this when we get to your house. Oh Merlin.” Harry led the way to the leaky cauldron with one hand buried in Black's fur to keep himself steady. He had no idea that Sirius Black was able to turn into a dog, or even that wixen could do that in the first place. He had to assume that no one else knew of Black's ability and that this was how he had escaped Azkaban in the first place. He vowed to get every piece of information about this out of Black whenever they made it to his home and see whether it was something that Harry could eventually do.

After sneaking past Tom Harry packed up all his belongings as well as the package and the letter that was left next to a sleeping Hedwig. Black nosed through Harry's trunk pulling out the invisibility cloak that was stuffed inside an old hollowed out book and yipped again in excitement. Suddenly Black was back to his human form still holding the cloak in his hands, “Wear this when we leave. I'll shrink everything down so it'll fit underneath the cloak with you.”

“You know about the cloak?” Harry knew it was his father's cloak, but outside of a few rumors he was never sure whether his dad had actually used the cloak or not. 

“Merlin, did we know about it. Our friend group would play all kinds of pranks only achievable with the cloak.” Black looked at the material wistfully before he tossed it over Harry's shoulders. “I'll have to tell you stories about it after we settle in.”

The two stayed underneath the cover of the invisibility cloak the whole way out of the leaky through the muggle entrance which surprised Harry since he knew that the Black were pureblooded and fanatic blood purists. Once they were far enough away the two hid in an alley as they slipped off the cloak and Black changed back into a dog before leading the way to his house.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place was certainly not what Harry was expecting the Ancestral home of the Blacks to be even though he knew it was in muggle London. From the outside it looked nearly identical to the other townhouses that lived on the street. The differences were mainly in the lack of upkeep of the house since Black has been in Azkaban and he assumed no one was around to keep up with it. Black turned back into a person as the two stood in front of the porch watching as a group of muggles walked by completely oblivious to a dog turning into a man right next to them. “Only people blood related to the Black family can see this house without special permission.”

“Really? That's so cool!” 

“What's even cooler is that unless I, as Lord Black, give the okay no one can come in even if they're family and can see the house.” He explained as the two of them made their way to the front door. He held his hand out to the door knocker which was an intricate metal snake, but instead of knocking with it he allowed it to latch onto his wrist. After it detached the door swung open and the snake sank back into the door as a regular old knocker again. “We will modify the wards to accept you so you can come and go as you please, but as soon as you pass these walls no one will be able to find you.” 

The house looked just as decrepit on the inside as it did on the outside. It was obvious that in its prime it was a regal mansion that was the highlight of the pureblood society. 

“Will I be able to owl my friends and get their responses?” Harry had already gone a summer without his friends being able to owl him and he wasn't looking forward to dealing with that again even if he wasn't at the Dursleys. He knew that currently they were not exchanging many letters as both friends were on vacations off the continent, but he hoped they would begin to pick up the closer it got to September. 

“Of course Harry, owls can find someone anywhere, but I promise no one will be able to even follow the owls here.”

Black led the two of them through the house until they made it to the kitchen where he said the head house elf slept in a cupboard. If he noticed the way that Harry flinched at the mention of a cupboard he didn't mention just kept explaining how if any house elves were still around it would Kreacher.

“Kreacher are you still here?” A loud crack sound went off behind them making Harry jump slamming into the counter before he could stop himself. 

“Disgraceful Master Sirius is back…” A ratty looking house elf stood in front of Black sneering. “Who does the dirty master bring with him?”

“This is Harry Potter, he's my son and you will treat him with the respect Heir Black deserves.” Harry watched as the two threw loaded threats and not so subtle attacks at each other. Kreacher gave a particular cackle whenever he said something that affected Black visibly which was an extremely unnerving sound that Harry kind of enjoyed hearing. “Enough Kreacher. Fix up the house while we get settled in then I will attune the wards to my magic.”

Black led Harry up the stairs in search of a usable bedroom for him to move into which proved to be harder than they figured it would be. The whole first floor was practically unusable with the amount of grime and magical creatures that now call that place home. The second floor proved to be in better condition, specifically the two bedrooms that Black and his brother called their own. “Here Harry, you can pick out which one you want.”

Harry first stepped into the room labeled ‘Sirius Orion Black III’ and immediately wanted to leave. He knew that Gryffindor Tower as a whole was pretty gaudy and in your face, but it was nothing compared to Black's teenage bedroom. The whole thing was painted a bright scarlett colour with red and gold accents everywhere. There were also posters of almost naked women plastered to most of the open wall space. He practically slammed the door shut in his haste to get away from everything in that room, making Black laugh admitting it was mainly done to piss his mother off.

He turned to the door labelled ‘Regulus Arcturus Black’ praying to himself that it'll be more bearable to live in. Underneath the name plate was a handwritten sign that said "DO NOT ENTER UNLESS YOU ARE REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK" which made him let out a weak chuckle feeling bad that he was about to enter and ignore the sign. When the door opened he was greeted by a comforting room that Harry couldn't help but love. It was definitely a Slytherin's bedroom with its forest green walls and dark wood accents, but Harry found it to be relaxing. “I think I'll stay in this one.”

“Good choice. Reggie had quite the talent for interior design. Now I will leave you to get yourself settled in.”

“Umm.. Bla.. Lord Black I just wanted to say thank you for letting me come with you.” Harry felt compelled to thank the man unless he accidentally upset him and Black ended up sending him back to the Dursleys. 

“Harry, you have no reason to thank me and you don't have to call me Lord Black.” 

“I'm sorry... I guess I'm just not sure what I should call you?”

“Well my name is Sirius so that's always a good starting choice. When you started talking you called me Pads, there's also uncle Sirius, or just whatever makes you feel the most comfortable.” Black….. Sirius seemed sincere as he listed the different names Harry could call him. Nothing felt quite right to him since the man was basically a stranger yet he also is his Godfather and one of his parents, but he figured he had time to try some things out since it seemed like he was staying long term.

“Okay.. Sirius.” Harry stuttered on the name not wanting to make a wrong decision, but all Sirius did was smile at him kindly. “Still thank you, it means a lot for you to take a chance on me.” 

“I should be thanking you. I've never wanted anything more in my life than to have you back with me.” Sirius ushered him further into his new room to begin unpacking as he went to do whatever Lord things he needed to do around the house. He promised to call for Harry when it was time for dinner which would give him a couple hours to get himself situated. 

Glancing around the room again he couldn't help the large grin that worked its way onto his face. His first bedroom that he could call his own. No more tiny cupboard that had a tiny cot shoved into it for a bed and no more Dudley's second bedroom that he couldn't leave anything in because everything in the room was considered Dudleys unless Harry was in there.

He threw himself on the bed for a nap, deciding unpacking could wait until after dinner.

Chapter Text

After dinner Sirius asked if Harry wanted to sit with him and go through the inheritance test together since they didn’t have a chance to fully go through it in Gringotts. Harry was very excited to be able to ask the man everything that he has been on his mind since he first saw the test results. The two sat next to each other at the long dining room table ignoring Kreacher's grumbling about the improperness of their arrangement. “Alright pup, what first?”

“Well… Ragnork told me that oathsworn godparents and blood adoptions like this are very uncommon nowadays. So.. I guess just why did you guys decide on that?”

“It was my idea to do the oath when I accepted to be your godfather. In fact I insisted on it because we were in a violent war and I wanted you to be as protected as possible.” Sirius told him how right before he was born You-Know-Who’s side was becoming more bold and were attempting to use the Imperius Curse to bypass the few places that were under the Fidelius charm by controlling someone who knew the secret and luring the target out. “I would have died before I could have forced you or your parents out of the house.” Harry was in awe of Sirius’ desire to die instead of harming the Potter’s in any way. Before this conversation Harry didn’t think that anyone outside of his parents had ever cared that much about him since he ended up with the Dursley’s instead of a magical family, but now he knew that he still had someone that would die for him in an instant.

“As for the blood adoption, that was your mothers idea. If the worst happened it meant you would be protected by the Black family magic and no one would have been able to keep you from me or my grandparents, except we didn’t anticipate someone blocking my adoption of you magically.”

“Wait, I was supposed to go with your grandparents if something happened to you three?” Harry didn’t even realize he had any grandparents still alive by the time his parents died. The thought of being able to go anywhere other than with the Dursley’s brought tears to his eyes over what he was denied. What Dumbledore kept him from.

“Yeah you were pup. They died earlier this year actually.” Sirius looked incredibly sad at the news of his grandparents passing. Harry reached out and held onto the hand that was resting atop the table wanting to be there for his final family left. If he thought back on it he could remember Hermione complaining about the fact that two death's in the Black family came before ‘actual news’ in the Daily Prophet. Knowing that they died right before the end of term made something fracture in his chest he could have had 12 years with his great-grandparents. 

Sirius continued reading through the inheritance test letting out a shocked gasp at the amount of Heirships that Harry had to his name and asked to see the rings that were now covering his fingers. 

Harry pretended to not see the handful of tears that spilled from the man’s eyes once he laid eyes on the Potter Heirship ring. The ring flashed pictures of a younger Sirius and James discussing their Heirships together late at night in the Gryffindor dormitory into Harry’s mind bringing tears to his eyes as well. Sirius ruffled his hair making him swat at the man’s hand to stop him from further messing up the bird's nest on his head. He found himself laughing as Sirius made a joke about Harry ruining everything for You-Know-Who even taking his Heirship right out from under him as a baby. The Slytherin ring warmed pleasantly on his finger as if it enjoyed the joke too.

They moved on to the next section of the test which was the ‘Magical anomalies’ part which both had a little bit explained to them already. “Ragnork and Healer Balgruff explained the concept of a block on my core, but who could have done that to me?”

“Honestly, I'm not sure because as far as I know blocks can only be safely placed by a specialized Healer. I have also never heard of someone having so much of their core blocked.” Sirius looked as though he wanted to say more, but he wasn't sure whether he should or not. 

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“It’s probably nothing. Just… Right after your parents went into hiding Professor Dumbledore tried convincing them to block you once you were born to try to keep You-Know-Who from coming after you.” Harry’s mind went blank as Dumbledore was once again brought up as a possible reason for something being wrong with him. He might not have had so many instances of accidental magic growing up if it wasn’t for his magic fighting against the block. He wouldn’t have been beaten as much for being such a freak .  “Like I said Harry. It might not have been him or maybe he had a really good reason if it was.” He didn’t sound very confident in either scenario since it was way too coincidental that the Headmaster was being brought back up once more.

The two skipped over the Horcrux and the subsequent blocks from that since they knew that neither of them knew anything more about it than what the Goblins had told them. Instead they focused on the next item on the list which Harry had meant to ask Ragnork about, but had forgotten after the Horcrux bomb was dropped on him.

“What does ‘Mùirn Beatha Dàn’ mean?” Sirius studied the words in front of him, trying to figure out what they meant. He got up and ran up the stairs leaving Harry alone at the dining room table confused where he was going. It took a couple of minutes before he was jumping back down the stairs this time with a book in his hand.

“Sorry I had to run to the library. I think I recognize the language.” He pulled the book open which was not written in English. “I was right! I don’t know what it means, but it's Gaelic. As far as I know neither of your parents were Gaelic, so I am not sure what it could be.”

Harry was slightly disappointed to not be able to get an answer about this since it was probably what he was most interested in. Such an unknown topic was intriguing to the boy because it could truly mean anything. “That’s okay Sirius, thank you for trying anyway.” The two went their separate ways after they had agreed to continue searching for everything they could about what ‘Mùirn Beatha Dàn’ was. Harry went to finally start unpacking his trunk and left Sirius to go do whatever it was he still needed to do around the house. As he pushed open the door to his new bedroom he felt lighter than he has felt in a long time, he was excited to be able to get to know Sirius more over the next couple of weeks.

-

The next two weeks passed with Sirius and Harry growing closer than Harry had thought possible. They spent the days working with Kreacher to fix up the house's main rooms that they had intended to spend time in. Harry took on a personal project with Sirius’ permission to de-Sirius the man's old room since he had taken over his rightful place in the Lord's quarters on the third floor. 

Since Harry could use as much magic as he desired while hidden behind the wards of the house changing the paint and the accents of the room were extremely easy, but he was having trouble breaking the permanent sticking charm Sirius had used on the posters of muggle women. Taking a break from the posters Harry decided to go through the giant closet that Sirius told him he could keep anything he liked and toss the rest. 

There were some robes and sweaters that Harry threw onto the bed to move into Regulus’ room, but most of the clothes were beginning to disintegrate unless they were woven with magic and runes to maintain itself throughout the years. 

As he began removing some old robes in the back of the closet he found a locked chest labelled ‘Do Not Touch’. Harry dragged it into the bedroom and called for Sirius. As he waited for the older man he inspected the lock which seemed to not have a key hole to unlock it with. “ Alohomora .”

Nothing happened even as Harry tried the spell again with more magical force around it which was something he discovered he could do as the block on his core continued to break apart. Another ability he found himself capable of was smelling someone's magic which was something that Harry had never thought possible. The whole room smelled of a young teenage Sirius’ magic which smelled like a campfire that had been burning for hours and the smell of dirt just after it rained, but the lock smelled stronger than the whole room combined did. 

Since Harry was so focused on smelling the magic of the lock he only noticed Sirius walking into the room through the smell of his magic alone. His time in Azkaban had unfortunately taken its toll on the man and since his healing with the Goblins it's most notable in the smell of his magic. Instead of a long blazing campfire he now smells like the embers left after the fire had died out and the smell of dirt after fresh rain is entwined with the smell of wet dog which Harry assumed came from the man's animagus form. 

“Hi Sirius.” The man joined Harry on the floor as the two of them examined the chest he had found. 

“Hi pup, I see you found my lock box!” Sirius grabbed the lock with a concentrated look on his face after a couple of minutes the lock popped open. “That used to go a lot quicker….”

“What did you do to get it to open?” He grabbed the lock from Sirius’ hands trying to figure out what he could have done to get it to open. 

“This type of lock is tied directly to my magical signature so I am the only person that can get it open. It used to pop open as soon as I thought about it so I'm not sure why it took so long this time.” 

“Probably because your magic is different now than it was when you last locked it.” Sirius paused looking through the chest, sending Harry a questioning glance. He shrugged as he began to explain, “Your teenage magic and your current magic smells are different I'm assuming because of Azkaban.”

“You… can… smell magic ?” Harry stopped fiddling with the lock when he heard the incredulous tone that Sirius was directing at him. He had assumed that being able to smell magic when you focused really hard was something that at least most wixen could do, but it appears that it might be another freaky abnormal thing. 

“Um yeah?” Harry stuttered trying to understand the look that crossed Sirius’ face. “Is that.. bad?”

“Merlin and Morgana! Harry!” Sirius forced himself to calm down as Harry looked more and more tense like he was ready to bolt out of the house at a moment's notice. Sirius took a deep breath and slowly reached out until he was hovering over Harry's shoulders. He waited to see if Harry would move, but when he didn't Sirius softly held onto the other boy not wanting to trap him nor just let him run off. “That is absolutely incredible! Almost no one in the last 800 years has been able to smell magic.”

“.... almost no one ?” Harry felt himself begin to panic as he subconsciously feared the response to yet another thing that made him different. He wished he could just be normal for once instead of a freak . 

“Harry, you need to breathe.” Sirius let the boy go as his breathing became shallow, not wanting him to feel as if he was being boxed in. Although he refused to move too far away in case the boy passed out and Sirius needed to catch him. “Everything is okay. Such a connection to magic used to be common, but it has become a forgotten ability outside of legend in recent times. There's nothing wrong with you having it.”

The two of them sat in silence as Harry willed himself to calm down and stop shaking. He couldn't help but be annoyed with himself for overreacting when he had already seen that Sirius wasn't upset with his freaky ability, but unfortunately it was hard to adjust to the fact that he wouldn't face a beating for everything he did. After he was finally calm enough to look Sirius in the eyes, Harry couldn't help but feel guilty because of the worry that showed on the older man's face, making him flush. “Sorry.”

“How long have you been able to smell someone's magic?” Sirius hesitantly asked as he began to shift through the chest again. He tossed a couple of things aside to get rid of while waiting for Harry to answer. 

“Um it only started recently and I can only do it if I really focus on it.” Harry watched as Sirius tossed aside Gryffindor flags from quidditch games, career pamphlets, and other such things that no longer held any meaning to the man. 

“The block on your core is breaking down. There's a chance you could develop more abilities as it continues.” Harry dreaded having even more things that make him stand out from everyone else, but he cant deny the curiosity that bloomed in his chest as he wondered what else he might be able to do in the future. “Have you noticed anything else different?”

“Just that I can like adjust the amount of magic I put into a spell now. It used to be just whatever came out was all I had to work with, but now I can make it stronger or weaker.” Harry was relieved when Sirius confirmed that that was a perfectly normal skill that all Wixen have to some extent. They discussed how not being able to do that before meant that Harry struggled in class more than most of the other students. He had to dedicate more time outside of class to be able to reliably do a spell whenever needed since it was so hit-or-miss whether he would naturally be given enough magic to properly use. He hoped that he would have an easier time at school now because he had decided since moving in with Sirius that he would plan an actual future for himself which started with better grades.

While going through the chest Sirius told a story about everything that was being pulled out even something as small as a clothespin that was stuck to a flag had a long winded story from his time at Hogwarts. Even as Harry's legs began to lose feeling he refused to move too much not wanting to miss a single story since most of them involved at least one of his parents if not all three. “Oh! I can't believe I still have this. I thought I gave it back!”

Sirius excitedly shoved something into Harry's hands as he dug through the chest with an unexpected vigor. He pulled out what looked like an old pair of headphones from the trunk and grabbed the device from the boy who was extremely confused why Sirius had a seemingly muggle device in his childhood bedroom.

“This used to be your mothers!” His excitement dimmed as he thought back to the woman he called a friend, but as he turned to look at her son with her vivid green eyes he found it slightly easier to keep the bad thoughts at bay. “I think she called it a portable case-ett player? You put in one of these small boxes like so…… and boom! Music!”

Sirius slammed the old headset over top of Harry's ears as he pressed play on the cassette player. A song that he was pretty sure he had heard before was now swimming through his ears making him bop his head in time with the music. He knew that his face was currently mirroring Sirius’ face as they both were ecstatic that the player still worked, Harry removed the headphones, but made no move to stop the music.

“….Dancing queen young and sweet….”

He could just barely make out what was being sung, but that didn't matter to the boy who excitedly turned to Sirius to see him holding a handful of cassette tapes that he had dug out of the chest. “Where did you get this Sirius? I thought muggle devices didn't work in magical places.” 

“It was a gift from your mother, Lily.” Sirius began as his eyes fogged over, seeming to get lost in old memories. Harry held his breath too scared to make too much noise and hoped that Sirius would continue to talk about his mum. “She runed it herself in our fourth year because she knew how miserable I was at home. This proved to be an excellent distraction.”

Tears welled up in both of their eyes thinking about the woman in question. Harry stuttered as he tried to get his thoughts in order not wanting to spook Sirius out of talking. He desperately needed to know more about his parents than the stories that Sirius has been telling him since they met, which Harry still loved to hear but he wanted to know things about them and their personalities and their academic career. He wanted to know everything about them.

“My mum took runes?” 

Sirius quickly nodded his head turning the cassette player around so the small runes on the back were visible for the pair to see. “Your mother was practically a runes genius.”

“What else did she take?” A tear dripped down the boy's face imagining his mother sitting in a classroom studying runes which is exactly what he would be doing in a week's time. It felt surreal. Obviously he had already had the same classes that all his parents took with the core subjects, but he felt a strange connection at the thought of taking the same elective as his mother. “What did you and dad take?”

“Well I took Arithmancy, Runes, and Muggle Studies.” Harry knew that it was extremely likely that Sirius probably only took muggle studies to piss off his mum and based on the mischievous smile that was exactly what happened. “Your father took Arithmancy, Runes, and Care.”

“Really, Care?” Harry froze once he realized he had interrupted Sirius, but thankfully the man didn't seem upset and instead just laughed at the boy's incredulous face.

“I'll have you know there's nothing wrong with Care for one! And two, your father loved magical creatures and he desperately wanted to join the Department of Magical Creatures to fight for their rights before we graduated.”

Harry couldn't help the shock that ricocheted through his body hearing about his father's career plans. He had always heard how his dad was an amazing auror and how that was always his dream, but the certainty which Sirius said this made him doubt what he thought he knew. 

“Anyway, your mum took Runes, Arithmany, and Divination.” Before Harry was able to say anything about her taking Divination Sirius gave him a look and continued speaking. “Your mother wasn't exceptionally talented at Divination, but she did seem to have some sort of affinity with Tarot Cards.”

He vaguely knew what Tarot Cards were, but he had never realized that they were actual things in the magical world which was a bit stupid on his part after 2 years of learning things he never thought possible. “Was she able to tell people's future?”

“I am not exactly sure what she could predict, but I know there were multiple instances where the girls in our house would praise her for another prediction coming true.” Harry listened as Sirius told whatever stories he could remember about his mum and her tarot cards or her attempts with other forms of Divination. One story of his mum trying her hand at reading a crystal ball while in the common room made Harry cry from laughter. Sirius acted out everyone in the story separately because he insisted it was necessary since the reactions around the room were so varied and hilarious. He couldn't help but agree as he watched Sirius pretend to be his dad as he was hit in the face with said crystal ball after attempting to ask his mum out in their fifth year while practically everyone in Gryffindor watched. 

After the two finally calmed down they fished out the last bit of papers that were sitting in the bottom of the chest. Harry couldn't hold in the gasp as he realized the papers were actually photographs of his parents and their friends through Hogwarts. They appeared to be kept in the order that they were taken as the first picture on the top was of two young boys in a train compartment. It was obvious that the two boys were James Potter and Sirius Black because despite growing up Sirius still had the same features and even made the same expressions Harry noted watching the picture moving with the boys trying to make sure they were both in frame. 

Seeing the two of them next to each other in multiple pictures throughout their first two years in school Harry realized how alike he looked to the two of them. It made sense since they were his fathers, but he couldn't help the bit of sadness that began to grow in his chest when he came across the first picture of his mum from around their third year. “Harry, you do look like your mum y'know?”

“I mean.. I guess.” 

“Really you do the shape of your eyes are the same, your teeth when you smile, and even the smile you make when you're really happy is the same.” Harry knew the man was trying to cheer him up, but he found it hard to appreciate the little things that he shared with his mum since those tended to get overlooked or attributed to his dad, James. 

“I know I just wish I shared more with her. Everyone says I have her eyes, but everyone overlooks that unfortunately.” Harry found himself staring at her bright auburn hair wishing he had more red like that in his hair. He could almost imagine himself as a perfect blend of the three of his parents which was something he found himself wanting more than anything he didn't want to be more James than Lily or more Sirius than James. He wants to be all three at once and have no one be able to tell him otherwise. Sirius gasped from in front of him making Harry's eyes shoot open to look around the room they're still sitting in, however Sirius’ eyes were still locked onto Harry. “..er..Sirius?”

“Your…. Your hair…” The older man reached out and tugged one of the longer strands sitting at the base of his neck. Harry grabbed some of his bangs and attempted to pull them over his eyes, but it wasn't quite long enough for him to tell what could be different about it. When he looked back towards Sirius he noticed the mirror he was holding in his direction. His hair was no longer nearly pitch black, instead it was a very deep auburn colour that as he turned his head glowed brightly in the light. 

Harry gaped at his reflection not understanding how his hair had changed so drastically. The new hair meant he now looked like an almost perfect mix of his parents exactly as he had been imagining, that thought brought tears to his eyes as somehow his wish was made into reality. “How… How did this happen?”

“What were you thinking about before your hair changed?”

“Nothing! I mean… I don't know.” Harry stuttered out, not making eye contact with the man in front of him. It was one thing to refer to Sirius as one of his parents in his head, but that wasn't one of the options given to him on their first day together so he didn't want to push his luck. However, he knew he wouldn't be getting out of this conversation based on the look Sirius was giving him. “Really! I was.. er… just looking at mum thinking about how much I wished to look like all three of my parents at once.” 

“...You think of me as your parent?” Harry flushed bright red at the tone of Sirius’ voice. He wasn't sure what that tone meant for him as it wasn't one he was used to hearing. He hesitantly nodded when Sirius caught his eye with an alarmingly blank face, but the one thing Harry didn't expect was for Sirius to burst out crying and grab a hold of Harry with a vice grip. 

“Sirius?” 

“I'm sorry, Harry, I am just so happy to have you in my life.” He watched as Sirius worked to calm himself down, nervous that the older man would still tell him off for pushing his boundaries. Sirius must have been able to sense the nervous energy that Harry was giving off as he smiled reassuringly at the boy. “I am honoured to be your parent Harry. Whatever form that might take.” 

Harry felt the tips of his ears heat up as he tried to fight the flush that was beginning to cover his face. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to get used to the idea that Sirius wanted him around and wasn't just doing it out of pity. Luckily Sirius didn't push for any type of answer and instead went on to explain how Harry's appearance changed like that. “You're a metamorphmagus Harry! It was a Black family blood trait that was thought to have gone extinct ages ago.” 

“Only blood members of the Black family can be meta….morphagous’?” Harry kind of remembered Hermione telling him about people who could change their bodies at will after he told them the story of him growing his hair back when Aunt Petunia shaved his head once. He couldn't remember what she called it, but he did remember her saying it was a blood trait for some pureblood family.

“Technically no, but everyone who has had the ability has been able to trace it back to the Black family even if their ability isn't considered a Black family blood trait.” Harry wasn't sure exactly what Sirius meant, but thankfully he continued his explanation after seeing the look on his face. “Magical Britian is fairly small and that unfortunately means fairly inbred.”

Harry grimaced at the thought of inbreeding hoping that he wasn't considered inbred. Sirius ignored the look and continued the impromptu lesson on pureblood families. “The Blacks are one of the oldest families in Britain and that means that almost everyone can be linked back to us in one way or another. Not everyone is considered a part of the Black family though because they are typically descended from disowned family members who have no claim to the family line or from bastard children who were never accepted into the Black family.”

Harry knew from Hermione's rants about pureblood ideologies that magical society was a bit behind the times compared to the muggle world, but he had no idea it went as far as it seemed to. He imagined being related to Malfoy and couldn't help the shudder that escaped him. “So are all pureblood wizards related to each other?”

“Well some more so than others.” Sirius gave him an appraising look which Harry tried to ignore. “I'm assuming you want to know who you're related to at school?”

“Well really just one person I guess? Draco Malfoy.” Harry felt his hope of the part not being related to him plummet into his stomach as he took in the grimace that covered Sirius’ face before he could cover it up.

“I'm sorry pup, but his mother is my cousin Narcissa Malfoy neé Black.” Harry threw himself back onto the hardwood floor with a groan. Sirius wasn't able to stifle the giggle that left his mouth watching his son's dramatics. “If it makes you feel better it is perfectly normal to pursue a relationship with your second-cousin in the wizarding world.”

Harry choked on his tongue as he stumbled over his denials. His face was flaming red at the insinuation that Harry would ever be interested in a relationship with Draco Malfoy . “Nonononono. I have absolutely zero interest in Malfoy! I would rather eat my own hand before ever going out with that prat.”

“Okay kiddo I'm sorry I misunderstood why you were interested. At least now I know to not expect any cousinly play-dates.” Sirius laughed at Harry's offended face teasing him about his rival. The two continued to mess around as they finished cleaning out the old bedroom until Kreacher demanded they get ready for dinner. 

“Stupid half-breed might have the noble Black gift, but that doesn't change how stupid and now ugly he is.” The elf growled out tugging on the strands of hair that were now a vibrant bubblegum pink until Harry relented and turned it back to the deep auburn colour he was insistent on keeping. 

“Thank you Kreacher. Together I'm sure we can find a colour that truly suits me.” Harry found that teasing Kreacher was easily his favorite pastime and he was fairly sure that the elf enjoyed their back and forth just as much as him. Sometimes he would find Kreacher waiting outside his door with a warm cup of tea after he was woken up by nightmares who made sure to insult him for his bedraggled appearance before forcing him back into bed. 

The two split ways after they had finished with their dinner and Harry found himself back in Regulus’ room with his mothers cassette player listening to the different cassettes that Sirius still had. There were quite a few songs that he loved on them which made him giddy at the thought of liking similar music to his mother and Sirius. The only thing that the Dursleys were never able to take away from him was music which meant he had a deep love for it. They could lock him in his cupboard for as long as they wanted, but that never stopped him from hearing the music from the kitchen radio as his Aunt cooked or cleaned. Nor did it stop him from being able to hide under the neighbors windows and listen to the music they played while he did his best to stay away from Dudley and his gang. 

A knock on his door made Harry jump, not used to someone waiting for him to allow them to enter instead of just barging in. After he called for them to enter, Sirius stuck his head through the door and held a wrapped box out to him. “Here pup, I thought you might like this.”

Hesitantly Harry unwrapped the box gasping as he found a beautiful box of Tarot cards sitting in front of him. The deck was themed after the stars which he instantly fell in love with. “Wow…”

“It used to be my brothers.” Harry almost didn't want to grab a hold of the cards feeling guilty that he would be taking another thing that belonged to Regulus from Sirius, but the smile and nod he received from the older man was enough of an invitation to inspect the deck. “He, like your mother, had a small talent with the deck, but our parents made him give the practice up.” 

“Do you think I will have any talent for it?” The only thing Harry thought himself to be talented at was Quidditch, like his father apparently, but he couldn't help but hope that he would find a hidden talent in Tarot like his mother and Regulus (his uncle?). 

“You might, but I figured it might be something to help you feel closer to your mum either way.” He pulled Sirius into a tight hug which during their whole time together is the first hug that Harry has initiated. 

“Thank you…. Dad.” Harry ignored the wetness that slowly grew on his shoulder the same way that Sirius ignored the wet spot on his. The two of them held each other for a few more moments before pulling back. 

“It's no problem pup. Get some sleep okay.” Sirius kissed Harry on the head making the boy blush unused to such casual affection. “I love you so much.” 

As Sirius walked out the door Harry whispered a quiet “I love you” back to the man still too afraid to say it to his face. 

Chapter Text

Harry found himself waking up on the first of September feeling nervous, but excited at the same time. He spent a good ten minutes staring into the mirror at his auburn hair unsure whether he should change his hair back to black as to not have to deal with people's questions. His face scrunched as he willed his hair back to the blue toned black colour trying to get used to seeing that again after the past week of having the reddish black hair. As he continued to get dressed for the day he caught sight of the two picture frames he set up on his desk that holds pictures of his parents together. Looking between the three of them he knew he didn’t want to change his hair back even if it would make it easier for himself later because it's the first time in his life that he felt like he had a connection with his mother other than the Dursleys.

It took only a moment of concentration for his hair to shift back to its new normal, but he couldn’t help the smile that overtook his face. He reached out for the picture of the Potters and pressed a kiss to the frame the same way he has done it everyday since he was given that picture. He reached for the satchel that sat on the floor of his room which he had found in the closet and had the initials R.A.B stitched into the side pocket of the bag. He had asked Sirius if it would be okay to take the satchel to school with him wanting to keep as much of his family with him as possible. As of now he only had his cassette player and tarot cards safely tucked into the pockets of the bag. Checking the time he quickly pulled out the tarot cards and got himself situated at his desk. 

The past week Harry spent his time researching all he could about Tarot and even doing some readings on his own using his dad and Kreacher as his test dummy's. This morning he decided to do a reading on himself to try to get a glimpse of what the day was going to bring him. He set his cards out in front of him in a long line allowing his hand to hover above the cards as he went down the line. He practiced pulling cards in multiple ways throughout the week, but he found this way to be his favorite since he felt the palm of his hand heat up as he passed over specific cards. He still wasn't sure if that meant he had a talent for tarot or if he was experiencing some somatic response from his hope, but he was determined to keep practicing until he knew one way or another. 

“What is my day going to be like today?”

He felt a pull to three cards which he carefully pulled out and flipped over in the order that he felt his hand heat up. 

Three of Wands (reversed)

The Tower 

The Fool

Harry studied the three cards that were sitting in front of him taking note of the reversed card. Based on the way he shuffled it shouldn't technically be possible for him to pull a card upside down, but it has happened once or twice before so he knew to take it seriously. Pulling out his leather bound journal he started using for his readings and a reference book to help him remember the meanings of the cards he got to work to try and determine what this reading meant.

Three of Wands (reversed)

• Keywords: Restriction, Limitations, Lack of Progress, Obstacles, Delays, Frustration 

• You are only reacting not acting with thought and deliberation 

• You have not received the achievements you were hoping for

The Tower (upright)

• Keywords: Disaster, Destruction, Upheaval, Trauma, Sudden Change, Chaos

• Fundamental, ground breaking change 

• Conversely the event does not have to be traumatic, but can be an unexpected change 

The Fool (upright)

• Keywords: Beginnings, Freedom, Innocence, Originality, Adventure, Idealism, Spontaneity 

• Generally means a beginning of a new journey, one where you will be filled with optimism and freedom from the usual constraints of life

• Shows that you can never tell what lies ahead and can only meet it with joy

He couldn't help the nerves that flowed through his body as the day seemed to have to get worse until it would get better. He never had luck with the bad things in his life being superficial or non-traumatic, so he knew he wouldn't hold his breath and instead would prepare himself to the best of his abilities. 

However before he could do any more than put away his cards and books into his messenger bag he planned on keeping with him Sirius was slamming on the door insisting he join them for a quick breakfast since he had to leave in 45 minutes. After ensuring he had everything in his trunk including the new regime of nutrient potions that Healer Balgruff insisted he continue with he stumbled into the kitchen, barely catching himself from how quickly he ran, but stopped short when he noticed Kreacher sitting at the table joining them for breakfast. 

“Kreacher joins for breakfast ONLY to celebrate nasty half-breed Potter brat leaving for a long time.” The elf grumbled obviously not enjoying sitting at the table with the Lord and Heir, but Harry couldn't help the smile that showed across his face. He had spent every day for the past two weeks begging Kreacher to join them at the table for meals instead of hiding away on his own or serving them, but he had vehemently denied it at every turn. 

“Oh Kreacher! I'll miss you too!” Sirius snorted as Harry jumped towards the elf and forced him into a hug that he vocally claimed to hate. He attempted to make Harry release him by continuously biting the boy's arm, but if Kreacher really disliked it Harry knew he would either bite through his arm or just apparate away so he didn't feel too bad holding him hostage. 

Breakfast went by quickly and Harry found himself waiting for a cab right outside Grimmauld house. Sirius had wanted to go with Harry to the station, but they had no way to explain why he was being dropped off only by a dog nor how the dog was going to get home after he boarded the train, so Harry was on his own for the first time since Sirius came around. He wasn't sure how he felt about his newfound solitude which was a strange feeling since being alone used to be his most coveted time. 

After paying the cab he hastily made it through Kings Cross and through the wall onto platform 9 ¾. He looked around the station noting the lack of the Weasley colour red and sat down on his trunk to wait for his friends to make it to the station. 

Just as he was about to give up waiting and just find a compartment on his own he heard the unmistakable sound of Fred and George Weasley laughing to themselves. Suddenly he had two sets of arms around his shoulders and the older boys lifted him onto his feet talking as they went.

“Oh Harrikins..”

“We have missed our youngest brother, right Gred?”

“Absolutely Forge! It's never the same without him around.” The twin speak sometimes made it hard to follow what they were talking about, but Harry had always found the habit amusing. The two had fully adopted Harry as a brother when they pulled the metal bars off of his window before second year and they took their jobs seriously when it came to taking care of him. They each ruffled his hair and expressed their love for the new colour, but thankfully didn't push him for any information about the changes to his appearance.

“Hi Fred!” Harry hugged the twin that had spoken first knowing without a doubt that he was right. Fred was slightly taller and also had more freckles covering his cheeks while George had more freckles that covered his chin and forehead. “Hi George! I've missed you guys too.”

The rest of the Weasley clan surrounded the boys and demanded their own hugs and well wishes. Mrs. Weasley also apologized profusely for them being unable to come visit him in Diagon Alley explaining how they had to stay in Egypt a day longer than planned. Harry did his best to reassure the woman that everything was fine and he didn't mind being alone as Ron and Hermione began pulling him away to get a group hug between the three of them.

Finally Percy insisted that all the kids needed to go just as the horn blew indicating the last call to board the train. All 7 of them rushed onto the train barely able to pull their luggage on in time before it was pulling away from the station. The siblings barely glanced at each other before rushing away to find their respective friends, Ginny tripped Ron before turning and sprinting down the train's corridor doing her best not to fall as the long ride began. 

-

Theodore Nott made it to the station at 10:25 AM exactly the same way he has every year since his first. His house elf, Minny, pulled him into a hug forcing him down to her level despite his false complaints that he was dirtying his trousers. “Young Master Theo will miss these times when Minny is gone. Yes he will.” 

“Then it's truly a good thing you'll never leave me Minny.” Theo held Minny close to him, refusing to let her go quite yet. The two were hidden in an alcove on the side of the station where no one was able to see him which meant he was able to savour their moments together for longer than usual since no one could report his behaviour back to his father. “I will have nothing to miss then.”

“Young Master is a charmer.” 

“Only for you Minny.” Theo pressed a kiss to the elf's head not wanting to leave her for another year. He slowly stood up once she released him and wiped off the knees of his trousers getting rid of all evidence of their hug. 

Minny magically straightened and cleaned his clothes for him with a snap of her fingers. Once again he was looking like the proper Heir to the house of Nott, but he still wasn't ready. “Yous got to go, else you will miss the train.”

“I have plenty of time.” He looked at the watch attached to his wrist wincing as he caught sight of the time. He knew that the longer he put off leaving the more likely it was for people, especially the other Slytherins, to talk once he eventually made his way to his compartment.

“Better early. Go now. Shoo.” Minny waved him off practically shoving him out of the alcove not giving the boy a chance to argue with her any longer. “Be safe and do well.” 

“I will Minny.” Theo whispered to himself as he heard the telltale sound of her apparating away back to Nott Manor. He squared his shoulders and schooled his face back into an expressionless mask as he made his way to the bright red train.

Once aboard he walked to the very last compartment of the train knowing that's where his friends would be. Stepping into the compartment he felt himself let out a breath as he made eye contact with his three best friends Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, and Tracey Davis. Sitting between the two girls on the left side of the compartment were two little first years he recognized as Astoria Greengrass and Josh Davis, their little siblings who were starting Hogwarts this year. 

“Theo. Well met.” Blaise inclined his head as Theo took a seat on the open bench next to the dark-skinned boy. The four other occupants of the compartment followed in his greetings with a mix of formal and informal wording not as worried about being perfect among friends and siblings.

“Well met everyone. How was your summer?” Theo listened as Blaise began telling stories of being in Italy with his mother and her newest engagement.

“Hopefully this one lasts longer. I truly hate having to learn their names just for them to be gone by the time I'm home for the summer.” Contessa Zabini was a woman that men should know by now not to trifle with as she has a reputation of out living her 5 ex husbands. Theo snorted knowing that this man was sure to follow all the others' fates as they all thought they would be able to control her and her child into doing whatever they wanted. If the Contessa wasn’t the one to put them down then Blaise would be just as happy to.

“We did convince my father to allow us to spend a week in our house in France, but we had to agree to allow our siblings to come with us.” Daphne and Tracey usually spend the majority of the summer switching between their houses since they met in first year, so that wasn't a surprise. The two first years shared their own adventures that they got up to while their older sisters were too busy shopping and gossiping to play with them.

“How was your summer Theo?” Tracey asked since Theo was never one to give out information about home without prompting. He knew that this was his friend's way of asking about his well being without letting too much slip in front of the younger kids that were sitting with them. 

“It was to be expected, however I spent a lot of time reading from my mothers journals this summer.” Mentioning reading his mothers journals was a code word that the four of them have made to discreetly discuss the fact that Theo had gotten a vision of some kind. The girls all but shoved their siblings out of the compartment telling them to find the other first years knowing that he wouldn't ever talk about his visions in front of anyone else.

“Tell us everything.” 

“Since summer began I've been having more and more frequent visions, but they're still only a couple of seconds long.” Theo told them how the visions all featured Sirius Black at the beginning. The first one was a week after school had ended of Sirius Black sitting in his cell at Azkaban muttering to himself. It was quiet enough that Theo wasn't able to understand anything he was saying. Then for weeks afterwards he had visions of Black hiding in various locations including a cave, a forest, and even Hogwarts looking insane and disgusting. “All those visions only had Black in them until I got one the day before he escaped from Azkaban.”

His three friends were on the edge of their seat trying to take in everything they could about his visions. “I got one of Black in what looked like Gryffindor Tower with blood covering my vision, then it switched to Black cornering Harry Potter in a shack with a wand pointed at Potter's chest.”

“Merlin. So you think Black really is after Potter?” Tracey asked, holding onto Daphne's hand in a tight grip. 

“Obviously he must be. Did your mothers journal say anything about having so many visions of the same person?” Blaise was the only one of his three friends that he allowed to glance through his mothers journal before which was his most important possession. It was filled to the brim with stories, advice, and lessons that he would need to learn as he continued to grow up with a developing gift of the sight. 

Right after he was born his mother, Ophelia Nott neé Fawley, had a vision of herself dying young and of Theo having the same gift as her, so she dedicated every spare moment to filling out the journal for him. As Theo got older and his visions started manifesting themselves his mother started teaching him as much as she could while also making sure he knew just how important it was to keep his gift a secret from his father, Atticus Nott. 

At the time Theo never understood why he needed to keep it a secret since his mothers gift was well known, but as he got older he understood how rare it was for men to get the gift of sight from their mothers. He also was forced to watch as his father would essentially torture his mother until she had a vision even going as far as to harm Theo himself in an attempt to get something out of his mother. “It says that continuous visions of one person is very rare, but will be very important. That's not the strangest part though.” 

“At the beginning of August the visions completely changed. Black was much cleaner and less insane looking. It looked like he was inside of a pureblood house, but not one that I've ever seen.” Theo described how he had a vision of Black and Potter hugging each other, of the two of them sitting on the floor digging through a large chest. The group found it strange how much the visions changed themselves, they began to brainstorm what could have made such a large change come about. “The only thing my mothers journal said about such large changes is that someone in the vision managed to change their fate in a significant way that Lady Magic hadn't anticipated.” 

“Do you think it was Potter or Black who changed things?” Daphne questioned as Theo stared out the window enjoying the ever growing storm outside. 

“Why couldn't it be both of them? Maybe their meeting earlier was the change?” Theo allowed his friends' voices to flow over him as he closed his eyes for a small nap to help pass the time. It was common for Theo to either have new visions or relive his previous visions while he slept which meant that he had a lot of trouble getting proper rest since he was usually not able to fully relax even in sleep. His dreams started out normal of him watching different scenes of Black and Potter together doing different activities such as dancing, gardening, and even studying, but everything slowly grew foggy around him and the visions began to fade. He gasped as he was thrown into a full vision which forced him out of his dreams and back into the real world. 

He's standing in a compartment in between the Gryffindor Golden Trio, but he is unable to hear anything being said around him. The three teens seemed to be in an intense discussion when the lights on the train went out completely. 

Theo watched as Potter stuck his head out of the compartment door and jumped at whatever was seen in the hallway. The shorter boy threw himself back into the compartment as a spindly pale hand reached after him. The three teens shivered as the temperature in the room dropped multiple degrees in an instant.

Theo gasped as a dementor floated in after Potter and advanced on the boy with surprising speed. There was nothing that Theo nor Granger and Weasley could do as it reached out and grabbed ahold of Potter who appeared to be on the verge of passing out. They were forced to watch as the dementor pulled his hood back and brought Potter's face closer to his. 

He had heard many stories of people receiving the dementors kiss, but he had never expected to see it happen in front of him, especially not to someone his age at 13 years old. A silvery fog slid out from Potter's forced open mouth and made its way into the dementor's open mouth until Potter's body flopped fully to the ground devoid of his soul. 

Before the dementor could turn its attention to Weasley and Granger who looked as though they were screaming a bright blue light exploded into the compartment and Theo was thrown back into the wall.

Theo held in the scream that tried to tear through his throat as he came back to the real world. He didn't even realize he was trying to scream inside his vision which never let any noise come out. The noise around him slowly came back in so he could hear as his friends continued to call for him to come back to them.

“Theo..”

“Theo, answer us!”

“What happened?” Blaise was holding Theos face in his hands as he tried to get him to focus on their words, but Theo couldn’t find the words to respond as he saw Potter’s empty green eyes everywhere he looked. “Was that a vision Theo? What did you see?”

“I..I need to go.” The taller boy shoved himself off the bench away from the worried hands of his friends and tried to make a break out of the compartment door, but Blaise pulled him back with a bruising grip on his elbow. He wanted to sit back and take the time to explain everything he just saw to his friends but somehow Theo knew that this vision was going to come true sooner than later and for some reason the thought of Potter ending up soulless wasn’t something he could handle. “Blaise, I need to go or he's going to die.”

One of the girls gasped from behind Blaise but the two boys ignored them as they stared each other down waiting for one of them to break and concede to what they wanted. Theo typically allowed Blaise to win their petty stare downs since it was usually about things that he didn’t really care about but there was no way that he was going to allow himself to be forced to stand down now. Blaise released his elbow and nodded his understanding that whatever was happening was important to Theo, so without waiting any longer he turned back through the compartment door and began stalking down the corridor taking the time to check every compartment for Potter and his friends. 

It only took a couple minutes of searching to come across Potter’s compartment where he was sitting with Granger and Weasley looking like he was more interested in the passing scenery than what his friends were saying to him. Theo continued down the train deciding to use the walk to the other end of their car and back as a way to calm his nerves since Potter was obviously safe and not about to have his soul sucked out of him.

“Theo!” Standing in front of him was Draco Malfoy, not someone that he would consider his friend, but the closeness of Slytherin meant that the two had to be semi-friendly to not cause any issues. Standing guard behind the boy were his minions Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle the two were almost more troll than boy at this point since they have reduced themselves to being extensions of Draco. 

“Well met Draco. Good summer?” 

“Absolutely and it's about to get better. We were just going to.. Check in on Potter.” The three giggled between each other as if they had made a hilarious joke. Theo almost didn’t stop his eye roll in time. “Wanna join?”

“Tempting offer, but i'll pass this time.” He slipped his way past the three boys who scoffed at him and continued on their way to bother the three Gryffindors. Theo made it all the way down the train car and was now on his way back to his compartment calm enough to recognize that his vision could have just been a future possibility not something that was guaranteed to happen. As he was nearly back to Potter's compartment the train pulled to a gradual stop which had multiple people sticking their heads out of the compartments to try to see if something was going on within the train. The lights above briefly flickered then shut down completely enveloping the whole hallway in darkness. As the students around Theo began to scream in terror he very slowly made his way to where he knew the three Gryffindors to be roughly sitting, nervous that this was just the start of his vision coming true. 

Before he could make it to the compartment door the temperature around him visibly dropped as he could now see his breath coming from his mouth. Theo found himself unable to move as he felt himself become paralyzed by the fear that was starting to spread through his chest.

“Atticus please…”

He jumped as a head popped out of the compartment right in front of him and he made eye contact with green eyes that were practically glowing in the dark, Harry Potter. Something must have shown on his face as Potter studied him because he looked confused before turning to the other end of the train car where a dementor was steadily making its way towards the pair. The closer that it got the worse that Theo felt. It was becoming harder to breathe as the cold seemed to enclose itself around his lungs not allowing them to expand with every inhale. Theo knew that he needed to move or else he would be the one getting his soul sucked out of him today, but all he could do was listen to the voice echoed through his head.

“I can’t do it, Atticus, please just dont hurt Theodore…”

Chapter Text

Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed after Ginny through the train attempting to find an empty compartment for the three of them to share, however the lateness at which the group arrived meant that the trio had to rush to the back of the train before finding what was almost certainly the last empty compartment. The three of them stowed their luggage before flopping down on the benches trying to catch their breath as the train horn went off signaling that they were beginning to leave.

“Okay. Now that we're alone, what did you do in Diagon Alley by yourself for weeks? Why do you look different?” Ron eagerly questioned as the red-headed boy bounced in his seat. Hermione swatted at Ron with the book she had pulled out of seemingly nowhere and scolded him for practically shaking the whole train with his excitement while Harry contemplated what he wanted to share with his two best friends. He knew he trusted the two of them, but he wasn't sure he was ready to share anything with them yet.

“Not much honestly. Just wandered around the shops and even bought myself some new clothes.” Harry shrugged as he pulled the new midnight blue robe closer around him enjoying the almost silky texture of it. He glanced at Ron out of the corner of his eye worried that the other boy would be upset at the mention of his new wardrobe, but thankfully Ron just sent him a soft smile. “And I don’t look too different do I? I just wanted to try something new.”

“Not really, other than your hair of course.” Ron shrugged before reaching over to the other boy and carefully tugging on his red hair. Harry breathed out in relief, happy to not have to make up some kind of explanation for his new appearance which was something he realized he should have thought more about before this moment. 

“I'm very glad to see you out of those rags you had to wear before Harry. Honestly I don't know why you even kept those things around.”

“It's not like I had much of an option, Mione. I've told you my relatives would have killed me for wearing anything nicer.” Harry couldn’t help it as he rolled his eyes at the girl’s tone knowing that neither of his friends were able to understand what he went through every summer at the Dursleys. The mention of his muggle family seemed to distract the two from his new look as they shared an uneasy glance with each other.

“Well it's a nice change either way mate.” Ron grunted out desperate to change the subject. They always got uncomfortable whenever Harry brought up anything to do with how he was treated by his relatives. He knew they both had trouble believing family could treat him like that, especially Hermione who hasn't seen anything first hand. “I wish I could have stayed in Diagon by myself for a few weeks. Must have been peaceful.”

“Personally I think it would have been extremely lonely.” Ron and Hermione began a debate about what they would have done differently if left in Diagon alone for any amount of time which had Harry rolling his eyes. Even if he wanted to say more about his own experience he knew he wouldn't be able to get a word in with how quickly they were sniping at each other. Instead he turned his attention out the window and watched as the scenery sped past. The storm that was only just starting when they were docked in London was beginning to worsen the further from the city they got. 

Harry has always loved storms. Growing up it was the only time that he was able to block out the sounds of the Dursleys and pretend as if he was anywhere else in the world as he sat alone in his cupboard. He let himself relax back in his seat watching the rain pour down on the grassy hills that they were beginning to speed through. 

“....right Harry?” He jolted out of his reverie as he realized that Ron and Hermione must have finished their argument and were trying to talk to him about something. 

“What did you say? Sorry I must have zoned out.” 

“Mione asked what we were most excited about this year and I said you were most excited about seeing the love of your life again.” Ron smiled harder as he caught sight of the red flush that bloomed across Harry's face at the implications. 

He spluttered as he tried to inconspicuously cover his reddening cheeks, but he knew it was useless as both of his friends laughed at him, “I'm not in love with anyone, I don't know what you're talking about.”

“It's nothing to be ashamed of Harry,” Hermione began as her laughter petered out. She gave him a soft look as she took in how red his face had become, “if anything I think it's quite sweet that you're still so taken by the same person.” 

They've had the same conversation for the past two years since Harry accidently let it slip at the end of first year that he had a small crush on someone. It happened late at night when the three of them stayed up way past curfew in the common room just hanging out together before they all really started cramming for their end of year exams. Harry was just about to fall asleep when Ron asked him if he fancied anyone yet and he had answered without thinking that he had since the beginning of term. 

That slip led to days of questions about who and when and why, but Harry made it clear that he had no interest in telling them and that it was no one that they knew. That didn't quell the issue unfortunately but they did at least back off in fear of truly upsetting him. 

“Maybe this year you'll actually tell us who this mystery person is?” Ron questioned without looking all that hopeful knowing the likelihood of that happening. He let out a loud groan at the look that Harry sent him, “can you atleast swear that you'll actually talk to her this year?” 

Harry sighed, not giving the other boy an answer as he looked back out the window taking in the rustling trees that were the only proof of the wind from the storm whipping around them. The lack of any progress with even making his crush aware of his presence outside of being the Boy-Who-Lived had been a point in Harry's life that has made him beyond frustrated. Despite this he just felt that the wait would be worth it and he just needed to figure out a way to make it happen.

“Can I ask a question Harry?” Hermione began before pausing as he hesitantly nodded and gestured for her to continue. They had tried to pry answers from him before, but she seemed nervous enough that he was curious about what the question would be, “I was just wondering if you've never talked to her…. How did you come to fancy her?”

Ron looked excited at the prospect of any type of answer and the longer it took Harry to respond the more enthralled both of his friends became. 

“Well… I don't really know how to explain it?” Harry really wasn't sure how to explain it even to himself. The first time he caught sight of Theodore Nott as he walked up to the sorting hat during their sorting made Harry feel as if time itself began to slow around him. 

He knew that realistically there really wasn't anything special about Nott at 11 years old with his gangly limbs and slightly pinched looking face, but in that moment Harry couldn't focus on anything except the way his short dirty blond hair was just beginning to curl at the edges or the way his eyes seemed to hold a thunderstorm within their irises. He was enthralled with the boy at first glance and nothing, even his eventual sorting into Slytherin, would make Harry take his eyes off of Theodore Nott for long.

He had even nearly allowed the hat to sort him into Slytherin just to have an excuse to be closer to the boy, but he was too afraid of being near Malfoy who reminded him of his cousin that he ended up begging to be put elsewhere.

Harry realized that Ron and Hermione were still waiting for an answer from him while he became lost in thoughts about his first time seeing Nott. He felt himself go red once again as he took in their eager expressions, “I just knew from the first time I saw them that it was different. I've never felt like this before about anyone else even after all this time.”

Before they could say anything the trolley lady was knocking on their compartment door asking if they wanted to buy anything. Harry quickly bought them all a handful of snacks before the older woman continued down the train. He ripped open the package of cauldron cakes he held in his hand hoping they would stop asking him questions if his mouth was full. As Hermione opened her mouth to continue her questioning the door flung open again showing none other than Draco Malfoy and his minions Crabbe and Goyle. 

Harry couldn't help himself as he glanced around the three boys standing in the doorway hoping for a moment to see Nott standing with his housemates even if that meant he was there to laugh with Malfoy. He couldn't help the way his shoulders slumped forward when he couldn't see Nott anywhere. 

“Well, look who it is. Seems like someones crying out for attention again.” Malfoy sneered out gesturing to Harry's hair before looking between the three Gryffindors for something else to pick on as Harry refused to rise to the bait, deciding to settle on Harry's dejected expression, “what's wrong Potty? Weasel got your tongue?”

“Malfoy, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but do you have any other friends?” Ron snorted into his arm trying to muffle the sound not wanting to miss Malfoys reaction.

“What? Of course I do Potty. Not all of us only have two people we call friends like you.” 

“Just making sure since it seems like you seek us out more than you could possibly see them.” Harry shrugged ignoring the glare that Malfoy was sending him. Crabbe and Goyle took a threatening step forward, stopping as Malfoy held his arm out in front of them. 

“Don't even bother with them. Let's go find someone that actually matters.” The three laughed to themselves as they slammed the compartment door shut leaving the trio alone once again.

“Antagonizing him is only going to make it worse, Harry.” This was a conversation Hermione insisted on having after every encounter they had with the pompous Slytherin. Harry mourned the fact that he ate his cauldron cakes already, so he wasn't able to stuff his face like Ron to get out of the conversation. 

“I know Mi. You tell us that every time but can't we just be happy that it worked out for once?” Hermione rolled her eyes but didn't bother going on her usual spiel about ignoring Malfoy so Harry took the whole interaction as a win. He listened as Ron and Hermione talked about the holidays they took over the summer enjoying the tales of Egyption crypts and Grecian cuisine.

The trio quieted down as the train began to sputter to a slow stop. Ron hurriedly rushed to look out the window, “We must be nearly there.”

Harry and Hermione exchanged confused glances as Ron continued to speak to himself, “I'm starving. I want to get to the feast….”

“We can't be there yet.” Harry glanced down at his new watch that Sirius had gifted him, which showed that they had only been on the train for six out of the usual eight hour trip. Hermione leaned over to shove her own watch in front of Ron so he could see what the other two had already determined.

“So…… why're we stopping..” The taller boy trailed off as the train came to a full stop and the storm that has been raging outside began to pick up speed. 

Harry carefully opened the compartment door and stuck his head out into the hallway taking note of the other students around them doing the same thing. It seemed like no one knew why they had all suddenly come to a stop two hours away from their destination. Before Harry could turn back to his friends the lights went out and the train was plunged into complete darkness. 

They heard screams from terrified students and the sound of the compartment doors slamming shut all around them. The sudden change scared the students and when someone started screaming everyone assumed something bad had happened. Ron and Hermione began to argue with each other about what was happening as they attempted to get back to the window without stepping on each other in the dark. Harry stayed in his spot in front of the still halfway open door not wanting to get into the middle of their squabble. 

“There's something moving out there,” Ron told them as he pressed his face against the window. Despite the storm raging outside it was a typical warm September day, but Ron kept having to wipe off frost that was forming on the window in order to see out of it. “I think people are coming aboard….”

Harry quickly turned around to the open door in front of him watching as his breath came out in cold puffs and began to shiver at the rapidly decreasing temperature. He stuck his head back out of the compartment door to try and get a glimpse of whoever was boarding the train, but instead came face to face with another student who stood frozen just to the left of the doorway. It took Harry only a second to connect a name to the kid standing in front of him, Theodore Nott, he could have sworn that his heart stopped beating entirely for a second when their eyes met. 

Harry was confused as he looked into Nott's face, taking note of the terrified expression on the other students' usually emotionless face. He followed Nott's line of sight and watched as a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling made its way towards the pair. As it got closer the temperature around them on the train got steadily colder, Harry had no idea what that creature was, but taking in the expression on Nott's face he knew that it was nothing good. Before he could think about what he was doing Harry reached out and grabbed Nott's hand hauling the taller boy behind him and into the compartment before slamming the door shut and locking it. 

“Harry! What is..” Hermione began from her spot on the bench next to Ron. The two had finally settled down and stopped arguing as Harry had his head outside the door. 

“Quiet!” Harry hissed as the creature outside came closer. His whole body tensed as he watched a black shadow cover the little window on the compartment door hoping to himself that it would continue past them all. He felt a tight squeeze on his right hand where he noticed he was still holding onto Nott's hand from when he dragged the other boy into the compartment.

Harry flushed as he realized that not only was he still holding the other boy's hand but he had practically trapped him against the far wall of the compartment in his rush to get the two of them as far away from the door and the creature as he could have. 

The door began to rattle, shaking Harry out of his thoughts. The creature lurked in the hallway as it pushed against the compartment door harder in its attempt to get in until finally the flimsy door practically folded under the pressure. Harry subconsciously leaned further back into Nott's chest as the four of them watched the creature glide into the compartment coming closer to Harry and Nott mostly ignoring the other two who were huddled as far into the wall as they could get. 

The thing let out a slow rattling breath of freezing cold air that seemed to encompass the whole compartment before settling itself deep within their chests. Harry felt more than heard Nott gasp from behind him as the cold seeping into their bones intensified. He wasn’t sure where the sound was coming from but he could hear what sounded like a girl screaming in the distance. As the creature continued to get closer the screams grew in volume until it was the only thing that Harry was able to hear and quickly began to overwhelm him.

“No… No please…”

Harry fought with himself as he began to lose consciousness knowing that he was the only thing that stood in between that thing and Nott. The terrified screaming was still echoing through his head as he leaned further back into the taller boy that was trapped behind him and his eyes began to roll back into his head. However before he passed out he felt a spark of warmth in his chest as Nott wrapped his left arm around Harry's waist pulling the shorter boy closer to him in an attempt to keep him standing causing Harry to flush despite the seemingly impenetrable cold that surrounded them. 

The longer that Nott held onto him the more stable Harry became as the thought of his body so close to the taller boys began to overpower the horrible screaming that he was hearing in his head. The creature paused in its advances before taking another deep rattling breath and slowly turning away from Harry and Nott and instead focusing on Ron and Hermione who began to whimper as the cold settled upon them in full force. 

A blue light exploded in front of the creature which let out an ear piercing shriek. Harry instinctively turned away from the thing and unintentionally tucked his head into Nott’s chest using his free hand to cover his ears to the best of his ability. He felt as Nott bowed his head attempting to drown out the sound using Harry as a barrier between them. He couldn't find it in himself to care about being a human shield as long as the taller boy kept his arm wrapped around Harry's waist like he had it.

“Sirius Black is not here. Leave. Now.” Standing in the doorway with his wand out was an older man in a shabby tweed jacket with light brown hair that was only just starting to grey out. Harry had never seen an adult on the train before, but he was very happy to have one who could actually deal with the situation at hand. The four teens were frozen as the older man turned his attention on them one-by-one, pausing on Harry before taking in the arm that Nott still had wrapped around his waist and the hand he was still holding. 

“Here Harry. This will help.” The unexpected use of his name almost made Harry drop the 2 chocolate bars that the man was putting into his hand as he glanced back and forth between Nott’s arm and Harry's face. The question there was clear to Harry who didn't care to think about what he could say as Nott quickly pulled his arm away before taking one of the bars out of Harry's hand. Not wanting to make the taller boy uncomfortable despite how much he didn't want to move, Harry found himself taking a couple of measured steps away from Nott who no longer was being pressed against the compartment window. “Everyone, okay?” 

He checked over his friends as they started nibbling on the chocolate that was given to them, relaxing slightly knowing that they weren't affected too badly by that creature. Harry avoided turning his head to the side to check on Nott knowing that his face would burn brightly if they made eye contact, especially since the other boy had yet to look away from him. He turned to ask the man about the creature when he saw that he was already hastily making his way out of their compartment making a comment about checking on the surrounding students before the newly fixed door slammed shut making the four teens jump. 

“Potter.” Harry couldn't help the slight shiver that overcame him at the sound of Nott's voice. It wasn't the first time he had heard the other boy speak, but it felt different when that voice was directed at him. He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand gently touch his wrist pulling his attention to Nott who was still watching Harry intently. “I owe you a life debt. Thank you.”

Before anyone could say anything else Nott let go of Harry and slipped out of the door disappearing into the hallway that was beginning to fill up as people tried to check on their friends around the train.

The three sat in silence as they thought over everything that had just happened. Ron was still watching the compartment door where Nott had slipped out when he finally spoke up.  “Mate…. are we going to talk about… that?” No one said anything else right away as the question could have been talking about anything, but Harry knew that Ron meant whatever happened with Nott before he left. He knew that his friends had a tendency to be oblivious, but that even that small interaction with the Slytherin was abnormal enough to bring their attention to it despite the situation.

“What's a life debt?” Harry asked in lieu of answering Ron. He wasn't sure what he would say to his friends since he didn't really know what exactly happened himself. His mind was already wandering as he thought about going to the library as soon as possible to research everything he could about life debts hoping to find a reason to see Nott once again. From there he would just have to figure out the best way to keep himself in Nott’s life even just a little bit.

Chapter Text

Harry trailed behind his friends as they made their way to the carriages that would take them up to the school. As they made their way to an empty one they happened to pass by the one that Malfoy and his friends were already occupying. “Are the rumours true Potter? You actually fainted ?” 

The blond boy was hanging out of his carriage as he yelled for Harry's attention which unfortunately made everyone else look between the two of them. If it wasn't for Crabbe and Goyle holding onto the back of his legs Malfoy would have tipped out of the window in his excitement. “Shove off, Malfoy.”

As the three Gryffindors tried to ignore Malfoys continued jeers, Harry accidently made eye contact with Theodore Nott who was about to get into a carriage in front of them. The taller boy tilted his head with the question of validity of Malfoys statement which made Harry feel like butterflies were swimming through his stomach at the thought of Nott caring if he fainted. He discretely shook his head not wanting either of his friends to catch the small interaction that the two boys had shared. He watched for a moment longer until Nott was inside and the door to the carriage closed behind him.

The three of them made it into their own carriage right before they started their trek to the entrance of the school. Harry didn't think he would ever get over the view as they got closer to Hogwarts; it always made him wonderfully happy to be back at the only place that has felt like home. The peaceful silence was broken as Ron, who was still practically vibrating in anger over Malfoy’s comments, began to rant about how horrible all the Slytherins were. The other two rolled their eyes, but were planning to let him rant until he ran out of energy at least until Ron decided to bring more than just Malfoy and his goons into it.

“Honestly that git Nott should have been defending you from Malfoy there.” It appeared that Harry and Nott’s interaction outside the carriages wasn’t as subtle as he had thought it was based on Ron’s accusatory glances.  

Hermione rolled her eyes again as Harry scoffed at the idea of Nott needing to defend him from Malfoy.  As much as he would love to be defended he knew that any Slytherin defending a Gryffindor, especially Harry Potter, was practically a death sentence in their house. He honestly would rather Nott just keep his head down like he always has, which would make his goal of inserting himself into the taller boy's life way easier if Malfoy wasn’t constantly watching him. “Why would he do that Ronald? It would probably make Malfoy come after him and his friends as well.” 

“Who cares! He knows what really happened and if it wasn't for Harry then he would have been a goner so really he owes us.” 

“He told me he owes me a life debt, it seems like he already believes he owes me.” Harry was sure that Ron wasn’t actually that upset about Nott not defending him from Malfoy, but was rather jealous of whatever a life debt meant since when he asked about it back on the train all red-haired boy did was mutter about it being pureblood nonsense and changed the subject. They have always known that Ron had jealousy issues that stemmed from having 5 older brothers, so it wouldn’t be the first time that Ron spoke without thinking when he was angry. 

“Oh Harry, at least ask one of the professors or something about what a life debt entails before you say anything to Nott again.” Hermione had never come across the idea of a life debt through all her readings, but was worried that it was something magical that they wouldn’t be able to come back from if a decision was made hastily. Originally she tried to persuade Harry to just ignore the whole thing but Harry brought up the concern that it was something that could have dire consequences if left unattended. He insisted that he wanted to do his own research about it since Nott gave it to him and not all three of them. “Not that I think it's anything bad, but you should be sure.” 

Ron’s anger seemed to grow the longer that the two other occupants of the carriage talked about the life debt which only solidified the issue stemming from jealousy in Harry’s mind. “Life debt or not, maybe you should've just left Nott in the hallway. Would've had one less slimy snake to worry about then.”

“Merlin Ron! What is wrong with you?” Harry was trying really hard to not get upset, but the thought of something bad happening to Nott because he didn’t pull the taller boy into their compartment left a deep encompassing ache inside of his chest. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle it if something did end up happening to Nott. 

“That is not something to joke about, you prat. Who knows what would have happened to him if Harry didn't grab him.”

“I'm just saying it would have made classes way more bearable with a Slytherin gone.”

“Yeah because Nott is sooooo hard to be around when he barely talks and never bothers anyone.” Harry snapped, getting truly angry on Nott’s behalf. The way that Ron was so easily talking about being okay if one of their classmates died on the way to school was extremely unsettling and he wasn't sure how to even look at the other boy. Harry felt the tightness in his chest ease up slightly at the disgusted look that was on Hermione's face feeling better that at least one of his friends had a conscience. “Makes perfect sense.”

“What's up yours Harry? Defending a snake now?” 

“Maybe I'm just not as much of an asshole as you are Ron. I cannot believe you just wished I would have left Nott for dead.”

“I was just joking, mate! Not like it's a big deal anyway, Nott's perfectly fine and still walking around right?”

Harry scoffed not even waiting for the carriages to come to a complete stop before he was throwing the door open and storming across the courtyard and up the steps being the first student to make it through the doors. He was so mad that he didn't even register the way that his hair was turning a much more vibrant red in his anger nor did he notice the vaguely worried pair of stormy blue eyes that followed him until he disappeared around the corner. 

He just barely managed to miss running into Professor Mcgonagall as he rounded the corner slumping as he let himself slow his steps from an angry run to a walk. “Mr. Potter, just the person I wanted to see. Where are your friends?”

“Somewhere back there Professor I was more interested in making it to the Great Hall than they were.” Harry knew that his face was still flushed in anger, but he could only hope that Mcgonagall would believe that it was from how quickly he was walking. She was obviously unconvinced with his answer as her eyes glanced around his face and what seemed to be his head. Harry suddenly remembered what Sirius told him about metamorphmagus’ and their reactions to strong emotions. He forced himself to calm down and for his hair to go back to the auburn colour instead of whatever it had changed into suddenly wishing he had longer hair so he could see it. Professor Mcgonagall couldn’t hide her shock at the shift in colour, but decided to wait until Harry was calmer and somewhere more private to bring up the newfound abilities.

“Well I just wanted to check up on you since Professor Lupin let us know that the Dementors seemed to be more interested in you than the other students.” It took a moment for it to register that the adult man that sent the creature, a dementor, away was most likely the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. The man's quick save at least spoke of a certain level of competency in the subject that the last two professors were missing which was one plus side to this whole thing.

“Oh yeah… it was scary, but it didn't get too close or anything. Plus Professor… Lupin gave us some chocolate which helped a lot.” Harry was worried that Lupin might have mentioned the fact that he was practically wrapped up in Nott’s arms when the man saved them. He didn’t want to have to get back to Snape who would surely use it against Harry and even Nott if the man thought that Nott was friends with Harry. “Er.. did he happen to mention anything else?”

“No, nothing other than a dementor broke into your compartment. Was there something else that happened?” He let out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding, only coming back to where the two were standing in the middle of the hall as he heard other students finally make their way into the castle. If he wanted to avoid seeing Ron then he would need to get a move on and squeeze himself between some random Gryffindors at the table.

“No Professor nothing.” Harry dashed around Mcgonagall before she could say anything else as he saw Neville Longbottom turn the corner towards them. He quickly fell into step with the boy using him as a shield to keep away from Ron whom he really didn't want to deal with until they both calmed down. 

Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table in between Neville and an older student as Dean and Seamus sat down across from them. The four boys quickly fell into an easy conversation about their summers and Harry resolutely ignored the questioning glances that people started sending his way as Ron sat at the other end of the table looking upset. Harry watched out of the corner of his eye when Nott safely sat down in his usual seat at the Slytherin table next to Blaise Zabini and with Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis sitting across from them. 

As the sorting began with Professor Sinistra escorting the first years into the Great Hall he took note of how both Mcgonagall and Hermione were missing, but Harry decided to wait to talk with Hermione himself because there was no way he was going to talk to Ron about it. He split his attention between watching the Slytherins in his year as they politely clapped for each student when sorted and clapping enthusiastically himself for every sorting. It was a tradition that he and Hermione usually did once they realized that people generally only clapped for the kids sorted into their own house and some people would even boo when they were sorted into another house, but specifically Slytherin. He was shocked to hear that little Colin Creevy had a younger brother Dennis Creevy who was sorted into Gryffindor, he couldn't help himself as he hoped that Dennis wouldn’t take after his brother in being his personal stalker for most of his first year. However when he sent the brothers a thumbs up he resigned himself to the tag-along he was bound to gain as Dennis almost fainted as he tried to wave back. He found himself subconsciously clapping harder for Josh Davis and Astoria Greengrass as they were sorted into Slytherin. Not only did he recognize them as the younger siblings of Nott’s friends, but the two of them looked more nervous than any of the other students. 

Dinner passed by quickly as Harry enjoyed hanging out with his other dorm mates which wasn’t something that he did much in the past, but he found himself enjoying being able to branch out. Over the past two years Harry was still worried about his ability to make friends after years of never having a single friend. Thankfully his dorm mates were used to his awkward tendencies and preference for listening rather than talking over someone. As the 5th year prefects led the group through the halls to Gryffindor tower he and Neville were discussing the new plants that Neville had planted in his greenhouses over the summer holiday. Despite not being the best at the theoretical lessons they go over in Herbology he was always near the top of the class when it came to practical application after years of being forced to tend to Aunt Petunia’s garden or having to deal with the consequences. 

After learning the password to get back into the common room Harry said his goodbyes to Neville and made his way to the library wanting to research life debts as quickly as possible so he will have an excuse to seek Nott out sooner. The library is completely empty except for Madam Pince who looked surprised when he walked through the door, but allowed him to examine the shelves at his own pace. He half regretted not joining Hermione in the library more often as he was having trouble finding the section of books that would hold the information he was looking for; after another twenty minutes of searching he decided if he wanted to learn anything tonight he would need to ask for some help. 

“Excuse me.” Madam Pince turned her attention to Harry still wearing her signature glower that always made the boy nervous as it reminded him of the looks he would get from his Aunt when he did something to displease her. “I am sorry to bother, but I am having trouble finding information on life debts?”

Without saying a word to the boy she shot her wand out and summoned three books that landed softly in front of Harry before turning back to her work. He muttered his thanks and found the closest table to get himself situated then began to devour everything he could find in the books which was thankfully very informative. 

“A life debt is a magical bond formed between a wixen and the person whose life they saved. The one who owes the debt would one day be obligated to repay the deed by doing something beneficial to their savior. This does not mean it has to be a repayment of equal value to a saved life, but it can be anything of the savior’s choosing that does not negate the life originally saved.”

Harry returned the books back to Madam Pince and rushed back to the Gryffindor common room in order to make it back before curfew with thoughts of what to ask Nott for as repayment. He had to be careful with what he asked since he wanted to be able to hang out with Nott without taking the boy's choice away. He needed something that would be the starting point to a friendship that they could continue after the debt was paid. Harry felt himself drift to sleep with thoughts of Theodore Nott at the forefront of his mind.

—

Harry was the first to wake up in the morning just before the start of breakfast and he didn't even have to waste time trying to wake Ron up like usual since they were not talking, so he quietly got ready and made his way down to the common room with a book on Runes he had stolen from the library at Grimmauld Place. It was another hour or so until people began to trail down the dormitory stairs and out of the common room to head to breakfast. Hermione paused halfway down the stairs as she caught sight of him on the couch reading, the surprise on her face was palpable. 

“Hey Harry.” Hermione waited at the edge of the couch as Harry picked himself up and put his book into his satchel. “Where’s Ron?”

“Still sleeping. I didn’t bother waking him up.” She looked as if she wanted to say something about that, but whatever look was on his face seemed to convince her it was a losing battle. The two linked arms as they began walking towards the Great Hall. “What happened with Professor Mcgonagall during the feast last night?” 

“Oh.. nothing, just stuff about my schedule this year.” Hermione diverted the conversation to ask which subjects Harry had decided to take. “I noticed you were reading about different runic languages earlier.”

“Oh yeah I dropped Divination and picked up Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. I looked into them while I was in Diagon Alley and they truly seem much more useful.” The two spent the walk down to the Great Hall discussing Harry's book and how it may relate to what they will be learning in class. He was very happy to know that he would at least have Hermione with him in Runes.  

As they passed by a group of third year Slytherins standing just inside the doorway Malfoy made eye contact and made a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit which was followed by a roar of laughter from the group. “Ignore him.” Hermione muttered from right behind Harry pushing him forward away from the group. “It’s not worth it..”

“Hey! Hey Potter!” came the shrieking voice of Pansy Parkison from right next to Malfoy, practically hanging off the blond boy's shoulder. Harry could just barely see Nott sitting at the Slytherin table from behind the group of Slytherins, but that didn't hide the grimace that came across his face as Parkinson continued yelling. “Potter! Watch out! I think I see a Dementor! Woooooo !”

Once at Gryffindor table Harry practically threw himself into the seat in between the twins in order to keep himself from starting something with Malfoy and Parkinson. The twins were practically his older brothers and they always knew how to distract him from the stupidity of peoples reactions towards him. They were also willing to put a stop to the other kids with their pranks if it came to it.

Fred wrapped his arm around the younger boy who eagerly slumped into his side, despite Sirius being in his life Harry was still extremely touch starved and gladly took any attention from his friends and family that he could get. George filled a plate and pushed it in front of him with an encouraging nudge to start eating. “What's up with you Harry?”

“Malfoy.” Harry grumbled into Fred's side muffling his voice almost entirely. George glanced over to the Slytherin table where Malfoy was still reenacting Harry's supposed fainting to anyone who would listen. Thankfully less people seemed as interested as before. He carefully pulled out his morning potion that he needed to take with breakfast before he started pushing through at least a quarter of his very full plate.

“That greasy git.” Fred glared at the younger students which had a few of them glancing around nervously as everyone knew that being on the Weasley Twins' bad side was a sure way to getting pranked.

“He wasn't so cocky when he stumbled into our compartment looking like he might piss himself at any moment was he Freddie?” 

“Quite right Georgie, thought he might faint himself.”

“It's not like I did faint.” Harry exclaimed, annoyed that he was being made fun of for something he didn't even do. “I don't even know where they got that idea from.” 

Hermione and Neville took the seats across from the trio leaving a space next to Hermione for Ron to sit in once the boy managed to wake up. Harry shoved his still mostly full plate away from him, not feeling hungry the longer he could hear Malfoy mocking him from across the great hall. He laid his head against the table top listening as Hermione and Neville discussed their respective summers which Harry used to drown out the other students around him. Fred and George glanced between Harry and the food that he left untouched before discreetly slipping an apple into the boy's bag, they started slipping him food after seeing the window bars and cat flap that was on his room at Privet Drive. 

It took another twenty minutes before the rest of Harry's dormmates joined them. “I hate starting classes at the end of the week. Why not just let us wait until Monday to start instead of starting on a Thursday.” Seamus grumbled as the remaining Gryffindor boys took their seats at the table and began stuffing their faces with whatever food was most accessible. Hermione tried getting Harry and Ron to talk to each other, but both boys refused to even acknowledge the other. 

As breakfast began winding down and most if not all of the students were at their tables the Heads of Houses ascended to hand out their charges schedules. Each Professor had their own methods: Mcgonagall passes out each paper individually, Snape makes the students come to him before they exit the Great Hall, Flitwick passes the schedules out using a spell to correctly send the schedules on their way, and Sprout leaves them in the common room for the Hufflepuffs to get before even coming to breakfast then she spends the rest of the time answering questions or concerns that anyone might have.

“Potter. Here you go.” Harry did appreciate being sought out and handed his schedule, but he had to admit it was entirely inefficient and made it much harder for Professor Mcgonagall to spend one on one time with any students that might need it. However, as he thought about it, that might have been why Hermione was pulled away during the sorting ceremony to ensure they had time to talk.

Shaking away those thoughts and looking at his schedule he was excited to see that he was starting his day with Arithmancy and that he had Care after lunch. He originally was thinking about dropping Care after Mcgonagall had recommended he not overload himself with 10 courses, but once Sirius told him how much his father loved Care he wanted to take the class to try to understand James more. He was happy that he was coincidentally taking all his parents' favorite subjects, James and Care; Lily and Runes; and Sirius and Arithmancy. 

Fred and George slipped off to their own group of friends as all the Gryffindor third years put their schedules together to see what classes everyone would have together except for Hermione who was oddly quiet with what classes she was taking. Arithmancy appeared to be an unpopular class for the Gryffindors since only himself, Dean, and Anna Briggs were taking it. 

The three of them waved goodbye to the rest of the Gryffindors who were almost all heading to Divination and started the walk to the Arithmancy room which already had a few people in blue robes sitting at a desk. Harry took a seat in the middle of the room behind the Ravenclaw boy he recognized as Anthony Goldstein while Dean and Anna sat to his left side. He kept his eye on the door as he chatted with Anthony and the other Ravenclaw boys, Terry and Michael, about their expectations for the class and Professor Vector whom Harry had never personally met. 

Theodore Nott walked into the classroom not long afterwards and Harry was convinced that everyone fell silent around him, the taller boy didn’t bother looking around as he and Zabini found their seats on the other side of the room with the few Hufflepuffs that were already here. He was so distracted by Nott that he didn’t even notice nor care that Malfoy walked in the room until the blond boy noticed him sitting there. “Oh Potter, didn’t you hear? Arithmancy is for smart people.”

“Oh? Then what are you doing here Malfoy? I didn’t think the only class you got better marks than me in being taught by your godfather meant you were smart?” Malfoy went bright red as some of the students laughed behind his back. The shorter boy ignored Malfoys retorts as he tried looking over to see Nott’s reaction without making it too obvious he smiled to himself as Zabini kept openly laughing at Malfoys defense of himself and Nott tried hiding his amused smile.

“Mr. Malfoy, are you ready to sit down and begin class or must we keep gossiping today?” Professor Vector was an older witch that held a similar no nonsense air to Professor Mcgonagall and had a similar scathing glare it would seem. Malfoy buckled quickly, muttering apologies while shooting a nasty glare Harry’s way as he found a seat right behind the other Slytherins, but before Professor Vector could get started the door was sliding open again and Hermione was walking in with her head held down.

“Sorry Professor I got stuck on one of the staircases.” She rushed to take the empty seat beside Harry, who was surprised to see her since he wasn't aware she was in this class, and pulled out her extensive amount of supplies which made him feel bad about his single notebook and muggle pen to take notes with.

“Now that we are all present and ready.” Professor Vector sent a heated look to both Malfoy and Hermione who looked equally sheepish. They spent the rest of class going over the basics and expectations of the course and Harry could totally understand why Sirius’ favorite course was Arithmancy since it was pretty much the basis for all of magic from spell casting to potion creating Arithmancy was essential. He found himself excited for their next class as Professor Vector promised they would get into the actual coursework on Tuesday. “We will have multiple projects throughout the year that you will be paired up for, but don’t get too excited. I will be assigning the pairs alphabetically.” As they began packing up people began looking around the room hoping to figure out who their partner was going to end up being, but Harry was focused on trying to catch up with Hermione who was all but sprinting out of the classroom. By the time he made it out the door after her she was already gone leaving nothing behind not even an echo of her footsteps. 

Harry waited for Dean and Anna outside of the classroom doors standing slightly in the shadows not wanting to see if Malfoy was still angry at him for embarrassing him at the beginning of class. He froze as he heard two people get closer to his spot recognizing the one talking as Zabini which meant Nott was probably with him. “Who do you think you'll be paired with? I know I'll be with Wolf.”

“Either Malfoy or Potter. So, only one good option.” The two went quiet where Harry assumed they were sharing some kind of look, but he felt as if he was about to stop breathing as he waited to hear whatever they were going to say. He was pretty sure that neither Nott nor Zabini liked Malfoy much, but he also knew that being Harry Potter meant he wasn't very popular within the Slytherin house.

“Potter?” Harry jumped as he came face to face with Anthony Goldstein who was looking at him amused. “You okay?” 

“Oh yeah… just waiting y’know… for Dean and Anna.” Harry stuttered out feeling himself turn bright red as the two Slytherins walked past them. 

“Well I think you missed them, but we both have transfiguration right? We can walk together.” The two made their way to class discussing everything that Professor Vector talked about and how excited they both were to get into arithmetic charts. Harry admitted that he found the idea of spell creation to be absolutely fascinating and hoped that he would be able to make his own spell by the time they have O.W.L.S in a few years time. The two split up to sit with their house once they made it to class, Harry took the empty spot next to Hermione who was already set up and ready to go and Neville who was shaking in his seat. 

Professor Mcgonagall walked into the class before he was able to ask if the other boy was alright, she walked to her desk and turned into a cat with spectacle patterns around her eyes. Harry gasped and so did a few other students, but the majority of the kids sat in a despondent silence not even reacting to the exceptional show of magic before them. “Really! What has gotten into you all today?” Mcgonagall stared them all down after turning back into herself with a soft pop sound. “My transformation has always gotten a reaction from my students.” 

Over half the class turned to look between Ron and Harry which made the darker haired boy shift in his seat uncomfortably. He tried getting a look at Ron’s face, but the boy was admittedly looking away from him with an almost guilty look. Hermione looked between the two boys with a knowing look then raised her hand for Mcgonagall. “Professor, we have just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and..” 

“Ah, of course,” Professor Mcgonagall interrupted the girl, looking far more tired than she did before. “Tell me, which of you is going to die this year?” The whole class stayed silent which made Harry even more nervous since the looks haven’t stopped. “Come now it's okay.”

“Er…. Professor Trelawney said that…. That my best mate was going to die.” Ron muttered glancing at Harry out of the corner of his eye before facing Professor Mcgonagall again. 

“A horrible gruesome death.”

“...Thank you Mr. Longbottom. You should know; Weasley, Potter, that Sybil Trelawney predicts the death of at least one student every year for shock value.” Everyone that had Divination that morning appeared to be on the edge of their seat. “You'll be pleased to know that none of them have met an early demise.”

“You both look in excellent health to me so I apologize but unless you die you've still got to hand in your homework, alright?” Professor Mcgonagalls unworried attitude seemed to calm the majority of the class down with a handful of people, including Hermione, laughing at her joke. Harry was slightly worried about this death prediction, but he convinced himself to just do a tarot reading later and hope for the best. (Jury was still out on whether he had actual talent, but he thought it might make him feel better anyway.)

A few of his classmates whispered amongst themselves about whatever other predictions were made in class today wondering if any of them would end up coming true and what that would mean for Harry. He did his best to ignore them and focus on Mcgonagall as she restarted her lesson on Animagus’. Despite learning about it from Sirius over the past two weeks Harry found himself taking detailed notes wanting to learn everything he could about the subject. 

-

Harry followed behind the group of Gryffindors as they all made their way to lunch hoping that they would all become too distracted in their conversations to notice that he was lagging behind. 

Once he was far enough away from the group he allowed himself to slip away and rushed down the stairs hoping to catch Nott in the library alone. He had noticed throughout the past two years that Nott had a tendency to skip meals, but it wasn't until part way through second year that he found out the boy tended to spend mealtimes in the library whenever he could. He wasn’t sure if he would find the taller boy there since it was only the first day of classes, but he knew that Nott was a bit of a swot who liked to stay on top of his course work, so there was a chance.

He wandered through the empty library going further into it than he had ever been in search of the other boy and was just about to give up before he glanced down an aisle seeing a table that he didn’t know was there before. Nott was surrounded by multiple open charms books and he was vigorously writing something. Harry steeled himself promising that he would talk to Nott quickly then head back to the Great Hall to make sure his friends weren’t going to worry too much about him disappearing.

“Hey.” If it wasn’t for the way that Nott slowed his writing Harry wouldn’t have been sure that he was heard by the other boy. Since he didn’t receive an immediate dismissal he walked a little bit closer so he was standing near the empty chair across from Nott. “I’m sorry to bother you.”

Nott didn’t say a word as he appraised the darker-haired boy making him shift uncomfortably. After what felt like hours, but was most likely only a couple of seconds Nott tilted his head towards the empty chair allowing Harry to slide into it. Harry waited to see if the other boy was going to break the silence but he instead turned back to the Charms essay he was writing, barely sparing him a glance. Harry pulled out his book on runes while he waited for Nott to be done with his essay not wanting to risk interrupting the boy again and getting kicked out. Time passed as a blur as Harry got lost in the book finding the different types of runic languages to be extremely interesting. 

“Did you come here just to sit with me, Potter?” Nott eventually pushed the now finished essay away from him and looked at Harry for the first time since he sat down. He nearly jumped at the sudden question, almost forgetting that he was here to talk to Nott in the first place.

“No, I just didn’t want to interrupt you.” Harry would never admit it to him, but if he thought Nott would let him, he would come to the library just to be in the other boy's presence as much as possible. “I actually wanted to talk about the life debt you mentioned.”

Nott looked interested and once again seemed to study Harry as if he was trying to see directly into his soul. They sat in silence again but this time Harry took the time to study Notts face up close; he no longer had such a rabbity look about him instead he seemed to be growing into the stereotypical pureblood appearance that screamed aristocracy. His longer face was now accompanied by a stronger, more defined jaw which made him seem older than 13 years old. His eyes which were a deep blue colour still appeared to hold thunderstorms even while he took on a softer more apprehensive look before hiding it behind a mask.

“I will admit I am surprised you want to claim it so soon. Most people would wait until it would be between life and death.” Nott spoke with such certainty that it made Harry want to nod along and agree to anything the boy would say which could become an issue quite quickly. 

“Well I did have to look up what a life debt was last night after the feast, but honestly I don't really want to hold that over your head.” A surprised glint flashed through Notts face as he once again silently studied Harry. He had known that Nott preferred to listen and observe more than speak, but he hadn’t realized how true that assessment was until now, sitting through the third span of silence.

“Why?”

“Why what? Why now or why don’t I want to hold it over you?”

“Anyone else I know would be happy to hold such a debt over me.” Harry knew that there were some fundamental differences between the environments in the four Hogwarts houses, but it was shocking to hear about how the other houses would treat certain situations.

“Then I really hope you aren't giving them out to others as easily as you gave it out to me.” He had tried to make it sound like a joke, but it ended up sounding too worried for that to have worked which made Nott send him another confused glance. “Really though. I didn’t do anything that anyone wouldn't have done.”

“That's not true. Not many people would have gotten in between a dementor and myself. In fact most people would have let me get my soul eaten if it meant it stayed away from them.” Harry tried not to let the confusion show on his face as he tried to comprehend the fact that a dementor apparently eats peoples souls? He should have spent time looking into dementors since they're going to be around all year, but perhaps Nott would be willing to tell him more about them later since he was obviously knowledgeable.

“Even if that's true that doesn't make it the right thing to do.” 

“What happened between you and Weasely?” The question was so unexpected that Harry was shocked into silence. The look that Nott was giving him made it seem as if he knew that this scenario was the exact reason both boys haven’t been talking. With the way it seemed like the taller boy was all knowing Harry wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he did know exactly what happened.

“Not that it's any of your business Nott, but we've just had an argument that's all.”

“Seemed like a big deal when you stormed away from the carriages last night as if you were about to hex someone.”

“Well….” Harry stammered not realizing that Nott had seen that happen. He had assumed that he made it through the entrance before anyone was getting out of the carriages since their carriage was closer to the front of the line. Nott raised his eyebrow clearly waiting for a better response than what Harry had managed to get out thus far. “Okay he said some things that pissed me off.” 

“Fine. What can I do to fulfil the debt?” Harry once again felt unbalanced as Nott switched the topic back without any warning. 

“Well you can always say no, but I know you're like really good at potions so maybe you'd be willing to tutor me just for a little bit.” Harry had already decided that this would be the debt he claimed since it was an easy unassuming way of spending more time with Nott without forcing him too much. He made sure to leave the details vague so that Nott would be able to end their sessions whenever he wanted to. 

“That’s all?” 

“Yes. I don’t know why I'm so pants at potions but I've been reading a bit over the summer and I feel like I've somehow missed a bunch of fundamental information, so I thought you might be willing to help me?” He lost confidence on this being a good idea as he continued speaking since Nott had once again began silently assessing him, but this time he had absolutely no clues on what the other boy was thinking. “But you can say no and I can think of something else.”

“No, that is your decision and I am obligated to complete it.” He watched as Nott tugged at his lower lip while deep in thought getting distracted by the subconscious movement. He jumped when Nott’s hand was thrown into his face making it obvious Harry must have missed what he just said. “Give me your timetable.”

Nott took a few seconds to look over his schedule, muttering to himself when the two would have time to meet up before he got a far away look in his eyes and went completely still. Something about this silence was totally different from the previous one as it seemed that the taller teen was no longer present in his mind, as if he was elsewhere. If Harry wasn’t so focused on him he most likely wouldn’t have even noticed that anything was amiss. “Nott? You okay?”

“Nott?” There was still no movement from the boy as he stared at the schedule still gripped in his hands. Harry had no idea what he should do when he heard a quiet gasp as his mouth opened slightly. 

He waited with bated breath and Nott seemed to struggle to get the words out before finally muttering only two words. “....Malfoy…. Hippogriff….” There was another tense silence where Harry tried to comprehend what was happening until Nott suddenly shot up in his seat breathing hard while he seemed to come back from wherever he was.

“Nott what the hell was that, are you okay?”

The taller boy looked around the library making sure that they were still alone and Madam Pince wasn’t on her way to reprimand them for Harry getting too loud. He tried smoothing out the now crumpled timetable that he was holding, but became irritated when it just made it worse from his shaky hands “It was nothing Potter mind your business.”

“That was not nothing.”

“I just zoned out.”

“Well why were you muttering about Malfoy and Hippogriffs while you were ‘zoned out’.” Harry grumbled making it clear that he did not believe the flimsy excuse that Nott was giving him. 

“Wait, I spoke?” He froze in his seat avoiding eye contact with the darker- haired boy, his breath coming out quicker than before. He threw all of his belongings into his bag not caring that his essay was going to be destroyed at the rate everything was being shoved together. “I have to go.”

“No wait! Nott!” The taller boy was practically sprinting out of the library before Harry could finish his sentence. Once he rounded the corner Harry let his head slam onto the table berating himself for messing up all the progress he made with Nott just because he wouldn’t let something go. It was obvious that whatever happened was personal and he didn't want to talk about it with Harry, but he became so worried and he couldn't help pushing in an attempt to help.

Madam Pince appeared out of nowhere and reprimanded him for being too loud and rowdy while in the library, so Harry quickly put away his belongings and began the slow journey to the Great Hall where he was bound to be reprimanded at least by Hermione over missing the majority of lunch. He cursed as he realized he still needed to grab something to eat or else he wouldn’t be able to take his midday nutrient potion. Last time he had missed a potion Healer Balgruff found out somehow and had sent him a 20 minute long howler about the importance of taking care of himself which was something he didn't want to relive.

As he finally rounded the corner into the Great Hall he noticed that none of Nott’s friends were in their usual spot which he hoped only meant that they were with Nott helping calm the boy down. Hermione pulled him down onto the bench next to her and began shovelling food onto his plate while reprimanding him for disappearing and being so late. Thankfully she was quickly distracted by the twins who were suddenly loudly planning their next prank to take her attention off of him. Harry sent them a grateful smile once Hermione turned away to reprimand the older boys.

Chapter Text

Harry was very happy to be going outside since the storm had finally blown past leaving the sun shining pleasantly for them. He followed behind Ron and Hermione who seemed to be fighting about something that he had missed the start of, but he wasn’t too interested in putting himself in between the two of them. 

“Ronald. I didn’t do anything to Scabbers.” 

“Not you obviously. Just that menace you call a cat!” Harry sighed, finally understanding what this argument was about. Over the summer Hermione had gotten a cat from The Magical Menagerie and was excited to spend as much time with it as possible despite Ron’s initial concerns over what the cat, Crookshanks, would add to the group dynamic with him having a rat. During the short amount of time that Harry hadn’t been attached to the other two there must have been an issue already with Crookshanks going after Scabbers. 

“His name is Crookshanks and he didn’t do anything to your rat either.” Hermione huffed, beginning to walk faster away from the two boys, but Ron was not about to let her escape the conversation so he sped up after her. Harry hung back as the two came to a stop in front of him, getting more and more heated as time went on.

“ Fine!” The two yelled at each other in sync before turning back towards Harry with annoyed expressions on each of their faces. He sped up and joined the two making sure to stand between them in an attempt to stop them from arguing even if it made him feel awkward being so close to Ron mid fight. 

The three silently walked down the hills towards Hagrid’s hut which sat near the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They quickly caught sight of all the students from the other houses which unfortunately included Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. The three friends shared miserable glances with each other before going back to ignoring each other, too stubborn to talk through their arguments at the moment. 

Harry caught sight of Theodore Nott and his three friends on the other side of the clearing from Malfoy and his cronies, but Harry didn’t look in their direction for too long not wanting to make Nott uncomfortable after what happened between them in the library not even an hour ago. The three stood in between the two groups of slytherins with the other Gryffindors. Harry saw a couple of students he knew from the other houses including Michael Corner from Ravenclaw and Hannah Abbot from Hufflepuff.

Hagrid stood at the door of his hut in his usual moleskin overcoat with Fang impatiently waiting next to him. “C’mon now, gotta get a move on!” The rest of the class that was making their way down the hills began to rush as Hagrid gestured for them to follow him. “Got a real treat for yeh! Everyone followin? Good!”

For half a miserable second Harry thought that Hagrid was going to lead the class into the forest and based on the looks on a few other students' faces including Daphne Greengrass, one of Nott’s friends, they all were worried about the same thing. Thankfully, Hagrid just led them around the perimeter until they made it to an empty paddock.

“Everyone gather round the fence here!” He called out waiting for the class to squeeze together so everyone was nearly against the fence. “There we go – make sure yeh can see – now, firs’ thing yeh’ll want ter do is open yer books…..”

“How?” Malfoy called out furthest from the empty paddock standing a couple feet behind Harry and his friends. At Hagrids confused sound Malfoy held up his bound book to show that it was still trying to break free from the rope. “How are we supposed to open our books?”

Harry pulled out his own bound book, noticing the rest of the class doing the same. Everyone had the book forcibly kept shut in one way or another, Harry himself had it closed with a belt, Hermione had Spellotaped it shut, and even Nott had what looked like a tie wrapped around it to keep it shut. “Yeh’ve got to stroke em on the spines.” Hagrid grabbed hold of Susan Bones’ book who stood closest to the man, taking the belt off of it and stroking the spine quickly before the book could bite his fingers. The book shivered and went still falling open like it is nothing but a normal book instead of a man-eating book that it was before.

“Oh, how silly we’ve all been!” Malfoy glanced between his friends who stood at his side. “How didn’t we guess to stroke them. ”

Hagrid looked downcast as a handful of students laughed with Malfoy and most of the others looked as if they agreed with the Slytherin boy. Harry grimaced and sent a frightful glare towards Malfoy who glared right back, but he couldn’t help but agree with the boy at least a little bit. Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that now that Nott was able to get the book open he had eagerly begun to flip through the pages. There was no doubt in his mind that the taller boy would be reading the entirety of the book before the end of the weekend now.

“Righ’ then. Now that yeh’ve got yeh books let me get the creatures. Hang on…” Hagrid turned and bounded into the forest away from the class disappearing out of sight.

“Gods, this place is going to the dogs. That oaf teaching classes..” Malfoy shook his head with a disgusted expression on his face, making Pansy Parkinson let out a high pitched squeal that was meant to be a laugh. “Just wait until my father hears about this.”

Harry rolled his eyes to himself doing his best to just ignore the boy who seemed insistent on Harry hearing them and saying something about it. He probably was looking to get payback for what happened in Arithmancy, but the tight grip that Hermione had on his wrist kept him from reacting too much. He thought that the other boy might have said something about a Dementor, but his voice was easily overshadowed by the gasps and squeals the other students let out upon seeing the creatures that Hagrid was bringing into the paddock.

There were about a dozen of the creatures all on leashes as they followed at Hagrid’s heels. They were like nothing that Harry had ever seen before in his life; they had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses; but the front legs and heads of giant eagles with dangerous steel coloured beaks and brilliant orange eyes. Their front legs had giant talons that were extremely deadly looking and nearly half a foot long. The class jumped backwards as Hagrid brought them to the edge of the fence to tether them. 

“Hippogriffs!” Hagrid exclaimed happily as he weaved in between the creatures to get back in front of the class. Harry let out a near silent gasp thinking about what Nott had said “...Malfoy….Hippogriffs…” 

Harry was sure that Nott had somehow seen what was going to end up happening during this class from the way that he was resolutely refusing to even look in Malfoys direction which meant that Harry wasn’t able to catch his eye. 

“So,” Hagrid started clapping his hands together, making half the students jump further away from the paddock. “If yeh want to come a bit nearer…” No one seemed to want to, which made Hagrid start to lose the excitement that has been rolling off of him since he brought the Hippogriffs out for them to see. Harry shared a glance with Ron and Hermione before the three of them stepped up to the fence cautiously.

“Now, firs’ thing you should know abou’ Hippogriffs is this, theyre very proud.” Hagrid looked between the three Gryffindors standing before him not wanting to force the other students to get any closer. “Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don’t never insult one, cause it might be teh last thing yeh do.”

Harry could tell that Malfoy was not paying any attention to what Hagrid was saying, instead the three of them were talking in low voices making faces at the Hippogriffs and Hagrid instead. He was fairly sure that they were planning to make some kind of disruption during the lesson and Harry vowed to keep a close eye on Malfoy, so that hopefully whatever Nott saw wouldn’t come to be. 

“Yeh always wait for the Hippogriff ter make teh firs move. Gotta be polite. Yeh walk towards him, yeh bow, and yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh’re allowed ter touch him. If not then yeh get away quickly, those talons will hurt.”

Hagrid glanced between the students again, some grew brave enough to join Harry against the fence, but most of them watched from a distance. “Right – who wants ter go first?”

Most of the students stepped further away from the paddock again not wanting Hagrid to call upon them to go. Harry, Ron, and Hermione shuffled in their spots, none of them feeling too confident in their abilities to go up to the giant fearsome looking creatures that seemed to be glaring at them all. “No one?” Harry made the mistake of making eye contact with Hagrid who was sending the trio a pleading look. He grimaced feeling bad that the class wasn’t going the way that Hagrid had planned it.

“I’ll do it.” A hush fell over the group; they were surprised that anyone had volunteered to go. Harry heard a sharp intake of breath from the right of him and both Lavender and Parvati tried getting him to change his mind.

“Nooo, Harry! Remember the tea leaves!” He ignored the girls as he climbed over the paddock and went to stand next to Hagrid. 

He pulled Harry over to a Hippogriff named Buckbeak and instructed the boy to keep eye contact with the creature since they apparently don’t trust anyone who blinks too much and to bow low. He waited for a moment then looked up again when he didn’t hear any movement seeing that Buckbeak was still staring at Harry intensely. Hagrid tried ushering Harry away from the creature, obviously nervous that Buckbeak was going to deny him and attack at any moment. Thankfully, to Harry’s great surprise the Hippogriff bent down on one knee and bowed deeply at the boy. 

“That a boy!” Hagrid patted Harry on the back, nearly sending him face first into Buckbeak's face who thankfully didn’t look too upset at the near hit. “Yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on.” 

Harry slowly moved towards the hippogriff sending pleading glances back at Hermione who looked almost as fearful as he was feeling. He would much rather get back to the otherside of the fence instead of trying to pet a dangerous Hippogriff. He patted the creature's beak a couple of times while Buckbeak lazily closed his eyes enjoying the attention. 

The class around him let out a string of applause except for Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle who look like they would have much rather seen Harry get eaten. “Right then Harry! I reckon he might allow yeh ter ride em!” Harry couldn’t help the horrified expression that he knew settled on his face. If he knew this would be a part of him agreeing to approach the Hippogriff he would have just let Hagrid’s first class fail. Before Harry could say anything or make a run for the fence Hagrid had scooped him up by the back of his robe and tossed him onto Buckbeak's back. “Go on Buckbeak!” 

Giant twelve-foot wings flapped open on either side of Harry; he barely had enough time to grab hold of the feathers at the base of the Hippogriffs neck before it took off into the sky. He could hear the screams of his classmates as he was dragged further into the sky holding on helplessly while simultaneously trying to not hold onto Buckbeak's neck too tightly in case it angers the Hippogriff. 

Luckily the ride only lasted about 5 minutes before Buckbeak was making his way back around the paddock and heading towards the ground. He held on as tightly as the glossy feathers would allow as the thud flowed through his body as they hit the ground. Hagrid helped him down the Hippogriffs back asking who else wanted to get up close and personal to the creatures while Harry just tried to regain his senses. The rest of the class made their way over the fence and into the paddock grouping up and heading to an open Hippogriff. 

Instead of joining his friends Harry hung around Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle as they took over Buckbeak. The Hippogriff had bowed to Malfoy who despite patting his beak was looking disdainful at the close contact to the creature. “This is very easy.” Malfoy drawled coldly, purposefully loud enough for Harry to hear, but instead of saying anything he simply moved closer to the boys. He was now almost within arms reach which made the Slytherins give him a weird look. “I knew it must have been if Potter could do it. In Fact I bet you're not even dangerous at all, are you? You great ugly brute.”

Before Harry even knew what was happening he had thrown himself into Malfoy’s side effectively shoving him out of the way as an overwhelming sense of pain took over and Harry fought to keep himself from blacking out.

-

Theo should have known that Potter was going to do something rash with the way that he was keeping such a close eye on Draco without rising to any of the blond boys taunts, but he never would have expected to see Potter shove Draco out of the way and take the hit from the Hippogriff instead. The Hippogriff's claws caught Potter on the shoulder and ripped down the boy's left arm, practically tearing it from its socket since he was a couple inches shorter than Draco. The whole class jumped as a scream pierced the air. The scream didnt come from Potter however who was gritting his teeth from the pain while attempting to get the Hippogriff to calm down. Instead the scream came from Draco who was spared from the attack but now covered with Potter's blood.

Professor Hagrid rushed forward forcing the collar back onto the creature and dragging it away from the students doing the same with the other Hippogriffs who started to get antsy after the attack. “Ron, get 'em to the infirmary.” Weasley hesitated momentarily before grabbing Potter’s non-injured arm and all but dragging the other boy up the hill. Theo can’t tear his eyes away from the pool of blood from Potter’s arm feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt deep in his stomach. If only he had done something to stop Draco from being an idiot and getting himself hurt Potter never would have had to throw himself in the way. He had no care for Draco and was perfectly content to let him get hurt again especially if it meant he kept his secret, but Potter was never supposed to get hurt and now that he is it’s Theo’s fault. 

Theo jumped as a hand encircled his wrist and began pulling him towards the school. Tracey looked at him with concerned eyes as did his other friends. “It's not your fault.” The girl holding him muttered in his ear causing him to immediately shake his head, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was all his fault. 

“It’s not Theo. You had no idea that Potter would jump in the way, that’s not what happened in your vision.” They did their best to reassure him, but they also didn’t know the whole truth. They didn’t know that he spoke to Potter while having his vision. They just knew that he saw Draco getting injured, but he should have known that Potter would change everything and believe what he said had to have been important for some reason.

He pulled himself away from his friends insisting that he just needed a minute alone and would find them soon. They watched him become increasingly concerned with him, but knowing that pushing further would just make him cut them away. He rounded the corner and made his way to the infirmary hoping to be able to speak to Potter and apologize for him getting hurt. He slowed down in front of the doors to the infirmary as he heard Potter’s voice.

“I know youre saying you're sorry, but do you even understand why I'm upset?”

“No… not really.” It appeared that Weasley was using this time to apologize to Potter for whatever happened in the carriage, but it didn’t appear to be going too well. “I don’t get why you care about Nott so much?”

Theo jumped at the mention of his name. He had already assumed that the fight had involved him in some way, but hearing them talk about it now made it too real. “It’s not about Nott, Ronald!” Potter sounded exasperated and Theo assumed that he had already tried to explain this to Weasley in the past. “What you said was not okay. Dementors eat souls and you wished I would have left Nott to deal with it on his own.” 

It seemed that Theo was right when he said most others would have rather left him to die than do what Potter did for him. He knew subconsciously that it was the truth, but hearing how if it was Weasley instead of Potter who looked out that compartment he probably would be a soulless husk was surreal. “I know we don't get along with a lot of Slytherins but we have never had an issue with Nott and his friends outside of Hermione's rivalry with him in class. I’ll forgive you, but I don't want to hear anything like that again about Nott, okay?”

Theo allowed himself to zone out as the two boys chatted about what had happened during their time not talking, but it wasn’t long before the infirmary doors were being pushed open and Weasely was heading down the hall. Theo waited a moment before slipping through the doors trying to be as quiet as possible, but that idea was thrown out when he made eye contact with Potter as soon as he was through the doors. 

“Hi…” The other boy whispered as Theo paused at the end of his bed taking in the sling that was holding his arm in place and the amount of bandages that started at his wrist and wrapped all the way around his neck. The two just stared at each other for a moment before Potter gestured to the chair that was next to his bed.

“I’m sorry.” Theo stuttered out while gingerly taking the chair. He found himself feeling nervous that Potter was going to scream at him and demand he leave, but the boy just gave him a confused glance instead. 

“Why?” 

“It’s my fault you're here.” He couldn’t keep his eyes off of Potter’s injured arm, making the smaller boy huff in annoyance. He waved his uninjured arm in Theo’s face forcing his attention to his face.

“I am fine and it’s definitely not your fault.” Theo was shaking his head before Potter even finished talking, making him roll his eyes at Theo’s stubbornness. “Seriously if it's anyone’s fault it's mine for getting in between Malfoy and Buckbeak.”

“But you wouldn’t have been able to get in between them if it wasn’t for me.” Theo inhaled deeply terrified that he was going to share something that he had never shared with anyone outside of his closest friends with Harry Potter of all people, but he steeled himself and continued. “If it wasn't for me getting a v….”

“Nott!” Potter yelled out in the otherwise silent room stopping Theo in his tracks as he looked around them trying to figure out what made him act like that. “You don’t have to tell me what happened.” 

“What…?” 

“Whatever happened in the library.” Potter was staring at him and Theo didn’t feel like he was able to look away from his intensely green eyes. “You don’t have to tell me about it just because you feel bad, I only want to know about it if you want me to know.”

Theo gaped at Potter momentarily before his senses came back to him and he snapped his mouth closed fast enough that the sound of his teeth hitting each other echoed through the room. No matter how many times he talks to Potter the boy continuously confuses him because he is completely different from anyone else that Theo knows. The two sit in silence just staring at each other as Theo desperately tries to think of something to say. Nothing comes to mind as the silence gets progressively more awkward for him, but Potter looks mostly comfortable as he leans back into the bed trying not to wince as he moves his arm. 

“Tutoring tomorrow after Runes, okay?” Theo doesn’t even wait for Potter to answer as he rushes out of the infirmary and down the hall as quickly as possible, the silence in the infirmary was beginning to suffocate the boy who was not used to being looked at so intensely. He nearly slammed his head against the wall as he realized he didn’t even know if the other boy would be released by Madam Pomfrey by the end of tomorrow nor did he ask anything about how Potter was feeling. He sighed, accepting that he would just have to wait at his usual table in the library and see if Potter shows up while hoping he wasn’t too offended by Theo’s rudeness.

Checking the time Theo cursed in his head and began the journey to the History of Magic classroom which he knew he would end up being late for. Thankfully, Binns would have no idea if he was late or not so he just had to hope that one of his friends would be willing to fill him in on what he missed without asking too many questions.

Chapter Text

Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping Harry in the infirmary overnight in order to keep an eye on him as the nerves in his left arm had to be regrown. Harry woke up early Friday morning from the stiffness in his arm and an uncomfortable feeling underneath his skin. He couldn’t help the groan that left him as he attempted to sit up without putting any weight on his arm. Madame Pomfrey rushed out of her office to check on Harry. He forced himself to stay quiet and not complain as she unbandaged his arm and began testing his mobility. He couldn’t help his wince as she forced his arm straight which was not something his arm wanted to do. She poked and prodded him trying to determine if he was still feeling pain from the cuts or just from the regrowth of his nerves. “Okay Mr. Potter. Your arm is all healed and all nerves have successfully begun to regrow, however you will still feel pretty sore and stiff for the next couple of days to a week as they finish.”

“Thank you Madam Pomfrey. I appreciate your help.” 

“You’re welcome Mr. Potter. Hopefully this doesn’t become a habit this year.” She gently chided him over his penchant for getting hurt which he agreed and hoped to avoid this year. She helped him put his sling back on and settle back into the bed. “Now I would prefer to keep you until tomorrow just in case.”

“Please Madam Pomfrey, I don't want to miss the second day of classes! Especially since I have my first Ancient Runes class after lunch.” 

“Okay, Okay. How about we wait until lunch and I will reevaluate and see how you're looking.”

“Thank you thank you thank you!”

“Okay now calm down Mr. Potter and try to get some more rest.” She smiled fondly at the boy shaking her head at his antics. “I’ll bring you some breakfast soon honey.”

Harry watched as Madam Pomfrey walked back to her office. He knew that between the pain in his arm and the fact that Petunia had spent 11 long years conditioning him to never be able to stay asleep past 6 am without expecting severe consequences that he would not be going back to sleep anytime soon. Instead he brought out the cassette player and his transfiguration essay that Mcgonagall had assigned them the day before about the differences between a wixen’s animagus form and actual animals. At some point food was pushed in front of him by Madam Pomfrey making him take a quick break, but he wasted no time getting back into his essay wanting to get it done before he was supposed to meet with Nott during his free period after Runes.

He quickly lost himself in the books that Hermione was kind enough to bring him after dinner the previous night about animagus transformations. He pulled out an empty notebook and began taking notes on being an animagus and what the animal you transform into means. Despite the multiple books he had at his disposal he wasn’t able to find anything in them that talked about how to become an animagus other than the fact that you had to be registered with the ministry which Harry felt was more of a legal suggestion than an actual rule since Sirius wasn’t registered. His essay was long since done and also much longer than he had meant to make it  by the time madam Pomfrey was coming back to recheck his arm right before lunch. 

“Okay Mr. Potter, how are you feeling?” She dropped a couple of sandwiches in front of the boy as she took his arm out of the sling and unwound the bandages that were still wrapped around his left arm. He munched on the food trying to keep himself from wincing as she stretched his arm out and encouraged him to move his fingers until she was satisfied that everything was coming together properly.

“It still aches and hurts to move too much, but I promise I'm feeling a lot better.” Harry made his best pouty face as he begged madam pomfrey to release him from the hospital wing. He knew after two years of knowing her that Madam Ponfrey had a soft spot for him and would crack soon enough as long as he was no longer seriously injured. “I swear I'll come back if it gets worse. Please…”

“Okay you can go.” He began to cheer, but stopped once Madam Pomfrey put her hand up for his attention. “But you need to wear the sling, take it easy, and promise to come before breakfast and after dinner until I say otherwise.”

“Deal!” Madam Pomfrey found herself laughing at the young boy’s enthusiasm as he got all of his things together as quickly as he could with only one arm. She grabbed the essay from him and carefully put it in his bag so it wouldn’t get messed up and helped him slip the strap over his head and around the sling, so it wouldn’t get in the way. Once he was ready Harry was running out of the hospital wing as if he thought she would change her mind and keep him for another night barely taking the time to grab the note from her to give to all of his teachers for the next few days. “Thank you Madam Pomfrey!”

-

Harry choked down his potion and decided to skip lunch in the great hall instead heading towards the Gryffindor dormitories so that he could shower and change his clothes which were still the same ones from yesterday minus his shirt which had to be tossed. The common room was completely empty as he made it through the portrait of the Fat Lady after a quick conversation with her about his injury, apparently plenty of people were talking about it as they came and went throughout the day. Most of the Gryffindors in his year took his injury as Trelawney’s prediction as credible and were already discussing if that truly meant he was going to painfully die before the end of the school year.

Thankfully the common room was empty so he was able to head up to his dorm room where he carefully removed the sling and bandages before getting in the shower allowing himself to relax as much as possible underneath the warm water. The stinging feeling that reverberated through his left arm every time the water hit it meant he wasn’t able to hide out in the shower for too long as it started to get uncomfortable and instead spent the rest of lunch reading ahead for the last two classes of the day; Herbology and Runes. 

He hated Herbology because of the memories that it would bring up from Aunt Petunia forcing him to spend hours everyday tending to the lawn no matter the weather. It wasn’t bad most of the time since it usually kept Dudley and Uncle Vernon away from him, but being active on an empty stomach and not being allowed to have water until he was done made the whole thing harder than it had to be. Despite all of that he was one of the best at the class in his year since magical plants still tended to need the same care and attention that muggle plants needed which was something he could do in his sleep. He quickly grew bored reading about the Puffapods, deciding to instead focus on the introductory lesson for Ancient Runes. 

The walk to Herbology was quiet as he had left a little bit early to hopefully have time to give Sprout his note before most of his classmates made it. Once he made it to greenhouse three he saw that there were only a few students inside, so he was able to make it to Sprout quickly. “Professor Sprout.”

“Oh hello Mr. Potter. I am happy to see you out of the hospital wing so quickly.” Harry smiled at the older woman who has always been his favorite teacher despite her teaching his least favorite class. It was common for him to seek her out whenever he needed to just be in someone’s company without talking. He carefully pulled out the note from Madam Pomfrey trying to not jostle his arm too much in the process.

“Madam Pomfrey said to give this note to all my professors.” Professor Sprout took the note from him reassuring Harry that today's lesson would be purely theoretical and he wouldn’t have to use his arm at all. He thanked Sprout and quickly took a seat next to the only non-Hufflepuff already in the room which happened to be Neville. 

“Hey Harry, how are you feeling?” The other boy asked as Harry tried taking his bag off without bumping into any of the plants around them. He accidentally knocked over a puffapod in a vase, but luckily Neville was able to right it before it fell.

“Thanks Nev. I’m feeling okay, still can’t really use my left arm yet, but it's better.”  The two chatted amicably until Hermione and Ron joined the two at their table. It took Professor Sprout reminding them that they were currently in class for the two of them to finally let Harry go as they attempted to check him over themselves. The three of his friends fought over who was going to help Harry throughout the class, ignoring as Harry reminded them multiple times that he was perfectly capable of writing with his right hand. Unfortunately that just made them fight harder to be the ones to do everything else for him. 

By the end of class he was very happy that he would be heading to Runes where he would only have to deal with Hermione instead of all three of his suddenly overprotective friends. The two separated from most of the other Gryffindors and made their way to the 7th floor where the Runes classroom was located. Coming all the way from outside meant they were some of the last students to enter as the class was mainly filled with Ravenclaws and Slytherins who were already in seats waiting. They quickly found empty seats near the back of the class as Professor Babbling began to introduce herself and the class.

“Good Afternoon class. As you are all aware this is the Study of Ancient Runes where we will learn about the different types of runic languages and what they mean as well as the many other things that runes can do.” Professor Babbling was a tall spindly woman similar to his Aunt Petunia except she didn’t have the same long neck that she does. Babbling was graceful as she appeared to dance around the room as she spoke, taking great care to look at each and every student around the classroom as if she was already trying to memorise their faces without knowing their names. “Can anyone tell me an example of what runes can be used for as well as their name?”

The class sat in silence momentarily. Some students appeared to avoid eye contact with Babbling while others were unsure if they should answer or not. Hermione had her hand already waving in the air which took the pressure off of some of the other students, but Harry also had his hand in the air as well which made Hermione give him a sideways glance. 

“Go ahead Mr…..” Professor Babbling called on Harry, which he appreciated being able to give his name like a normal student. 

“Harry Potter.” Harry could see out of the corner of his eye as Nott whipped around in his seat to get a look at him. He tried not to blush as the taller boy looked him over hanging on the sling and the bandages that were visible underneath his school robes. The eyes of the other students snagged on him as they too took in his injury and attempted to reconcile them with the rumours that have been going around the school, but he did his best to ignore them. “Runes are commonly used in warding.”

“That is correct Mr. Potter. Thank you.” Babbling and most of the students moved onto the next student, however Harry could still feel the burn of Nott’s stormy blue eyes hitting him every couple of seconds as if he didn’t believe that he was really there. Nott had already seen his injuries so he didn’t understand why the other boy was being so weird about seeing him in class still obviously injured. Thankfully Nott’s attention was pulled off of him as Babbling began to pass out a pre-test that she wanted everyone to complete within twenty minutes to place them in pairs with similar knowledge levels. 

The test was absurdly simple. All they had to do was label the runic alphabet Elder Futhark and list their meanings, thankfully Elder Futhark was the Black’s preferred runic alphabet as a whole so he had spent plenty of nights reading and deciphering the alphabet. He sat silently as he waited for the other students to finish their tests, getting lost in his thoughts while Hermione scribbled away right next to him. “Okay class. Let’s see how you all did.” 

Professor Babbling waved her wand and all the tests were scored right in front of them in real time. Harry was astounded by the easy show of magic that was happening which was quickly forgotten about as his score was written on the top of the paper. 48/48. “Now, one of your classmates' names will be written on your paper and they will be your partner for the rest of the year as you guys will have the same or similar score on this quiz.” He watched his paper in anticipation hoping to see someone's name that he already knew and got along with. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Hermione got her partner's name, Daphne Greengrass, she let out a quiet grunt and began to look for where Greengrass was in the classroom. Harry became distracted from the girls’ reaction as his name began to appear, Theodore Nott.

He let out a sigh of relief once Nott’s name finished coming in glad to see someone that he already felt comfortable enough with. He could barely contain the excitement he felt at having another excuse to see him outside of class. He felt Nott’s eyes on him once again, but this time he allowed himself to look up and meet them head on which earned him a slow nod of acknowledgement. “Who did you get?” 

“Nott. You?” Hermione glanced over at Nott and Greengrass who were coincidentally sitting next to each other. 

“Daphne Greengrass.” Hermione looked back at Harry with a quizzical look. “Nott seems to be everywhere now, huh?”

“What do you mean?” She just shook her head not explaining what she meant as Professor Babbling began talking once again.

“Okay class go ahead and get together with your partners for the last bit of class today.” Students began to look around making eye contact with their partners hesitating before starting to get up and shift around the class. “You guys don’t have to sit with your partners during class, but you will have to work together on any projects and I would suggest studying together.”

“Potter.” Harry jumped at the sound of Nott’s voice next to him as he sat in the empty seat at the end of the row. Hermione also jumped as Greengrass pulled up a chair right in front of her nodding a greeting. 

“I wonder why we were paired up this way when we all got a perfect score.” Hermione questioned as she took in the perfect grades across all four of their tests. Whatever the reason that Babbling had Harry was happy with his assigned partner.

“I imagine Professor Babbling wants to promote house unity by pairing us outside of our house.” Greengrass answered thankfully not seeming upset at being paired with Hermione. Harry turned back to Nott who was still looking him up and down with a worried look.

“Nott? What’s wrong?” Hermione and Greengrass had turned away from the two boys and began their own conversation about what they were most excited to learn about in class while Harry took the time to study Nott. He was confused why the other boy was acting so differently from his usual stoic demeanor. 

“How are you feeling, Potter?” The boy asked instead of answering as he glanced between the completed test he had sitting in front of him and Harry’s sling directly to his right. Harry sighed understanding that Nott was once again blaming himself for his injury despite it being entirely Harry's decision to jump in between Malfoy and Buckbeak.

“It’s not your fault Nott.”

The taller boy jumped as he glared at Harry not having expected to be called out. “I didn’t say it was.” Harry rolled his eyes which earned himself another glare from Nott who huffed and turned away from him once again. 

“I’m okay, I promise. Madam Pomfrey thinks I will be completely healed in a few days.” He lifted his left arm up and showed Nott that he was able to move his arm without too much pain. Unfortunately it didn't calm down the taller boy like Harry had expected it to as that worried look never left his eyes. “Did you still want to meet in the library?”

Nott nodded as the bell rang signaling the end of class. Greengrass nodded to the two Gryffindors as she joined Nott at the end of their aisle. The two of them quickly slipped out of the classroom before the door was overflowed with the other students rushing to their next class. Harry watched them go until he could no longer see Nott's dirty blond hair over the crowd of students. He jumped as he turned back to Hermione who was intensely watching him with the same look in her eyes from earlier, but he had no idea what she could possibly be thinking. 

“How was Greengrass?” He found himself asking as they left the classroom attempting to distract her from whatever thoughts were going through her head. 

“She was okay. We mainly talked about the class.” She shrugged as she led them to her next class knowing that Harry had a free period and would be able to walk her to her class. “How about Nott? You guys seemed to be talking about more than just Runes.” 

Harry flushed as she sent him a pointed glance. “Nott's…cool…. We were just chatting, nothing particular.” 

“Really? Seemed like an intense chat.” 

“Mione, what are you trying to imply?” The auburn haired boy questioned as the two made it to Hermione's muggle studies class. He could just barely make out two of Nott's friends, Greengrass and Davis, sitting inside. He felt uneasy at the girl's prodding as if she was getting close to whatever answer she was looking for from him. For some reason he didn't want to let her in on anything involving Nott yet. It felt too new to even talk about among his friends, especially so close to his and Ron's argument.

“I'm not trying to imply anything.” She reached over and gave him a careful hug trying to not jostle his arm.  “Just you know if there's anything you want to tell me I'm here for you.” Harry wasn't given a chance to answer before Hermione turned and fled into the room leaving him behind to think about what she was trying to imply. 

He watched as she hesitantly took the open seat next to Greengrass and began an animated discussion with both Slytherins. Harry turned on his heel and practically ran down the stairs to get to the library as fast as he could. He knew the two of them never agreed on a specific time, but he didn't want to leave Nott waiting for too long. 

The hallways were practically empty as he flew down two flights of stairs just barely missing the trick steps. He rounded the final corner without slowing down which he quickly ended up regretting as he ran face first into someone who was also trying to head into the library thankfully the other person managed to right him before he could fall to the floor, but he did manage to slam into the other student with his left arm which was now shooting sharp pains through his whole left side. “I am so so sorry. I was not paying attention….” Looking up to see who he had managed to run into meant he was face to face with Theodore Nott which Harry thought was just his luck.

“Merlin Potter. Are you ever careful?” Nott snapped at him as he pulled Harry upright fully and carefully righted the sling that was no longer holding his arm close to his chest. He could tell the moment that Nott caught the flinch that Harry tried to hide while bringing his bag back onto his shoulders. The taller boy snatched the satchel off of his shoulder which relieved a lot of the pain that was sending shock waves through his arm. “How is your arm?”

“It's okay it was my fault anyway.” Harry shrugged with his one good shoulder not wanting to risk further inflaming his left arm by unnecessarily moving it. Nott rolled his eyes looking unconvinced, but began leading the two of them to his normal table with Harry’s bag slung over his shoulder. 

“Why were you running anyway?”

“I just…. Didn’t want to keep you waiting after I walked Hermione to her muggle studies class.” Harry flushed brightly as Nott sent him a particularly nasty glare and began walking to the table even faster forcing him to rush just to keep up with the taller boy. 

Nott set the satchel down on top of the table and pulled out the chair that Harry usually sits in allowing him to sit down before he swished his wand and the chair was being pushed in with Harry in it. The silent display of magic was impressive, but he couldn’t think about anything else other than the embarrassment that is coursing through his veins at not only running into Nott the way he did, but the other student being so kind to him as well. In order to avoid looking Nott in the eyes Harry kept his head tilted down and began to shuffle through his bag pulling out his potions textbook. He was so focused on avoiding confronting his embarrassment that he didn’t even notice as his hair slowly shifted away from its usual red colour into a fiery orange, but the shift wasn’t lost on Nott who had still not looked away from Harry. He kept his observation to himself since it was obvious the shorter boy wasn’t aware of his hair changing instead he called out to him. “Potter. Even if you did keep me waiting it would be okay. You know that right?”

“Yeah, of course I know that…” Harry in fact did not know that, but attempted to hide the surprise that he felt hearing Nott say that. He was still convinced that one small mistake would have the other boy ending their study agreement and refusing to talk to him again which is something that he didn’t think he would be able to handle.

Nott watched as Harry’s hair once again began to shift from the bright orange colour into a shockingly pale yellow colour as he tried to hide the obvious shock that flitted across his face. “Okay…” He took pity on the other boy who was once again attempting to hide his face from view and decided to get his own potions book out to focus on what they had originally come to do. “Have you had time to read through the lesson for potions tomorrow?”

“Umm no I haven’t read through it.” As Harry focused more on the subject change his hair began shifting back to the auburn colour he had favoured since it had changed the first time. They each turned to the first potion outlined in their book, the Shrinking Solution, which was a very interesting potion that they had to write a rather intense essay on over the summer. Despite the research he did to complete his homework he had never once looked into the actual brewing instructions of the potion and was now regretting that fact as Nott watched him curiously.

“Were you planning to?” 

“Not really no…” Harry felt himself flush again as Nott looked at him with a slightly disbelieving face before it was once again covered by his standard blank expression. He ran his hand through his hair barely catching out of the corner of his eye as his hair began to change to a bright orange colour. In an attempt to keep his hair from changing any further he shut his eyes and forced himself to imagine himself with the red black hair that he wears nowadays hoping that Nott was too distracted by the Shrinking Solution instead of him. When he opened his eyes once again his hair was thankfully its normal colour and Nott wasn’t looking at him weirdly which he took as a good sign. “I might have gotten around to it Monday morning.”

“Okay well for now on I want you to read ahead for Potions so that we can talk about it in depth before each class, okay?” Harry nodded his agreement willing to do whatever the other boy thought he needed to do in order to better himself at potions and make their study sessions easier. 

Nott spent the next thirty minutes talking Harry through the procedure, uses, and ingredient meanings of the Shrinking Solution. He had to ask Nott to go into more detail on a few things that he knew the other boy considered basic information which Harry couldn’t help but feel bad for needing to be explained to him, but he knew that he never had the chance to learn the basics since he grew up muggle and Snape was extremely unhelpful because of the grudge he held against him. Thankfully the taller boy didn’t judge him at all and instead took his time making sure that Harry was understanding everything he went over no matter how small or basic it seemed. 

“Okay Potter. I see that there is way more that we need to go over than I was expecting, but this was a good start.” Harry flushed red at Nott’s words, but he could tell the other boy didn’t mean anything by it, rather it was just a fact that he was stating. He had also spent most of the lesson keeping an eye on his hair which tried to change colour without his permission multiple times and was attempting to turn orange once again as Nott kept speaking without letting on if he noticed anything weird throughout their session. “I want you to claim a table close to mine. That way I can keep a closer eye on your actual brewing.” Harry agreed easily, happy to have Nott’s approval to sit close to the boy even if they won't be at the same table. 

They said goodbye to each other and went off on their separate ways to dinner. Harry made a pit stop on his way out of the library to pick up a couple of books about metamorphmagus’ hoping to find something to keep his hair from continuously changing when he didn’t want it to. He was thankful that so far it hadn’t started shifting colour in a public setting not wanting to deal with the attention that such a thing would bring to him. As he finally made it to the Great Hall and over to the section of the table where his friends sat he was already thinking of ways for him to know when his hair began to spontaneously change. Pushing his thoughts away he spent dinner enjoying his time with his friends now that the three of them were finally on speaking terms with each other again even if it was just for the moment given whatever was going on with Ron and Hermione.

-

Once Harry was the only one awake in his dorm he drew his bed curtains fully encasing him in darkness and summoned a small ball of light while he pulled his tarot cards out of their box. The thought of the prediction of his death was weighing heavy on his mind making it hard for him to fall asleep peacefully, so he decided to do a quick reading based on a technique he had read about to get an answer for a yes/no question.

He pulled out the notebook which contains the notes he took on the yes/no/neutral meaning for each of the cards to reference when he pulls. Next he laid out the cards in front of him attempting to have all the cards visible and easy to grab. When ready he took a deep breath to stabilize his thoughts making sure the only thought on his mind is the question he wants answered.

Is Professor Trelawney’s prediction of my death going to come true?

Harry traced his open palm over top of the cards spread out in front of him waiting for the palm of his hand to warm up. He was planning on only pulling one card and using that as the answer to his question, but he ended up feeling drawn to three different cards which he set out in front of him. 

Six of Swords

Two of Cups

Ten of Wands

He pulled his notebook closer to him and began searching for the three cards he pulled in anticipation for an answer. He wrote down his findings wanting to keep a log of his readings to be able to go back and reference it in the future. 

Six of Swords    NO

Two of cups      YES

Ten of Wands   THE ANSWER IS NOT YET KNOWN

The disappointment curled through his chest settling deep into his stomach at not having a definitive answer. Tears began welling up as he was overcome with the fear of yet another thing happening to him at school, first was Quierall trying to kill him, then the basilisk, and now there was another chance that something was going to try to kill him at the so called Safest Place in The World. He carefully put his cards away not wanting to ruin them in his breakdown, but he couldn't stop as the tears continued to flow down his face; the night inched by as he cried himself to the point of exhaustion and finally passed out cold a few hours before the sun began to rise.

Chapter Text

The weekend was spent catching up with both Ron and Hermione now that the three of them were once again on the same page. They spent most of their time split between the common room and sitting by the lake together. 

Harry glanced between Ron and Hermione as they were once again basking in the sun next to the Black Lake. Ron was skipping rocks across the lake surface and Hermione had her face stuck in a book despite their promises to forgo anything school related for the next couple of hours which started an argument between his friends on whether casual reading should or shouldn't be considered ‘school adjacent’. Harry mediated the fight by forcing them to compromise and agree that as long as it wasn't a book about anything school related then it would be okay which meant that she had to dig through her trunk for her copy of Sherlock Holmes. 

“Harry, come try!” Ron held out a handful of what he claimed to be good skipping rocks to the shorter boy. He looked between his friend and the rocks trying to figure out which one would be the best rock to pick since he had no idea how to skip rocks. 

“Can you show me how to do it?” Harry couldn't help the grin that began to grow on his face as he watched as the other boy's face lit up at the chance to teach him something. Ron was an amazing teacher when he was teaching something that he was confident in and rock skipping happened to be one of them. The two spent the next half an hour skipping rocks which Harry was beginning to pick up before the two began to get a little over competitive which resulted in an all out brawl next to the water's edge. 

They ignored Hermione's loud scoffs as she complained to herself about them roughhousing so close to her. “I will say I told you so when you both end up in the lake.” They both ignored her since they were far enough from the water's edge that neither thought there was any reason to be worried. Suddenly the boys gripped each other as they flew off the grass and landed roughly into the shallow part of the Black Lake. They scrambled to stand up, shoving each other out of the way during their mad dash to get out of the cold water. 

Hermione continued to laugh at the boy's and their drowned forms despite the fact that they were now looking at her with mischievous looks in their eyes. They glanced at each other nodding in agreement before they launched themselves at the girl who was barely keeping herself upright. They forced her into a sopping wet group hug grinning as her laughter quickly morphed into screams as they shook as much water off of themselves and onto her as possible. 

Crookshanks, who was previously lounging happily on Hermiones lap, was hissing at the two boys in an effort to get them off of Hermione as well as payback for ruining his perfect napping place yet the three kids ignored the cat laughing to themselves as they flopped back onto the grass next to each other lightly shivering from the warm breeze that blew through. 

“I've missed you guys.” Harry sighed in content as he took in his two friends on either side of him. He couldn't be happier to have found these two people in his first year and was ecstatic to still have them by his side. 

Ron and Hermione muttered their agreements as they pulled themselves closer to Harry until they were a part of a puddle of limbs on the floor. The three Gryffindors ignored anyone who walked past them focusing only on themselves and their time together. Crookshanks grumbled as he laid in-between Harry and Hermione using both of them to make himself as comfortable as possible. 

Harry watched the clouds above them float through the sky enjoying the peace that was surrounding the group. “How are classes going for you guys?” Hermione spoke just loud enough for the two boys to hear her not wanting to disrupt the calm between them. Ron had no qualms about disrupting anything as he groaned his complaints of school being brought up loud enough for someone to hear him on the seventh floor. 

“Come on Mione, we promised no school!” The taller boy complained waving his arms in an attempt to keep them grass that she began throwing at him out of his face. The two kept throwing grass at each other which ended up hitting Harry in the face more than they managed to get their intended targets. 

“Well I am sorry Ronald, but I wanted to know how you felt about your classes.” Harry sat up to get away from the continued onslaught of grass. He took Crookshanks with him as he moved to another sunny place to lay just far enough away from his friends to not be in the way of their squabble allowing himself to fall asleep feeling content. 

-

On Monday morning Harry woke up early enough that the sun was only just starting to become visible through his dorm window. He made his way down to the common room wanting to watch the sky from the large window that faced the forbidden forest enjoying the way the light shone through the morning fog that covered the grounds. Early mornings were always his favorite time of day when he could be alone and enjoy the sounds of the birds waking up with the sun. He spent the time until breakfast reading another book that Kreacher gave him about Astronomy insisting it was something that any proper Black Heir needs to know.

He was thoroughly reprimanded by Kreacher for his ‘abysmal’ astronomy performance and was warned that if he came back with anything less than an O then Kreacher would make him regret it. Harry knew that the elf would never do anything to hurt him, but he probably would have to figure out how to magically wash his own clothes or deal with mysteriously locked doors that were just unlocked. 

The hours until the start of breakfast flew by as Harry was left alone to read only the occasional student wandering down from their dorm and out the portrait served as a distraction for him. As more students began to steadily come down the stairs he finally removed himself from his spot on the couch and followed a group of sixth years as they went to the Great hall themselves. Harry walked through the halls with his head stuck in his book, not bothering to watch where he was going as he used the older students as a guide.

The table was devoid of third year Gryffindors as most of his house preferred to sleep in rather than get up early for the start of breakfast, so Harry busied himself with pulling some food onto his plate and grabbing his morning nutrient potion. He had made it through a little over half of his plate before his friends began to fill in around him. 

“Morning Har. How long have you been up?” Ron questioned as he began to stuff his plate with as much food as he could fit. 

“Not long I was just reading.” Harry showed his book off before putting it away in anticipation of his talkative friends. The third years all talked among each other until the owls came in carrying the mail; Harry was surprised to see a letter land in front of him; he couldn't remember the last time he had actually gotten a letter that wasn't from Hagrid. 

He carefully pulled the letter closer, noting his name written on the front in the nicest handwriting he had ever seen. 

Dear Harry,

I'm sorry I didn't write to you sooner. I hope the beginning of the year has treated you well pup. I am currently heading to Gringotts to see if I can gain access to the Potter accounts and vaults. 

I distinctly remember your father mentioning something about a family journal that he was excited for you to get once you turn 11. I'm hoping to be able to find it and anything else I feel like you might like to have. 

As soon as I have gone through everything I can I will come see you. 

I love you dearly Harry, please feel free to write back and I will respond as soon as I can.

Love, 

Sirius 

Harry couldn't help the large smile that grew on his face as he read the letter from Sirius. Despite how brief the letter was he felt like a whole mountain of opportunity opened up in his ability to reach out to his godfather which was not something he was sure would be wanted. 

“What do you have there Harry?” Hermione asked from her spot across the table from him. He folded the letter up carefully not wanting to crease the words that were so nicely written to him. He thought momentarily about telling his friends about the end of his summer and everything with Sirius, but something was stopping him. 

He knew his friends cared about him, but they would insist that Sirius was the convicted criminal everyone else believes him to be and pester him to tell Dumbledore and stop talking to him. That was just not something that Harry could make himself do. Not only is Sirius not guilty but it's also the first time Harry had ever had anyone care about him like this.

The Dursleys never cared about him, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley cares but he's not their kid which they have 7 of already making it impossible to focus on him the way he wants from someone, all that's left is Sirius who he didn't even know before the summer.

He shook his head already knowing that he didn't want to risk the life he was creating with Sirius and his one chance to get away from the Dursley's before he is of age. “Oh it's nothing. Just Madam Pomfrey checking up on me.” He carefully slid the letter into his robe pocket not wanting to wrinkle it unnecessarily. 

 His friends looked vaguely suspicious, but neither of them called him out on it thankfully. Harry pushed his food around as he listened to the conversation turned towards the upcoming Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson which is a topic that the whole school has been stuck on since the first day of class. The first DADA class was the 5th year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, Fred and George gushed about the lesson, but refused to tell anyone what had happened during it despite their siblings' pleas.

Even now as the students who were scheduled to have DADA before lunch were practically groveling at the twins' feet they continued being purposefully vague saying they'll thank them after they get to experience it organically. Harry wasn’t nearly as excited about this mystery DADA class as his housemates were, but he was thankful that he had the class right after lunch so that everyone around him would be able to move onto another topic of conversation. “Are you guys ready for potions today?”

“With the Slytherins? No way!” Ron muttered through the food that was still in his mouth. The other boy had a horrible habit of speaking with his mouth full which was something both Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were trying to rid him of, but their attempts seem to be in vain.

“Please Ron, swallow first!”

“I’m just saying Snape is already insufferable, but the Slytherins are almost just as bad.” All the Gryffindors in their year knew that Snape would always treat their class worse than usual because Harry was in it, but now that he only had use of one arm no one was sure how it was going to go. “Plus we have Defense with the Slytherins today too.”

Harry turned back to his breakfast not wanting to be a part of the conversation which was starting to feel like the start of their argument all over again. Hermione had no qualms about getting into it with Ron about how not all Slytherins are horrible, but the other boy was quick to cut her off, “Excluding whatever is going on with you and Nott, Harry, even you have to admit that the Slytherins have never done anything for us.”

“Wha… What do you mean? What's going on with Nott and I?” 

“I'm just saying you've never given him a second glance and now he's everywhere and you're even sticking up for him when he's not around.” Harry rolled his eyes knowing that all he has ever done was give Theodore Nott a second glance since the moment he saw him for the first time.

“Plus you guys were pretty chatty in Runes on Friday.”

“We were not chatty. We are partners. We were discussing being partners.”

“Either way none of the other,” Harry didn't appreciate the side eye Ron gave him making sure he knew that the only reason he's not including Nott in his statement is for Harry's sake. “Slytherin's have ever done anything nice for us.”

“We haven't had the best track record but that doesn't mean we should base them all on Malfoy.”

“I'm still miffed that he hasn't thanked you yet or something.” Hermione grumbled despite knowing that any sort of acknowledgement from Malfoy isn't even worth thinking about.

“Guys there's no use thinking about things we can't control.” The three took a step away from their conversation to try and finish as much breakfast as possible. Harry found himself pushing around the quarter full plate as possible, Hermione cleared her plate as she had a quiet conversation with Neville, and Ron stuffed his face with enough vigor that he had that whole end of the table shaking their heads in disgust. Finally the Gryffindors had to stop putting off going to class so the group of third years made their way down to the dungeons together. 

The Slytherins were already standing outside of the potions lab when they finally made it downstairs. Harry immediately looked through the crowd of green for Nott, but instead made eye contact with Malfoy who was already staring at him. He shifted away from the blond boy hoping that he wouldn't start anything, but Malfoy just turned away without even making a face at him. The silence and indifference from his proclaimed rival made him jittery wondering when the other shoe was going to drop since an injury like this was especially grounds for torment usually. 

Snape finally allowed the class into the lab where the Slytherins rushed forward for first dibs of the tables which allowed Harry to see where Nott was sitting before having to pick a table. He instantly caught sight of Nott sitting in the center of the room as close to the “Gryffindor side” as he could get without someone questioning him, so Harry quickly took the table right next to him meaning there was only the aisle in-between the two boys. 

Hermione gave him a look but ignored it pretending to not notice as he and Ron took their seats at their new table. Hermione and Neville took the spots on the other side of the table filling up the remaining spaces. Snape walked down the center aisle eyeing everyone in the class stopping in front of Harry eyeing his sling and bandages that were still on his left arm. 

“Do not think that I will be giving you special treatment for a cry for attention in this class Potter.” Everyone quieted down as Snape sneered, making it obvious how much he didn't believe that Harry was still hurt or maybe even hurt at all in the first place. 

“I never expected anything like that from you Professor.” Hermione kicked his shins as the scowl on Snape's face deepened. The older man scoffed at the smug smirk that grew on Harry's face once he realized the man had nothing to say back to him. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw that Nott was shaking his head in disappointment, but that didn't stop the small smile that began to build on the taller boy's face out of amusement which Harry found great joy in seeing.

“Today we will be brewing the Shrinking Solution. The instructions are on the board and I expect competence from all of you that I have seen a severe lack of in the previous years.” Snape was obviously talking about the whole of Gryffindor with a few exceptions such as Crabbe and Goyle who were notorious for messing up their potions without help. Snape sat down at his desk and began to grade essays as the class started on their potions using the given instructions on the board and in their book as well as their summer assignment about the brewing of the Shrinking Solution which started out easy enough for Harry to do one handed.

All that was left for his ingredient prep was cutting daisy roots and skinning the shrivelfigs, but he was having a lot of trouble with both techniques without hurting himself too much. “Harry, do you need help?” Hermione whispered across the table while reaching out to grab the daisy roots that needed diced up. Harry wanted to deny it and just do the best he could, but Ron was grabbing his shrivelfigs to start skinning before he could even try.

“What do you think you are doing?” Harry jumped unsure when Snape had made it behind him accidentally jostling his injured arm barely holding back a flinch. “I thought I made it clear there would be no special treatment today Potter.”

“But Professor Snape, Harry can’t dice or skin the ingredients with his hurt arm.” Harry greatly appreciated Hermione and Ron’s willingness to stick up for him, but he knew it was a pointless attempt when it came to Snape. The man would rather fail him than have to allow him ‘special treatment’ so he just shook his head and grabbed the ingredients back from his friends and began to attempt to do them himself again. Snape scoffed as Harry held in his pain not wanting the man to have another reason to mock him, but luckily he left soon after to go back to his grading. 

After a few more minutes he gave up again deciding that there was no way that Harry was going to be able to complete this potion. He glanced to Nott at his left, catching his eye where he tried to convey his apology for being useless only earning a glare in response. Nott gestured to his perfectly cut and skinned ingredients with a questioning look in his eyes, but Harry was unsure what the other boy was trying to get at making Nott roll his eyes at him. 

Suddenly from the seat in front of Nott, Malfoy stood up with his hands full of something before he turned and quickly dropped it in front of Harry and his cauldron. Sitting in front of him were perfectly cut daisy roots and skinned shrivelfigs. Harry looked up at Malfoy who was still standing in front of him rubbing his hands together in what looked like nerves, but once they made eye contact the blonde boy straightened with a glare, “You looked so pathetic it was actually painful.” Malfoy turned on his heel without a second glance and sat back down to continue his potion ignoring all the glances that the students around him were sending his way. Harry shared a shocked look with Nott and his table mates before shrugging and turning back to his own potion to try to play catch up before class ended. 

At the end of the period Harry was able to hand in a satisfactory potion that was only a shade or two off of its intended colour earning a glare from Snape as the man took his finished product. On the way out of class he passed by Malfoy who was watching him with a weird look in his eyes that Harry wasn’t sure how to respond to, but he nodded to the boy in thanks as he walked past and joined the other Gryffindors on their way to History of Magic.

-

After History of Magic instead of heading to lunch with his friends he claimed to be heading to the hospital wing for a check up, so that he would be able to slip away to meet with Nott in the library. He double checked that he still had the fruit that Fred and George have been sticking in his pockets since yesterday to eat as they go over potions. Nott was already sitting at his usual table when Harry made it through the library and took the seat across from the other boy.

They spent the first half of lunch discussing what Nott noticed about his performance in potions before the topic of Malfoy and his weirdness came up. “Do you have any idea why he gave me his things? Was he trying to sabotage me?” 

“Draco is a very strange person, Potter, and any other time I would agree he was probably trying to sabotage you. However, I believe he feels indebted to you for saving him from injury and this is his way of paying you back.” 

“So like the life debt you gave me?” Harry asked, not quite understanding the difference between the situations. 

“No, not really. You saved him from getting hurt, but it was unlikely he would have died, so there is no need for a life debt. Even if there was, he doesn't technically need to create a life debt between you both. I chose to enact one because I know for a fact I would have died if it wasn’t for you and I really owe you my life.” Nott was quiet as he watched Harry absorb the new information with such an intensity that it was hard for Harry to keep himself from blushing. It almost felt like the other boy was trying to tell him something else hidden inside his words, but he wasn’t sure what it could be. They sat in silence as they worked on other pieces of homework before Harry spoke up again wanting to keep Nott talking.

“Have you heard about the Defense lesson?” The two shared DADA after lunch so they would be walking into the mystery lesson together, but Harry was curious what the Slytherins thought about the gossip.

“Yeah, it’s all anyone who has had it has been talking about.” Nott rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed at all the talk that has filled the castle since Thursday making Harry smile at the show of annoyance.

“Yeah the Weasley twins had it Friday and they pretty much refuse to talk about anything else, but they won't say anything specific to us.” “They say we need to experience it authentically.”

“Cassius Warrington told me all about it.”

“He’s the sixth year you sit with sometimes right?” Harry had noticed throughout the years that whenever Nott wasn't sitting with his small group of friends he was sitting with an older Slytherin and some of the Slytherin Quidditch team. The two had seemed to know each other before coming to Hogwarts if Warrington’s enthusiastic clapping to Nott ‘s sorting was anything to go by.

“Yeah we grew up together, he's basically my older brother.” Nott had a small smile on his face at the mention of his relationship with the older boy making Harry smile at him in return. Being able to see Nott’s smiles that he doesn’t typically use in public has been Harry’s favorite part of getting to know the other boy.

“So what did he say?”

“He said we have to face a boggart.” Harry paused and tried to remember if he had heard anything about a boggart in the past, but nothing was coming to mind. Talking to Nott has made him realize how much his education was lacking and how far behind he was from the purebloods and most halfbloods as they had the option to learn all of this before even attending school such as boggarts, dementors, and even potion basics.

“A… boggart? What’s a boggart?” Nott gave him a weird look at his lack of knowledge, but Harry wasn’t sure why he was expected to know what a boggart was if they haven’t learned about it yet.

“It’s a dark creature that turns into your greatest fear.” Harry couldn’t help the shocked and vaguely horrified look that settled across his face which earned an amused cough from the other boy. The thought of that being a real creature that anyone could just come across is a terrifying thought to Harry. “I heard that Professor Lupin is going to teach us how to temporarily expel them.”

“I feel like that’s going to backfire on some people. What do you think it’ll show your greatest fear as?” Harry looked back at the other boy, surprised to see how pale he had gotten before he realized how personal that question was, feeling horrified and pushy. “Oh Merlin, I'm sorry. I don’t know why I asked, it’s none of my business.”

“It’s fine. I’m fairly confident I know what I will see and it’s not something I want to think about.”

Harry cleared his throat, surprised that Nott didn’t immediately shut him out and snap at him which would have been justified. They once again sat in silence, but this time it was slightly more awkward than before so Harry pulled out an apple from his pocket and his lunch time nutrient potion in an attempt to distract himself. “Why do you take potions every meal?” He froze at Nott’s word not expecting him to have noticed that he was a specific regime. “Sorry you don't have to answer that.”

“Oh.. um.. It’s just some nutrient potions that a healer put me on over the summer. I have to take them at every meal with some food.” Harry put away the empty bottle into his bag as Nott once again looked at him with a questioning look as if he was trying to put together a puzzle that isn’t making sense. “It’s supposed to be with a full meal, but this is all I got sometimes.”

“Why do you continue to meet me for lunch or dinner when you need to take the potions on a full stomach?” Harry just shrugged his shoulders trying to keep the red blooming on his cheeks away. He knew the answer, but he didn’t want to scare Nott away with his interest in the boy.

“Well I think it's time to head to Defense.” Harry quickly threw his bag together barely sparing enough time to say bye to Nott as he sprinted out of the library and ignored Madame Pince as she yelled at him to slow down. Harry made it to the entrance of the great hall just as his friends were beginning to leave the room to head to class, so he let himself fall into step with them while he tried to brush off any questions they asked about his time in the hospital wing.