“Should we get someone?” Hari asked, panic rising in his voice, looking up at Hagrid with wide eyes.

Hagrid nodded. “I’ll go to Dumbledore and tell him what happened!” And he took off down the other end of the hallway, swinging his dead roosters as he went. His massive heavy footsteps carried all the way down the hall as Hari stood hopelessly in the corridor, looking back and forth between Nick and Justin and Hagrid’s disappearing back.

Peeves the Poltergeist appeared around a corner, cackling to himself as Hari stood alone in the corridor.

“Why, it’s potty wee Potter!” he exclaimed, doing a sort of backflip in the air. He froze midair when his eyes fell onto Nearly Headless Nick and Justin. Hari started to tell him not to say anything when the poltergeist shouted at the top of his lungs, “ATTACK! THERE’S ANOTHER ATTACK! WE’RE ALL DOOMED! NOT EVEN THE DEAD ARE SAFE! ATTACK!”

There was a rumbling of sound from all sides of the castle as all those in the surrounding rooms and corridors suddenly came bursting into the corridor. Students and staff came thundering into view, everyone pausing at the sight of Hari Potter standing in the corridor at the site of yet another attack. More and more people came bustling down and up different sets of stairs, shouting and talking and whispering, almost trampling Hari and Justin in their haste. Someone ended up ramming into Hari and knocking him onto the floor with a gasp.

“See? I told you he did it!” Hari looked up from where he was sitting on his hands and knees to find the jeering face of Ernie Macmillan, standing with his fellow Hufflepuff friends.

Minerva appeared, silencing the crowd with a shot into the air with her wand. “That is quite enough, all of you!” she said sharply, bending down to help Hari to his feet. Nearby, Professor Flitwick and Professor Burbage were dealing with Justin and Nearly Headless Nick.

Finally, once Justin was taken to the hospital wing and Nick was fanned along the corridors, Minerva sent the rest of the onlookers back to where they came from and led Hari along the corridor with a firm grip on his arm.

“Minnie, it’s not what it looks—” said Hari as he followed Minerva through the school.

“I believe you, Hari, but that doesn’t erase the fact that you have been discovered at the scene of yet another attack,” she replied just as they reached the familiar stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore’s office. “Lemon drop!” she called. The gargoyle moved aside to reveal the familiar spiral staircase, which Hari and Minerva both stepped onto.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Minerva marched over to the door and let Hari inside the circular room. “No one’s going to believe I didn’t do it,” Hari said morosely as they stepped inside the empty office. He glanced around at the familiar trinkets and tools dotted around the room, recognising the massive telescope and the Pensieve cabinet and the 3D model of the solar system.

“What your fellow students think is unimportant, Hari,” Minerva reassured, pressing her hand on his shoulder. “I believe I raised you well enough to know not to try to use Dark magic against your peers and I know I am not alone in trusting that you did not do it. You are far too smart to care about the beliefs of those who refuse to look past their ignorance.” Hari looked up at Minerva, recognising the mixture of worry and concern etched in her frown. She looked around the room. “I will go and collect Albus. Stay here.” She gave Hari’s shoulder another comforting squeeze and then stepped out of the room once again, leaving Hari by himself inside the circular room.

Most of the portraits on the walls were fast asleep inside their frames, some of them snoring, leaned on their hands or hunched over themselves as they slept. Biding his time while he waited, Hari wandered around the room, inspecting the different trinkets up close. He dragged his fingertips lightly along the sleek polished wood of the cabinet holding books and vials and even the Sorting Hat on top of one of the shelves. On his usual perch next to Dumbledore’s desk, Hari recognised Fawkes the phoenix. Turning away from the Sorting Hat, Hari walked over to the bird.

He looked awful at the moment, positively sickly and molting most of his usually gorgeous feathers. Its skin was grey and hung loose from its body. Hari was just about to wonder whether a Burning Day was coming soon when the bird suddenly burst into flames. Hari jumped back in shock, eyes wide as he watched the flames erupt several feet in the air before slowly dying out.

Behind him, the door to the office swung open and Dumbledore entered the office. Hari caught a glimpse of Hagrid and Minerva waiting out in the hall just before the door shut in their faces.

“Ah, I see Fawkes finally got a move on,” Dumbledore said, smiling serenely at the smoldering pile of ash where his bird perched only moments ago.

Hari and Dumbledore both stood in silence for a minute, both watching as a tiny, fleshy baby bird peeked out of the ashes, chirping quietly, reborn from the dead flames.

“Please, sit, Hari.” Dumbledore gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk as he sat down behind his own desk, fingers laced together thoughtfully. Hari obeyed, settling into one of the chairs. Dumbledore’s bright blue eyes studied him closely over his spectacles, making Hari shift uncomfortably in his chair, feeling exposed. “Now, Hagrid and Minerva have both relayed the recent events regarding the newest attack. Both are adamant that you did not do it and, naturally, I believe them of course…”

Hari sat up. “You do?”

Dumbledore tilted his head, smiling slightly, eyes twinkling benevolently in the light of a nearby torch. “Would you prefer it if I did not?” he asked calmly.

“Well, obviously not. I… I didn’t do it. It was just a coincidence,” said Hari, drumming his fingers nervously on his knee. “I just keep stumbling into it.”

Dumbledore hummed, still staring intently at Hari as though he could see right through him. Hari looked down at his lap, fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve. “Was there anything else you wished to ask me, Hari? Or, perhaps, to tell me?” Hari glanced up again. Did Dumbledore know about the voice he was hearing? Should he tell him about the voice? Hari knew the potential disaster that could come from admitting to hearing about voices…

He shook his head. “No, sir. Nothing I can think of…”

Dumbledore did not look entirely convinced with his reply, but he allowed Hari to leave and head back to Gryffindor tower. Minerva and Hagrid were still outside, talking to each other quietly. They stopped when he stepped outside before making their way inside Dumbledore’s office and Hari continued his way back to the common room by himself.

¤¤¤

The arrival of the winter break could not have come at a better time for Hari. Following being found at the scene of yet another attack, a double one at this, Hari found it nearly impossible to avoid the stares and whispers from his peers. The entire school seemed convinced that Hari was the culprit, setting unimaginable horrors onto unsuspecting ghosts, Muggleborns and cats. The usual chill in the air that came with the winter months was no match to the cold glares sent Hari’s way as he passed by in the hallways.

Hari, who had spent many years on the grounds of Hogwarts during the winter breaks, had never seen the castle looking so bleak and empty once the break began. Almost the entire school went home that year as nobody wanted to stay any more than they had to while Hari Potter was around. Even as he welcomed the solace from their stares and whispers and jeers, Hari still felt enormously discomforted by the chill in the normally bright and cheerful atmosphere at this time of the year.

Sure, Hari only really celebrated Yule for the presents and food and seeing his favourite people again, but the grim mood was unsettling to say the least.

Even more so, Draco grew even more closed off. With the weight of yet another holiday where he was not welcome home, Draco shut everyone else out, even Hari. He went to bed hours before the others, shutting himself behind his curtains even though Hari knew he was still lying awake, staring up at the ceiling or buried under his blankets. Hari took to bringing extra bits of food with him, noticing how Draco simply picked at his food, not adding much to the conversation as they discussed the Chamber of Secrets or more mundane topics like books or Quidditch.

On the morning of Yule, Hari woke up to a pillow thwacking him in the face, bright and early. He jolted upright and saw Hermione standing in her dressing gown, just as she hit Draco over the head with a pillow as well. The blond groaned in response, muttering French profanities under his breath as he rolled over, trying to get back to sleep.

“Happy Solstice, sleepy heads,” she said, idly picking up one of the parcels on the bottom of Hari’s bed.

Ron groaned from somewhere under the covers, peeking his ginger head out from underneath. “She’s been spending too much time with Slytherins,” he murmured, muffled under the blankets. Hermione rolled her eyes as she went and sat in Neville’s bed as Hari, Ron and Draco opened up their presents.

Half an hour later, dressed in new Weasley jumpers, they all made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione and Ron were bickering, as usual and Hari followed behind them with Draco. Hari couldn’t help but notice how closed off Draco still was, even with the holiday spirits in the air as they made their way down the last flight of stairs to the entrance hall.

With so few people at Hogwarts still, the usual seating arrangements were abandoned. Pansy and Millicent came and sat with Hari and the others for breakfast as they tried to decide what to do that day for the holiday.

“We had this massive snowball fight last year. We could do that again?” suggested Ron through a mouthful of waffles.

“But it’s so cold!” complained Pansy, wrinkling her nose slightly and smoothing out her new pink cashmere jumper. “Why don’t we do something warmer?”

“We could sneak into the kitchens and get hot chocolate,” added Hari. Millicent, in the middle of fixing her rather itchy yellow turtleneck, nodded profusely in agreement.

They were still trying to come up with ideas for what to do as they came out of the hall after breakfast and found Remus Lupin coming through the front doors, dressed in a fuzzy white jumper and olive green scarf, snowflakes powdered in his mousy brown hair. He grinned and waved as he saw Hari, who split off from the group and went over to hug him and say hello.

“Happy Solstice, Uncle Remus!” he said, beaming.“Thanks for the book, by the way. The Outsiders sounds really interesting.”

“It was my pleasure, Hari,” Remus replied, smiling softly. He glanced over at the small group of 12 year olds waiting for them just outside the doors to the Great Hall. “I see you’ve got some new friends. How is everybody?” He smiled at the group politely. Hermione and Ron smiled in greeting while Draco looked away with his cheeks flushed and Pansy and Millicent burst into fits of laughter.

“Guys, this is Remus Lupin, my parents’ best friend from school.” Hari introduced Remus to the rest of his friends, just as he was always taught growing up.

After the introductions, Remus turned to Hari alone, asking him how school was going so far.

“Not great, honestly. Almost everyone is convinced I’m some Muggleborn hating lunatic petrifying people left and right,” he explained morosely. Hari glanced at his friends and sighed. “Draco’s been really distant lately because his father told him not to come home for the holidays and didn’t send him a present again. He’s been really bummed about it, so we’re trying to come up with something to do today,” Hari rambled. It felt much better to finally get his thoughts out of his mind, feeling much better now that he had told Remus.

Remus frowned, glancing back at the group. “Draco’s parents really did all that?” Hari nodded. “Is this all because of him getting sorted into Gryffindor last year?”

“That’s when it started, yeah. I think it’s just worse around the holidays because that’s supposed to be the time for families, I guess.”

Remus nodded as Hari spoke, brows furrowed in thought. Hari could tell he was thinking very deeply about something. Finally, he said, “Do you think you and Draco could wait here for a few minutes? I’ll be right back.”

Hari tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Er, I suppose so. Why?” he asked slowly.

“You’ll see,” he said, winking and then brushing past Hari, skipping steps as he disappeared up the stairs.

Hari walked back over to his friends. Millicent grabbed Hari’s arm and pulled him over, nearly knocking him over with her immense strength. “Finally! We’ve decided we’re going to have a snowball fight again. Get your coats now and meet back here in—”

Hari looked over his shoulder up the stairs Remus just climbed. “Actually, do you mind if Draco and I meet you guys in a bit? Remus said he wanted to do something.”

Draco looked up from where he had been staring rather intently at a spot on the floor, leaned against the wall beside the Great Hall. “What does Remus want?” he asked, eyes lighting up with curiosity.

“I dunno, but he told me to wait with you,” he replied, turning to the others. “You guys can go up and get your coats and stuff and we’ll just meet you afterwards.” The others murmured their replies and then set off towards their common rooms, leaving Hari and Draco alone in the corridor.

They thankfully weren’t waiting long in the entrance hall before Remus returned, followed by Minerva. Draco and Hari stood up from leaning against the wall as Minerva approached them. She smiled at them both, eyes soft and glowing warmly in the flickering candlelight.

“Good morning,” she said, “Remus has come to me with a… proposition.” Hari and Draco exchanged excited and curious glances. She lowered her voice and looked up and down the hallway and said, “He would like to take you both to Hogsmeade as a treat for the day. But only if you promise to stay in his sight the entire time. It is a real privilege to you, as second years, so I expect you to be on your best behaviour.”

Fifteen minutes later, all wrapped up in coats and scarves and their pockets jingling with pocket money, Remus quietly led Hari and Draco out through the front doors and across the grounds. Hari and Draco explained to Hermione and Ron that they would be busy, hurrying ahead so that the others didn’t see them leaving the castle grounds with Remus.

It was a bitingly cold day with the wind whipping their scarves and messing up their hair, leaving footprints in the thin layer of snow on the frozen ground. Draco’s and Remus’ noses were both bright pink and Draco’s cheeks were flushed pink from the cold and the wind, walking close to Hari for warmth. Up close, Hari could see the snowflakes getting caught on the tips of his pale eyelashes and the dark circles under his grey eyes and the slight hunch of his normally upright posture. Hari longed to help his friend, to see his smile and hear his laugh once again.

Ahead of him, Remus looked even more exhausted than Draco, his skin slightly grey and his cheeks slightly hollow. He also had a slight limp as he walked, though Hari could tell he was trying to hide it. He must have been ill again recently. Hari still wondered why Remus was always getting so ill, surely magic medicine could help him to stay better…

“Shall we visit Honeydukes first? They have the best sweets in Britain,” Remus suggests as the entrance to Hogsmeade came into view. Hari and Draco both agreed and they hurried their pace along the cobblestone streets.

There weren’t many people outside that day, only a few stragglers, but Hari could hear laughter and singing coming from inside the various houses and flats they walked past, filled with people celebrating the holiday with family and friends. Many of the shops, Hari noticed, were closed that day as well.

Thankfully, Honeydukes was still open, its cheerful mint green door propped open magically and the smell of hundreds of sweets mingling together drifted outside. The door jingled as they stepped inside the shop, immediately warmed up. Mr. Flume, standing behind the counter, greeted them with a broad smile and said, “Ah, Remus Lupin and friends! What a wonderful surprise!”

“Ambrosius, hello. It’s good to see you again,” said Remus, walking over to the counter to talk and shooing Hari and Draco away to look around.

Hari and Draco wandered along the rows of sweets stacked high to the ceiling, overlaid with treats of all kinds. There were sugar quills and licorice wands and mint humbugs packed inside glass jars; Every Flavour Beans and toffees and Pepper Imps and Fizzing Whizzbees in massive bowls and barrels; displays advertised Numbing Nougats and Ice Mice and Bouncing Bonbons packed on shelves; there were stacks and stacks of colourful, eye popping boxes with comedic phrases and drawings. Everything Hari could think of in a sweet was somewhere in that store, waiting to be purchased.

Hari was inspecting a barrel of Fizzing Whizzbees when Draco wandered over, holding up a box of Murmuring Marshmallows. “Hari, check out these marshmallows. They talk gibberish when you eat them!” Draco said, holding up a sample. If he listened closely, Hari could hear a faint, incoherent mumbling coming from the large mint green marshmallow in the palm of Draco’s hand.

“I’m trying to decide between these Fizzing Whizzbees or the floating sherbot balls,” Hari added, gesturing to the various sweets displayed in front of him. “What do you think?”

Draco stuffed the marshmallow in his mouth and put the box aside, standing next to Hari by the barrel and the multicoloured balls floating up and down. “Why not get both?” he suggested, plucking one of the Whizzbees and throwing it up and down. Hari grinned and grabbed the small metal shovel and a paper bag, scooping a pile of the sweets into his bag.

Twenty minutes later, carrying bags of sweets and chattering brightly to Remus about their purchases, they made their way up the street towards The Three Broomsticks. Hari and Draco were both eating Cauldron Cakes as they stepped inside the boiling hot interior of the pub. It was very dimly lit with a roaring fireplace on either side of the room. Only a few patrons were dotted here and there, drinking from large jugs and talking to friends or sitting alone at tables. Remus led them over to the bar where an attractive and friendly looking woman with wavy blonde hair piled on her head and neatly manicured nails was tending the bar. She looked up from cleaning a large tankard and grinned at Remus and the two boys with him.

“Happy Holidays! It’s good to see you again, Remus!” she greeted merrily, “What can I get you?”

“Hello, Rosmerta. Could I please get two Butterbeers and some chamomile tea?” He turned to Hari and Draco. “Wait until you try Butterbeer. You’ll both love it with your sweet tooths.”

Madam Rosmerta laughed as she began preparing their orders. “Enough to rival yours, Remus? If I remember clearly, you and your friends were never in here without entire bags full of every type of sweet,” she teased. Remus laughed and handed over the change as she slid across two foaming tankards of caramel coloured liquid and a small floral teapot and matching tea cup on a tray. He thanked Madam Rosmerta and carried the tray over to a table nearby, followed by Hari and Draco.

Hari took a gulp of the warm liquid with interest. It was the sweetest and most delicious thing he had ever tasted, warming him right up. He took another hearty sip and Draco did the same, clearly agreeing. Remus watched with amusement as he stirred honey into his tea with a small spoon.

“It’s good, isn’t it?”

Hari nodded eagerly, a small foam moustache on his upper lip as he put the drink on the table. Draco finished drinking a good portion of the drink, sighing with satisfaction and licking the foam off his lips. “It’s delicious! Thank you for getting it for us, Remus,” said Draco politely. Remus tilted his head and rested his chin on the palm of his hand, smiling as he took a sip of his tea. Draco cleared his throat, tracing his finger over a knot in the wooden table. “Thank you for bringing me here as well. I feel much better, now…” His voice was shy and just a hair above a whisper, trailing off at the end.

Remus patted his shoulder. “It was no problem. I couldn’t just let my kids feel sad during the holiday season,” said Remus sincerely. “I know what it’s like to feel unwanted by your family, especially at this time of the year, so just know that you are wanted. Family isn’t everything when you have wonderful friends by your side.”

Draco didn’t say anything, but as he took a long drink of Butterbeer, Hari saw the faint flush on his snow white cheeks and knew that he appreciated everything Remus said. He finished the last of his drink and muttered faintly, “Thank you.” Remus caught Hari’s eyes and gave him a soft smile, too.

Once Remus and Hari finished their own drinks (though Draco stole a few sips of Hari’s as well) they started back towards the castle together. Hari felt much better as he walked up the long path to Hogwarts between Remus and Draco. He could tell that not only did Draco seem much more cheerful, talking almost non-stop about the potions book he got for Yule, but Remus also seemed much lighter as he walked with them. Even with his limp, he was smiling much more and asking Draco questions about his present.

They got back to the castle to find hundreds of footprints, piles of snow and snow angels outside, now abandoned by their friends. Remus said goodbye at the entrance hall, heading towards the dungeons with a mention of needing to speak to someone and left Hari and Draco alone to go up to their common room to join their friends before dinner.