Nearly

It’s a weird feeling, getting on board the Hogwarts Express again. On the one hand, Harry can’t believe they’re already halfway through the year and he almost wishes he could slow down time and enjoy everything at Hogwarts thoroughly while he has a chance. On the other hand, he can’t wait to see both his fathers again. 

Harry and Draco join the other first-year Slytherins in a compartment in the middle of the train and Draco makes sure he gets the seat next to Harry’s and although each seat is quite large, almost large enough to fit two first-years, Draco sits so close to Harry that they’re touching from shoulder to foot. Harry doesn’t mind, though. He quite likes it. 

When the witch with the food trolley pauses outside their compartment, Draco gets up to buy a snack and asks Harry if he wants anything. 

”Chocolate frog, please”, Harry says. 

As the others gather around the trolley to select their snacks, Harry turns to stare out the window at the hills and houses that whoosh past, and noticing less and less snow on the ground now and thinks they must be getting close to London.

Draco settles next to him again, knocking his ankle against Harry’s while making sure their thighs are aligned, and hands him a chocolate frog. 

”Thanks”, Harry says with a smile. ”Do you want the card?”

”No, you have it”, Draco says and plucks at the plastic wrappings around his box of Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum until it peels off.

Harry frowns as the blonde pops a piece of gum into his mouth and begins to chew cheerily.

”Aren’t you going to eat anything?” Harry asks. 

”I’m not hungry”, Draco says dismissively around the piece of chewing gum and then starts blowing a large, pink bubble that steadily shifts colours the larger it gets. 

Finally the Hogwarts Express pulls into Platform nine and three quarters and the students scramble around, making sure they have all of their things, before filing out of the compartments and jumping off the train. The Slytherin Prefects help the younger students get their trunks onto the platform before wishing them all a happy Christmas.

Harry immediately spots Remus and Sirius in the crowd of waiting families and waves eagerly at them. Sirius catches sight of him and waves back before grabbing Remus’s hand and the two of them start making their way towards him. 

Draco knocks his shoulder against his, and Harry glances over at him. The blonde smiles thinly. 

”Well, I’ll see you in a few weeks then…”

Harry smiles back and wraps his arms around Draco in a tight hug. After a moment’s hesitation, Draco hugs him back. 

”See you soon”, Harry says and pulls back again. ”Very soon.”

Draco nods, glancing over at Remus and Sirius as they approach. 

”And don’t forget to ask your parents about Nicholas Flamel”, Harry whispers quickly before he runs into Sirius’s waiting arms and hugs him tightly. 

The man lifts him off his feet and spins around with him, causing Harry to giggle. Finally Sirius puts him down again so that he can hug an impatiently waiting Remus as well. 

”Oh, we’ve missed you”, Remus murmurs into Harry’s neck before he takes a deep breath, as if inhaling Harry’s scent to reassure himself that he’s real and actually here. 

”I’ve missed you too”, Harry says and tightens his arms around the man’s neck.

Sirius chuckles fondly next to them and cards his fingers through his husband’s hair, then tries to do the same to the mess that is Harry’s hair and gets stuck for a second. 

Remus finally lets go of Harry and grabs his trunk for him. Harry gets a glimpse of Draco and his parents just before they step through the barrier to King’s Cross. 

”Hello Remus, Sirius — Happy Christmas!” Molly Weasley says as she ushers her children in front of her towards the barrier. ”Oh, and to you too, Harry dear…”

Harry smiles and waves back, and catching Ron’s eyes he waves at him too. 

When they get home, Remus lets Harry cuddle with Selina for a while before giving him a lecture about staying out of trouble. Harry has been expecting it ever since Snape said he’d contact his and Draco’s parents and let them know about the incident with the troll, but it still makes his eyes sting slightly to be told off by his daddy. He mumbles an apology, staring down at the floor. 

Remus sighs and in the next moment he’s enveloped Harry in his arms and Harry eagerly snuggles closer, burrowing his face into the man’s chest. 

”I’m not angry with you”, Remus murmurs. ”But you have to promise me you’ll be more careful, you know your dad and I worry about you enough as it is…”

Harry nods against his chest, but says nothing. He’s got a lump in hos throat and doesn’t trust his voice enough to say sorry again. 

On Christmas morning Harry wakes up to find a considerable amount of presents at the foot of his bed. Most of them have Remus’s swirly handwriting on the labels, but he recognises Draco’s delicate scrawl on one as well and then there’s one without a label at all. Harry brings all of them out into the sitting room and places them beneath the Christmas tree to be opened after breakfast together with his dads. 

They manage to finish their Christmas rice pudding in the kitchen, but are still nursing their drinks when Harry’s impatient fidgeting gets so bad he accidentally bangs his knee on the underside of the table top and knocks over his mug. Hot chocolate spills everywhere and some drip over the edge of the table and burn Harry’s bare foot. Remus vanishes the mess and refills Harry’s mug for him with an indulgent sigh, and then suggest they bring their chocolate and coffee into the sitting room.

Harry eagerly collapses on the floor next to the Christmas tree and selects a present each for them to open. Remus gets one of his presents from Harry — a book called Hairy snout, human heart that Sirius helped Harry pick out and pay for — and his wide eyes flit over to Sirius briefly before he turns back to Harry with a warm smile and says thank you; Sirius unwraps a new leather jacket that Remus has got for him and kisses him to say thanks; Harry has chosen his present from Draco first and tears the wrapping paper off excitedly, beaming when a large box of chocolate frogs in unveiled, along with a Christmas card that Draco must have made himself, because the little moving drawing on the front depicts two boys flying together in the sky, one with white-blond hair and one with dark hair, round glasses and a small scar shaped like a lightening bolt on the forehead. 

”May I have a look?” Remus says and Harry hands him the card. ”Oh wow… That’s really sweet. Look, Sirius…”

Remus hands the card to his husband and the two exchange a fond look.

”I’m glad it worked out”, Remus tells Harry. ”So I take it he’s not as stuck-up and mean as you thought?”

”Well…” Harry says awkwardly. ”Not really, but he can be sometimes. But he’s got much better.”

They continue to make their way through the pile of presents until Remus and Sirius have opened all of theirs and Harry only has two more left, one with Remus’s handwriting on the label and the mysterious one without a label at all. Harry gives Sirius a questioning look as he picks it up, after having unwrapped the copy of Quidditch Through The Ages he’s dads have given him, but Sirius shakes his head. 

Harry shrugs and starts tearing the wrapping paper off, what better way to find out…

Something fluid and silvery grey tumbles out of the wrapping and lands in a small pile on the floor in front of Harry, it’s many folds gleaming in the light from the Christmas tree. Through the corner of his eye, Harry sees Remus sit up a little straighter in the sofa and he can hear Sirius gasp softly. 

”What is it?” he asks and pinches the silky fabric between his fingers gingerly, marvelling at the strange feel of it, like water has been woven into the material somehow. 

”It’s an Invisibility Cloak”, Sirius says immediately, his voice sounding strangely thick. 

Harry glances between him and Remus, noticing the tension in their faces suddenly. 

”There’s a note, Harry”, Remus says quietly and points to a piece of parchment on the floor. 

Harry picks it up. He doesn’t recognise the handwriting at all, but it’s almost as swirly as Remus’s so he guesses whoever sent it must be an adult and probably a scholar like his daddy. He begins to read it out loud: 

”Dear Harry… Your fath—” 

Harry’s breath hitches and he’s keenly aware of his dads’ intense eyes on him. A lump has started growing in his throat, he tries to clear it but it doesn’t help. 

Remus puts his hand on top of Harry’s and gently pries the note from him, and then clearing his throat softly he begins to read: 

”Dear Harry, your father left this in my possession before he — before he died… It is time it was returned to you. Use it well… A very merry Christmas to you.”

Harry’s mind is whirring, and his chest feels oddly tight. He peers up at his dads’ through his lashes, trying to gauge their reactions, but both men sit perfectly still and avoid each other’s and Harry’s eyes. 

Finally Remus looks up and meets Harry’s gaze. Smiling a little sadly, he reaches out and strokes Harry over the head. 

”Harry, your mother and father would be so proud of you”, he murmurs. ”As is your dad and I… Okay?”

Harry nods, his chest unclenching again. 

”Very proud”, Sirius agrees. 

”Well… I think I need some more hot chocolate”, Remus says breezily and pushes to his feet. ”Harry, do you want another cup?”

After they’ve listened to the Christmas Concert on the wireless and Harry has begun to doze off in-between his dads on the sofa, Remus gently shakes him awake. Sirius hugs him good night and wishes him happy christmas for a final time, then Remus guides him to his bedroom and tucks him in. 

”I’m not a kid, you don’t have to”, Harry mumbles sleepily but moves into Remus’s caress when the man strokes his head. 

”Sorry, old habits die hard”, Remus mumbles and Harry can hear the smile in his voice. ”Harry, don’t fall asleep yet, I need to tell you something…”

Harry blinks his eyes open and peers up at his daddy. 

”You’re going to have to go back to Hogwarts a few days earlier, okay?”

”What?” Harry says in a small voice and starts to sit up, but Remus puts a hand on his shoulder and gently pushes him down again before taking a seat at the egde of the bed. ”Why?”

”I’m really sorry, Harry. But your dad needs to go away for a few days for work…”

”So? Why can’t I stay here with you?”

Remus eyes darts between Harry’s hands on top of the cover and his own in his lap and swallows a couple of times, then sighs and says ”I need to go away too… You know I need to travel sometimes—”

Harry feels his stomach sink and glares bitterly at his Tornados’ poster on the wall. Remus sighs again and grabs one of Harry’s hands in his and squeezes gently. 

”I promise you, I’ll explain everything when —”

”—when I’m older”, Harry cuts in. ”Yeah I know.”

Harry is still moping about it the next morning, and not even Selina’s playful mood is enough to shake him out of his thoughts. Finally, at lunch, Remus offers to contact the Malfoys to see if they can arrange for Harry and Draco to get together one day before Harry has to go back to Hogwarts and Harry looks up excitedly then, his half-eaten lunch forgotten. 

”Really?” he says. ”Can you do it now?”

”No, not right now, Harry. I’m still eating…”

”Yeah yeah yeah, but after — after you’ve finished — can you floo them then?”

”All right”, Remus says patiently. ”But only if you finish eating as well… You’ve barely touched your Shepard’s pie…”

That’s not true, Harry has had quite a lot of Shepard’s pie and his belt is already digging into his stomach painfully, but he shovels a few more bites into his mouth anyway, so as not to give Remus an excuse to take back his offer. 

Remus manages to get a hold of Draco’s mother, Narcissa Malfoy, and the two of them arrange for Harry to visit Draco at Malfoy Manor on the weekend before he has to head back to Hogwarts. 

Harry is so excited he can barely sleep a wink all night and asks whether he can have coffee instead of chocolate at breakfast, but Sirius lets him try a sip from his cup and Harry immediately pulls a face at the bitter taste and opts for chocolate in the end after all. 

At the agreed-upon time, Harry steps into the fireplace and floos to Malfoy Manor and he’s barely stopped spinning when something quite heavy crashes into him and knocks him backwards off his feet. He sprawls in the huge fireplace, Draco draped on top of him, as the last green flames flicker out around them. 

”Draco”, a woman’s voice admonishes gently from somewhere in the room and the two of them scramble to their feet awkwardly, grinning at each other. 

Harry brushes the soot off and looks around with interest. The sitting room is huge. It looks like a ballroom. Narcissa Malfoy stands in the middle of the room with her hands clasped in front of her, the glow of the gigantic chandelier hanging above her head making her white-blonde hair glow golden. Harry smiles at her. 

”Hello Harry, we’re so pleased to have you visit our home… Draco, do show Harry to your room and I will have Dobby send up some treats for you.”

”Come on”, Draco says and grabs Harry’s hand. 

He leads Harry through the maze-like lower level of the manor, then up a sparkling black marble staircase. At the other end of a vast corridor lined with huge, intricate portraits of the Malfoy family members, Draco opens a door and lets Harry enter first. 

The room is quite large, like all the other rooms they’ve passed, with a high ceiling. An ancient four-poster bed similar to the ones at Hogwarts, except larger and with indigo silk hangings instead of emerald, take up a fourth of the room. Next to it stands a massive, 17th century desk and chair. One wall is taken up completely by wardrobes and another by floor to ceiling windows. There aren’t any toys anywhere and Harry can’t see Draco’s Nimbus 2000 either, but he suspects all his things are probably neatly stuffed away in one of the wardrobes. 

”That’s an amazing view”, Harry comments as he steps closer to the nearest window. 

”Yeah, I know. It’s taken me a while to get used to though. When I was younger I had this fear of heights… But now I don’t mind it at all.”

Suddenly, a tea tray with an assortment of biscuits appear out of thin air and Draco immediately sets about pouring them a cup of tea each. 

Harry and Draco spend most of the afternoon in Draco’s room, talking and playing Wizard Chess. At one point, Narcissa shows up rapping her knuckles gently on the doorframe and asking Harry whether he would like to join them for dinner, then suggests Draco take Harry outside and give him a tour of the grounds. 

It turns out the grounds are almost as big as the grounds at Hogwarts, but according to Draco there isn’t much to see, so they take turns flying his Nimbus 2000 and then stroll around the rose garden for a while until the dinner bell chimes. 

”So have you had a chance to ask your parents about Nicholas Flamel?” Harry asks as they make their way back to the manor. 

”Yeah, father says he’s a rather well-respected alchemist, but he didn’t know much more about him than that…”

”I’m sure I’ve read his name somewhere though”, Harry mutters. ”And it’s not in any of my books, I’ve checked… Did you say he’s an alchemist? Like he makes gold?”

”I guess”, Draco says with a shrug. ”I’ll ask mother as well, when it’s just the two of us… sometimes she knows more than she lets on when anyone else is around. What about your dads, had they heard of Flamel?”

”No”, Harry says heavily. ”And they got really suspiscious when I wouldn’t tell them why I wanted to know, so I’m not risking it again.”

When Harry tells Draco that he’s going to have to go back to Hogwarts earlier because both his dads will be travelling, Draco looks even more appalled than Harry had felt when Remus revealed this plan to him the first time. At dinner, Draco tries to convince his parents to let him go back early as well, so that Harry will have someone to keep him company since he’ll likely be the only Slytherin back early from the holidays. 

Lucius and Narcissa exchange a subtle look. 

”Please?” Draco wheedles, turning his pleading eyes from Lucius to Narcissa. 

”We’ll discuss it later”, Lucius says smoothly. 

”That means no”, Draco mutters sullenly to Harry. 

”Draco”, Narcissa says sharply. ”Where are your manners.”

Draco automatically sits up straighter in his seat and promptly speers a tiny piece of potato on his fork and puts in his mouth. His cheeks turn a subtle tint of pink as he chews mechanically, frowning at his plate. 

When Harry floos back home, both his dads are waiting for him in the kitchen, looking slightly apprehensive until Harry beams at them. 

”So did you have a good time?” Remus says happily as he hugs him, his face smoothing out with relief. 

”Yeah, a great time!” Harry says. ”We played chess and took turns flying on Draco’s broom — next time I’m going to bring my Nimbus so we can fly together — and then we just walked around in the garden — they have this massive rose garden with all these amazing different roses — and we just walked around and talked, and then we had dinner and then I came home!”

”Yeah, that sounds like a great time”, Sirius says and ruffles Harry’s already windswept hair. ”So are you feeling better about—?”

Remus shoots Sirius an exasperated look, and the other man’s face falls. Harry feels his excitement stutter at the reminder that he’s going to have to go back to Hogwarts sooner than he’d expected, but he shakes off his renewed disappointment and forces himself to keep smiling. 

”Yeah, it’s fine”, he says. ”I understand.”

None of them have mentioned the Invisibility Cloak since Christmas morning and it’s not until Harry begins to pack his trunk that Remus brings it up when he suggests Harry leave it at home. 

”What? Why?” Harry protests. 

”I don’t want you getting into any more trouble, Harry”, Remus says in his sternest voice, but his frown quickly fades as Harry pouts. ”You do not need an Invisibility Cloak while at Hogwarts… Stop looking at me like that, Harry…”

”I won’t get into trouble!” Harry insists and barely refrains from stomping his foot in frustration. 

”Moony, let him take the Cloak, what harm will it do…” Sirius says. 

Remus shoots him a sharp look, but eventually gives up and allows Harry to pack the Cloak on the condition that he does not use it to break any more school rules or put himself in any dangerous situations. Harry eagerly agrees to the terms and gently folds the Invisibilty Cloak and puts in on top of all his other belongings in the trunk. He can’t wait to show it to Draco… 

The next day, Sirius drives Harry to King’s Cross in his flying motorcycle and helps Harry find platform eleven and a quarter, from which he can catch a northbound train that will stop at Hogsmeade. 

Harry feels heavy, like someone’s poured lead into his limbs and can’t bring himself to meet his dad’s eyes when it’s time to say goodbye. 

Sirius crouches down in front of him and puts a hand on top of his shoulder that weighs Harry down even more and he staggers a little under it. 

”Harry, Remus feels really awful about sending you away earlier and not coming to see you off today…”

”Whatever”, Harry mumbles thickly. 

”You’ll be fine, you’ll see, there are always at least a handfull of students left at Hogwarts during the hols, so you won’t be alone… and you’ve got Hedwig with you!” he adds with a grin as the bird hoots from inside her cage. ”I really am sorry though, but something came up at work and you know I’m not allowed to talk about it, but… It’s just a really unlucky coincidence that it should coincide with the f- I mean — with — with one of your daddy’s trips, yeah?”

Harry frowns. It’s not that he doesn’t understand, because he does. But he just doesn’t like the idea that his dads’ are keeping secrets from him. He’s not a little child anymore; he’s eleven; he goes to Hogwarts now!

”Come on, let’s find you a seat…” Sirius says bracingly and claps him on the shoulder, before grabbing his trunk for him.

They board the train and Sirius finds Harry a seat in a compartment with an elderly witch and stows Harry’s trunk underneath his seat.

”And when you get to Hogsmeade, just ask the conductor to help you lift it onto the platform, okay?”

”Okay”, Harry says and nods quickly, his stomach churning with nerves now that he’s about to say goodbye to his dad again. 

”And then you should be fine dragging it across the platform to the carriage, right? They are sending a carriage for you, aren't they?"

”Yeah”, Harry nods. "Daddy made sure."

”All right then… Well, look after yourself then, Harry… and I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

Harry swallows thickly, then launches himself at his dad and hugs him tightly. Sirius hugs him back and strokes his hair gently. The elderly witch watches them with misty eyes and smiles kindly at Harry when he takes the seat opposite her and waves at Sirius through the window as the train starts pulling away from the platform. 

”Hogwarts, is it?” she asks him in a brittle voice and Harry nods politely. ”Ah yes, I remember my first year at Hogwarts… What house are you in, boy? I was a Hufflepuff myself… Ah yes, what a glorious time it was…”

Harry tunes out the old witch’s musings after a while, when it becomes clear that she’s not paying enough attention to him to see whether he’s actually listening or not, and stares out the window instead… He thinks about his daddy’s mysterious travels that he’s apparently still too young to know the reason for… He thinks about Nicholas Flamel the alchemist and where he might have read his name, since he’s not in the habit of reading books about alchemy… He thinks about Draco… 

It turns out that the blonde had been right. Harry is the only Slytherin back early from the holidays and it’s the strangest feeling to have the entire Slytherin Common Room to himself. He curls up in an armchair in front of the big fireplace and stares mesmerized as the flames lick the inner wall. He is just about to get up and go to bed, when the door to the Common Room slides open and Professor Snape strides in with his robes billowing around him. Harry startles and sits up straighter. 

”Harry”, Snape greets cordially and gives him a tiny nod. ”I trust you had a good Christmas.”

Harry blinks in shock. Not that he’s had an opportunity to break any more school rules since he got back a few hours ago, but it would still have surprised him less if Snape had showed up to give him detention rather than wish him a happy christmas. 

Snape’s eyes flit away from Harry’s face and he glares half-heartedly at one of the Slytherin crests on the wall next to the fireplace. 

”It’s late. You should go to bed”, he says shortly. 

”Yeah, I… I was just about to… Sir”, Harry mumbles. 

Snape nods again, and without as much as another glance in Harry’s direction, he twirls around and stalks out of the Common Room again. 

Harry makes his way to the boys dormitory and changes into his pyjamas. He is just about to climb into bed, when the gleaming material of the Invisibility Cloak catches his eye and he has a sudden idea… With the Cloak on, he can go anywhere in the castle without Filch or Snape being able to catch him… He could even go into the Restricted Section in the library and look for references to Nicholas Flamel… Making his mind up, Harry quickly puts the Cloak on and looking down at himself, instead of his pyjama-clad legs, he sees only the dim light from the lanterns as it bounces off the flagged stone floor. It’s a very weird feeling. He pulls the Cloak over his head so that all of him is invisible, then sneaks out of the dorms. 

The library is pitch black and eerie. Harry grabs a lamp and lights it, holding it out in front of him so that it appears to be floating along in mid-air. The Restricted Section is at the very back of the library and Harry lifts his legs very carefully underneath the Cloak as he steps over the rope that separates the restricted books from the rest. 

He scans the titles, looking for anything to do with alchemy but finds nothing. Instead his eyes come to rest on a large, black and silver book titled The Book Of Screams and, curious, Harry pulls it out and balances it on his knee. As it falls open, a piercing, blood-curdling shriek rings out in the silence and Harry shuts the book again in panic, his heart hammering wildly in his chest, but the book continues screaming. 

Harry hurriedly puts it back on the shelf and makes a run for it. He almost collides with an out-of-breath Filch as the caretaker comes hobbling into the library, but Harry manages to dive under the man’s arm and streaks off down the corridor. 

Harry finally comes to a stop next to a suit of armour and tries to catch his breath. He’d been so intent on escaping Filch, that he hadn’t really paid attention to where he was going and now, looking around, he has no idea where he is… 

”You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody’s been in the library just now — in the Restricted Section”, Filch’s wheezing voice can suddenly be heard in the darkness and Harry feels the blood run from his face — whereever he is, Filch must have known a short-cut — and to Harry’s horror, none other than Severus Snape steps out of the shadows. 

”The Restricted Section? Well, they can’t have got far, we’ll catch them…”

If they do, Harry thinks desperately. If they catch me now, after Snape told me himself to go to bed, I’ll definitely be expelled.

As horrible as that thought is, when Harry thinks of his dads, he feels even worse. Because what would happen if he gets expelled tonight? They would send him home again, on the first train in the morning. Except no-one will be there waiting for him. The house will be empty, and Harry has no idea when either of his dads will be back again… 

I need to get back to the dorm before Snape decides to check on me, he thinks and starts inching backwards as silently as possible. But to his horror, Filch and Snape don’t continue further down the corridor, they start stalking towards Harry. 

It only takes Harry a split-second to realise that the corridor is too narrow for both wizards to pass him. The Cloak might make him invisible, but it doesn’t stop him being solid, after all. 

Harry backs away faster, feeling along the wall for a corner or a doorway, and to his immense relief, there is a door left ajar. He manages to slip inside just as Snape reaches him and the man walks past none the wiser.

Harry leans back against the wall next to the door and breathes a sigh of relief. Now he just needs to  find his way back to the dungeons before Snape gets there… 

But something catches his eye, distracting him… He squints into the darkness of the room… There it is again, something glinting in the far end of the room. He pushes away from the wall and walks closer to it… 

It’s a massive mirror propped up against the far wall, as high as the ceiling and with a beautiful gold frame into which is carved: ”Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi”

And the thing that had caught Harry’s eye, turns out to be the reflected light of the fullmoon outside the window next to it. 

Harry steps closer to the mirror to get a better look — his heart stutters in his chest and he has to clap a hand to his mouth to stop himself from screaming in shock — he quickly whirls around and scans the room behind him, but it’s completely empty… He is the only living being in this room, and yet… 

He turns back to the mirror again; he can see himself exactly as he is — but he can also see his dads standing at his right shoulder, beaming lovingly at him… and, even more shockingly, he can see Lily and James Potter at his left shoulder, smiling just as lovingly… and behind the four adults, Harry can see Ron and the Weasley twins, his fellow Slytherin first-years, Draco being the closest, and at his feet are Selina and Hedwig.

The whole thing is just too weird, Harry decides and doubles back to the door. He has to make it back to the Slytherin dorms before Snape gets back to the dungeons, in case he decides to make sure Harry really is in his bed…

By some miracle, Harry manages to find his way back to the dungeons and sneak into Slytherin Common Room undetected. He quickly slides under the cover of his bed and curls up on his side, and before he knows it, he’s fallen asleep.

When Harry goes up to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning, he notices that the other students have all forgone their house tables and are sitting together at the far end of the Hufflepuff table, joined by Professor Dumbledore and a handfull of teachers, including Snape. Harry sidles up to his Head of House and cautiously slides into the seat next to him. 

”Ah, Harry, welcome back my boy!” Professor Dumbledore exclaims. ”I trust you had a good holiday?”

”Yes, Sir”, Harry says quickly. ”Thank you.”

”Good, good… Help yourself to breakfast.”

Harry gives him a tight smile and reaches for the rice pudding, only then noticing Ron Weasley in the seat opposite him, bookended by the twins, all of them wearing matching jumpers with big, golden letters on the front. Ron’s has an R, presumably for ”Ron” and the twins have a G and an F on theirs. 

”Hullo”, Harry says. ”How come you’re not with the rest of your family?”

”Mum and dad decided to visit Charlie in Romania, so we got to spend Christmas here”, Ron says. ”What about you? Haven’t seen you since the end of term…”

”I just got here yesterday”, Harry says. ”My dads were called away unexpectedly…”

Harry can tell that only made the Weasleys more curious, but he’s uncomfortably aware of everyone else around the table listening in, so he quickly changes the subject as asks Ron what he got for Christmas. 

Harry and Ron continue talking, even as they finish their breakfast and leave the Great Hall. The twins bounce past them and bound towards the doors, pulling on hats and gloves. Harry and Ron watch them go and then peer at each other shyly, as it becomes suddenly clear that they will need to part ways if they’re going to go to their Common Rooms… Harry doesn’t really feel like going to the Slytherin Common Room. It’s not as fun when you’re on your own. But he can’t exactly bring Ron with him, and he’s pretty sure a Slytherin wouldn’t be allowed into the Gryffindor Common Room either. Where else could we go?

”Hey, do you want to go with me to the library?” he says suddenly. 

”Er — the library?” Ron says, looking a little less than excited at the idea. ”Okay, I guess we could go there…”

Once they’re seated at a table in the far corner of the library, out of earshot of the hawk-like Madam Pince, Harry decides to tell Ron about the three-headed dog, thinking it can only be good with a new perspective… By the time he’s finished telling him the story of how he and Draco narrowly escaped, Ron’s eyes are wide as saucers and he’s looking a lot paler underneath his freckles. 

”Blimey… How can they keep a beast like that in a school?”

”I know, that’s what I thought!” Harry says. ”But then Draco noticed something that I didn’t, and that’s that it was standing on a trapdoor, so we think it’s guarding something — and listen — when we were in the Dark Forest with Hagrid —”

”You were in the Forbidden Forest —?” Ron gasps incredulously. 

”Yeah, with Hagrid, as detention”, Harry says quickly. 

Then he tells Ron all about the hooded figure drinking blood from the unicorn and meeting the centaur Firenze who had started to tell Harry about the thing that’s hidden in the castle before they were interrupted by Hagrid and Draco. 

”And then Hagrid let slip that whatever Fluffy is guarding is between Dumbledore and someone called Nicholas Flamel…”

”Nicholas Flamel? Who’s that?”

”Some alchemist, apparently. We don’t know exactly. And we still have no idea what Fluffy is guarding, but there is someone out there in the forest, someone who’s not supposed to be there, and they want whatever it is… By the sounds of it, they’ll do anything to get their hands on it…”

”And you said your scar hurt when they got close to you? Has that ever happened before?”

”No — well, actually, yes — once — but…” Harry thinks back to the Welcoming Feast at the start of the year and the first time he saw Snape… Could it have been him in the forest? No, Harry thinks. I see him every day, and my scar doesn’t hurt all the time, does it? 

And then he remembers Hallowe’en. Snape had definitely tried to get past Fluffy then, and he’d got his leg mangled up for this troubles… How did I not see this before? Harry thinks wildly. Snape is trying to get whatever Fluffy is guarding!

”How could I have been so stupid”, he mutters. ”It’s Snape! It has to be!”

”Snape?” Ron says uncertainly. ”You really think — a teacher —?”

”Yes, I do”, Harry says urgently, and then tells Ron about Hallowe’en, and walking in on Snape bandaging his bloody leg. 

”Blimey, you don’t sit around do you…” Ron says faintly. ”I mean, Hermione did tell us about the troll, but… still…”

”If only we knew what Snape is after, what Fluffy is guarding…”

”Well, you said this Flamel guy had something to do with it, right?”

Harry nods, ”But we’ve looked through almost every book in the library and we can’t find anything on him…”

”Give me ten minutes, I’ll be right back!” Ron says and makes a run for the door, but immediately slows to a quieter walking pace when Madam Pince hushes him aggressively. 

He comes back a few minutes later, panting heavily but grinning from ear to ear. Harry gives him a questioning look and he hands him a Chocolate Frog Card… 

”Nicholas Flamel — the only known maker of the Philosopher’s Stone, with his partner Albus Dumbledore. Enjoys opera and—” Harry trails off and then looks up at Ron with wide eyes. ”This is it, Ron! This Stone, that’s what Snape’s after!”

”You think?” Ron whispers, but there’s a gleam of excitement in his eyes as well. 

The last few days of the Christmas holiday pass surprisingly quickly once Harry starts hanging out with Ron and the twins. They spend the majority of the days outside in the castle grounds, pelting snowballs at each other and making snow men. One day the twins bewitch a few snowballs to chase after Quirrell and keep bouncing off the back of his turban, until finally McGonagall catches them and assigns them detention to be served as soon as term starts again. 

Harry has got so used to sitting with the Weasleys at the Hufflepuff table that it feels weird to go sit in opposite ends of the Great Hall again once term starts. But at least Draco is back again and Harry gets to catch up with him instead. 

Later that night, Draco reveals that he’s smuggled his broomstick out of Malfoy Manor and into Hogwarts, which means they can finally fly together instead of taking turns, if they ever sneak out for a bit of secret practising again. 

”Yeah, but let’s not do it in the trophy room this time”, Harry whispers from his own bed. 

”Well, where else do you have in mind?” Draco whispers back. 

”Outside”, Harry says simply. ”I got something for Christmas that will help us sneak out unseen, I promise… Then we’ll just have to make sure we’re far enough away from the castle so we won’t be seen from the windows…”

”I — I don’t know —” Draco mutters uncertainly. 

”Oh, come on, Draco! It will be great! We’ll do it at night, there’s no way anyone will see us!”

It takes some persuading, but by the end of the term’s first week, Harry finally manages to lure Draco out the safety of their dorm after curfew. Ha drapes the Invisibility Cloak over the both of them, taking extra care to make sure it reaches the floor on all sides, so none of their feet can be seen under the hem. 

Draco is so awed by the Cloak the he doesn’t get cold feet until he literally gets cold feet, when they step outside the castle doors, and he stops dead in his tracks and stares wild-eyed at Harry like he can’t believe where they are. 

”Come on, it will be okay…” Harry whispers and gives him an encouraging smile. ”Draco… we’re invisible!”

That seems to work, because the other boy loses some of the panic in his eyes and he glances around hesitantly. The grounds are dead quiet and the every window of the castle is dark. He takes a deep breath and finally nods. Harry beams at him and before he’s really thought about what he’s doing, he’s leaned in to give the other boy a peck on the cheek. 

Draco flinches back and stares at him in surprise. Harry blinks rapidly, his face falling. Shit, why did I do that for, he thinks furiously. But Draco doesn’t seem angry with him exactly. In fact, after the initial shock has cleared, a small smile flickers onto his face. 

Harry stifles a sigh of relief and just jerks his head to signal they get moving again. 

They make their way across the grounds towards the Quidditch pitch, but halfway there Harry slows down and then finally stops. 

”What is it?” Draco whispers and with a hint of hope in his voice he adds, ”Do you want to go back?”

”No, I was just thinking… The Quidditch field is too open and we’d be silhouetted against the sky, look… If someone were to look out a window, they’d definitely see us if we fly there…”

”So wha—?”

”I think we should go this way”, Harry says and jerks his head towards Hagrid’s hut instead. ”I think we should fly next to the edge of the forest, there’s no way we’d be seen with the trees behind us.”

”The f-forest? Are you mad—?”

”I’m not saying go inside it. Just fly around the edge of it… It’ll be perfectly safe, and there’s no way we can get caught.”

Draco finally gives in and they make their way towards the forest instead. Once they’re at the edge, right next to the path that Hagrid had taken them on that time when they served detention with him, Harry pulls the Invisiblity Cloak off them and stuffs it into his pocket. 

They mount their brooms and kick off the ground. Swooping and swerving around each other in the air, the two boys start to relax more and more. It’s the most exhilarating feeling to be flying, and now for the first time ever, Harry gets to share the experience with Draco. He feels on top of the world… and judging by the ecstatic look on Draco’s face, he’d say he’s not the only one. 

Suddenly, Harry sees movement through the corner of his eye and swerves around. A hooded figure is running down front steps of the castle and heading towards them. Harry’s heart jolts and he looks around for Draco, waving at him urgently. 

”What?” Draco gasps happily as he swoops down next to him. 

”We have to hide”, Harry hisses. ”We’ll fly in amongst the trees — not far! Just so we can hide behind the first ones!”

Draco opens his mouth to protest, but Harry just grabs his arm and sets off towards the branches of the first few trees. Just as they’ve hidden, the hooded figure comes striding over the lawn towards them and Harry would recognise that stalking prowl anywhere… 

”It’s Snape”, he whispers. 

”Think he’s seen us?” Draco breathes, craning his neck slightly and peering out from behind a branch. 

”No… He’s not looking up… But he’s heading towards the forest…”

Harry remembers the hooded figure he’d seen drink the blood from the unicorn and his stomach clenches uncomfortable… Could that really have been Snape?

”What’s he doing?” Draco breathes out. ”What’s he doing walking into the Dark Forest in the middle of the night?”

”I dunno”, Harry mumbles. ”But I’m going to find out…”

”No, Harry, wait —!” Draco hisses as Harry zooms up through the branches of the tree and then flies silently over the forest, listening for Snape’s footsteps. 

After a while, Draco flies up next to him. 

Harry listens intently, finally hearing voices. He glides towards them, then lands soundlessly in a large beech tree and carefully climbs along one of its huge branches. Draco follows him, edging out onto another branch. 

”Harry!” he whispers urgently.

”Shh”, Harry hushes, because he can see Snape through the leaves now — and Quirrell — and by the sounds of it, they are arguing. 

”…d-don’t know why you wanted t-t-to meet h-here of all p-p-places, Severus…” Quirrell stutters faintly. 

”Oh, I thought we’d keep this private”, Snape says and there’s an icy tone to his voice that makes Harry shiver, so he can only imagine what effect it must have on poor Professor Quirrell. ”Students aren’t supposed to know about the Philosopher’s Stone, after all…”

Quirrell mumbles something too quietly for Harry to make out and he inches a bit further out on the branch and leans down. 

”Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid’s yet?” Snape interrupts Quirrell swiftly. 

”B-b-but Severus, I —”

”You don’t want me as your enemy, Quirrell”, Snape says taking a step closer to the trembling man. 

”I-I don-t k-k-know what you —”

”You know perfectly well what I mean.”

An owl hoots somewhere nearby, startling Harry who almost slips off the branch. When he’s got his footing again, he leans forward to listen once more.

”… your little bit of hocus pocus”, Snape says sourly. ”I’m waiting.”

”B-b-but I d-d-don’t —”

”Very well”, Snape cuts in. ”We’ll have another little chat soon, when you’ve had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie.”

Snape then throws the hood of his cloak back over his head and stalks out of the forest just as quickly as he’d entered it, leaving poor Quirrell alone in the dark. The man must have taken Snape’s threat to heart, because he is no longer trembling, Harry notices, but standing stock still as though he’s been petrified. 

”Let’s go”, Harry whispers to Draco, and they edge their way back on the branches and then carefully mounts their brooms and zooms away from the forest again. 

Once they’re safely back inside the Slytherin Common Room, Harry fills Draco in on what he and Ron had talked about in the library and how it all made sense; The Philosopher’s Stone was hidden at Hogwarts, guarded by Hagrid’s three-headed dog, and Snape was trying to get his hands on it. 

”And you think — what — that Snape was drinking that unicorn’s blood?” Draco says sceptically. ”Why would he do that? He’s not dying!”

”Not that we know of”, Harry mutters, but his conviction starts to falter a bit. 

”Look”, Draco says matter-of-factly. ”The whole thing sounds really far-fetched to me.”

”It’s not far-fetched!” Harry insists angrily. ”I don’t know why Snape wants the Stone, okay? But you heard him threatening Quirrell tonight. He more or less said he was trying to get past Fluffy, and then he said something about Quirrell’s hocus pocus, and I’ll bet you anything that he was talking abour some anti-Dark Arts spell that Quirrell’s done to protect the Stone, and Snape needs his help to break it…”

”So, what, Snape can’t get to the stone as long as Quirrell stands up to him and refuses to help?”

Harry nods miserably, ”In other words, he’ll get his hands on it any day now!”

”But look, who cares if Snape gets the Stone anyway”, Draco says. ”He’s our Head of House, we should be on his side in all of this!”

”Yeah, but… Look, I know he’s your favourite teacher, and that he favours you —”

”That’s not true!” Draco says stubbornly, and Harry rolls his eyes. ”Whatever. And I know he’s our Head of House, and although I’m pretty sure he really hates me deep down, he’s obviously doing his best not to show it —”

”That’s all in your head”, Draco grumbles, but Harry ignores him, just like he’s done every other time Draco has made this argument. ”But — whoever that person was in the forest, that was drinking that unicorn’s blood, if it was Snape, or someone else, they were evil, all right? That’s why my scar hurt, I just know it… and whether or not Snape has anything to do with all of this, that evil thing in forest wants that Stone, that’s what Firenze tried to tell me before you and Hagrid interrupted us. He said the unicorn blood would sustain them until they could get their hands on something else, something that would restore all their strength and power, something that would mean they can never die — he was talking about the Elixir of Life, the Philosopher’s Stone!”

”Maybe we should just go talk to Severus about it…”

”No!” Harry says horrified. ”Are you mad? What if he is involved somehow?”

Draco finally agrees not to go to Snape, but he’s still not convinced of Harry’s theory. And as the weeks go by, and their final exams are looming ever nearer, Draco becomes less and less interested in the Philosopher’s Stone and more and more worried about his revisions. 

”You’re almost as bad as Granger”, Harry mutters one day in the library, glancing from the frantic jerks of Draco’s quill to the Gryffindor in question who is sitting at the next table, pouring over piles of notes and mumbling anxiously under her breath. 

Draco ignores him, which is a bad sign. Usually, if Harry makes the slightest suggestion that Draco and Granger has anything in common other than the school they go to, the blonde will throw a proper hissy fit. Harry has to admit that’s sort of why he does it, and that’s why he said it just now. But apparently Draco is now so stressed about his school work that he won’t even rise to his favourite bait. Harry leans back with a sigh and glances around, accidentally locking eyes with Ron as the boy enters the library. They smile a little awkwardly at each other, then Ron’s ears go beet red and he quickly joins Granger at the other table. 

Harry turns back to Draco and finds him glaring at him.

”What?” Harry says. 

”Nothing”, Draco mutters and goes back to his essay. ”You know the exams are only ten weeks away, it wouldn’t hurt you to do a bit of revising…”

Ten weeks, Harry thinks. That’s ages… But apparently the teachers seem to think along the same lines as Draco and Granger, because in the next few weeks they pile so much homework on them that Harry barely has time to eat and sleep, which makes the Easter holidays a lot less fun than Christmas.

Harry’s dads arrange for him to come home for the Easter weekend, but the rest of the week he spends at Hogwarts — doing homework — and even when he does try to take a break from his studies, it’s impossible to relax because Draco is constantly next to him, muttering to himself or practising his wand movements.

One afternoon they’re sitting in the library when Hagrid shuffles into view, hiding something behind his back and trying to look inconspicuous when Harry waves at him, ”Hagrid! Hey, Hagrid — over here!”

”Shhh!” Madam Pince hushes aggressively from behind a shelf. 

”Sorry!” Harry mumbles at her, then turns back to beam at Hagrid as the half-giant shuffles a little closer. ”What are you doing in the library, Hagrid?”

”Just lookin’…” he says and looks around shiftily. ”What’re ye boys up to? Studyin’ for yer exams?”

”Trying to”, Draco mutters pointedly. 

”Hey, Hagrid”, Harry asks. ”I’ve been meaning to ask you, you know The Philosopher’s St—”

”Shhhh!” Hagrid hushes immediately, looking around to make sure no-one is listening. ”Don’ go shoutin’ about it, what’s the matter with yeh?”

”But I just wanted to know what else is guarding the stone apart from Fluffy —?”

”SHHHH!” Hagrid says. ”Listen — come an’ see me later, in me house, okay? I’m not promisin’ I’ll tell yeh anythin’ mind, but don’ go rabbitin’ about it in here, students aren’ supposed ter know, so they’ll think I’ve told yeh —”

”All right, we’ll see you later then!” Harry says and shrugs. 

”You’re not seriously thinking of going?” Draco says haughtily after Hagrid has shuffled out of the library again. 

”Why not?” Harry says. 

Draco merely looks scandalised at the idea and won’t explain why. Harry glances over at the other table and catches Ron’s eye. 

”What about you, Ron? Fancy a visit to Hagrid’s later?”

”I never said I wouldn’t go!” Draco says quickly. 

Ron looks uncertainly between the two of them, but then he focuses on Harry and shrugs, ”Sure… What was that he was hiding behind his back d’you reckon?”

”A book, obviously” Draco and Granger chorus, before flinching and glaring at each other. 

Harry hides his smile behind his hand and looks away. He can hear Ron coughing, but it definitely sounds amused. 

”I’m going to check and see what section he was in”, Harry says decisively and gets up. 

He finds the shelf immediately, because there’s still a book-sized gap left where Hagrid must have taken his book from. Harry quickly scans the titles on either side of the gap and gapes in astonishment. Dragons… They’re all about dragons… About raising and taming dragons, in fact… 

Harry realises that anyone who considers a gigantic three-headed dog fit for a pet, and even names it Fluffy, has a slightly different view of animals than most, but a dragon…Surely, the gamekeeper is just interested in them in theory and would never actually try and get a hold of one, Harry thinks faintly…It’s against wizarding laws if nothing else… 

An hour later, Harry sets off to visit Hagrid in his hut, Ron and Draco on either side of him, glaring daggers at each other over the top of Harry’s head. Granger had considered coming along as well, but opted for some more revising instead when Draco accidentally on purpose let it slip that the final exams often includes questions from sections in the text books that they haven’t even covered, and the only way to get top marks is to memorise the whole syllabus, including the recommended reading list. 

When they reach Hagrid’s hut, they’re surprised to see all the curtains drawn. Harry knocks on the door and Hagrid calls, ”Who is it?” before opening the door and ushering them inside. 

It’s stiflingly hot inside the small hut. Despite the warm weather outside, there’s a blazing fire in the grate. 

”So yeh wanted to ask me summat?”

”Yes”, Harry says, graciously accepting a cup of tea when Hagrid offers it to him. ”We were wondering what’s guarding the Stone besides Fluffy.”

Hagrid frowns at him, ”Of course I can’t tell yeh tha’… Number one, I don’ righ’ know meself see… And number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn’ tell yeh even if I could. That stone’s here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts — beats me how yeh even know abou’ Fluffy —”

”Oh, come on, Hagrid”, Harry wheedles. ”You do know, you know everything that goes on around here! Besides, we only really wanted to know who’s done the guarding, you know, who Dumbledore would trust enough to help, apart from you!”

Hagrid’s immense chest seems to swell at these words, and Harry exchanges a triumphant look with the other two boys. 

”Well, I don’ s’pose it could hurt ter tell you that… let’s see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o’ the teachers did enchantments, it was Professor Sprout —” he starts ticking them off on his fingers. ”Professor Flitwick — Professor McGonagall — Professor Quirrell — and Dumbledore himself did somethin’ o’ course… Oh, hang on, I'm forgetting someone… Oh yeah, Professor Snape!”

”Snape?” Harry says incredulously. 

”Yep! And tha’s it!” Hagrid says proudly. 

Harry thinks quickly… If Snape has been in on protecting the Stone, he could easily have found out how the others had guarded it, and he probably knew everything now, except Quirrell’s spell, which is why he’s been threatening him… and how to get past Fluffy.

”You’re the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren’t you Hagrid?” Harry asks anxiously. ”And you wouldn’t tell anyone, not even a teacher?”

”Not a soul except me an’ Dumbledore!” Hagrid says proudly. 

Harry nods, that’s something at least… Then suddenly, he sees something on the bottom of the grate, in the middle of the flames… Oh no…

”Hagrid — what’s that?”

”Eh?” Hagrid says a little too casually. ”Oh tha’… tha’s just… er…”

”Where did you get a dragon’s egg from?” Harry exclaims. 

”Well, I sorta won it, last night… from this fella in the pub…”

Harry just shakes his head, ”Hagrid, you can’t keep it. It’s illegal.”

”Oh, it’ll be fine”, Hagrid says and waves a dismissive hand. ”I got this book outta the library see… Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit… It’s a bit outta date, but it’s all in here, look… I just have ter keep the egg in the fire, ’cause the mothers breathe on the eggs you see, and once it’s hatched —”

”Once it’s hatched?” Ron says. ”Hagrid, you can’t keep a dragon in here!”

”Why not?” Hagrid says with frown. 

”You live in a wooden house”, Draco says in his most drawling voice and gives Harry a withering look when he kicks him under the table. 

”Hagrid… We’re just trying to help”, Harry says. 

”Don’ yeh worry about it, we’ll be fine”, Hagrid says and waves his hand again. ”I’ll let yeh know when it’s hatching, so yeh can come and see —”

”Oh yes”, Draco says haughtily as they’re walking back towards the castle. ”That’s exactly what I need right now, never mind revising for our final exams and make sure I actually pass and get to come back for Second Year, what I really want is to witness a dragon hatching —!”

”Keep your voice down”, Harry murmurs, looking around. 

”No, I won’t!” the blonde says shrilly. ”And if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to go to bed early—”

”You haven’t even had dinner yet —”

”—Good night!”

Draco stomps away from the other two and Harry sighs. Ron glances at him awkwardly.

”He’s a bit high-strung, isn’t he… Hey, I’m not having a go! Hermione’s the same.”

”I suppose”, Harry mutters. ”What are we going to do about the dragon?”

”I can write my brother Charlie, he works with dragons in Romania. I’m sure he can help.”

*

As the weeks pass, Draco becomes more and more stressed over the impending exams and Harry becomes more and more anxious about the Philosopher’s Stone. 

Lying in his bed one night, unable to sleep, he thinks back to that night in the forest and what the centaur Firenze had tried to tell him… 

Who would be that desperate, he’d asked him then. If you’re you’re going to be cursed forever, death’s better, isn’t it?

Who would be that desperate, he thinks now. Who would be evil enough slaughter something so pure and innocent and beautiful as a unicorn?

He half wishes his daddy was here so he might ask him, not that he would ask him if he was here. Then he’d have to explain to him how he came to know all these things in the first place, and he’s not sure that would go over too well with either of his dads…

Finally he starts to drift off and dreams of hooded figures dribbling blood that vanish into thin air as he looks directly at them… and then disembodied whispering voices hidden behind curtains that, when Harry pull them aside, vanish and the only thing he can find are hundreds of garlics, all dripping with unicorn blood… He wakes up in a cold-sweat, his scar prickling. 

He sits up and wipes his sweaty fringe form his forehead and rubs his scar, but it’s no use. The pain is coming from inside his head, not the scar itself. 

”Go see Madam Pomfrey”, Draco suggests in the morning, when Harry tells him. 

”I’m not ill”, Harry mutters and shakes his head. ”I think — I think it’s a warning… it means danger’s coming…”

And then it hits him like a bucket of ice water… Voldemort… 

”Harry? What’s wrong?” Draco says, peering closely at his face. ”You sure you’re not ill, ’cause you look positively —”

”No”, Harry gasps. ”Not ill…”

Draco frowns worriedly at him, ”What is it then?”

Harry just shakes his head. It all makes sense. Snape doesn’t want the Stone for himself, he wants it for Voldemort, to bring him back… That’s who was drinking the unicorn blood… That’s what Firenze had been about to tell him… Voldemort is back and if he gets his hands on the Philosopher’s Stone, he’ll get his powers back, he’ll be indestructible, immortal…

”Look at that”, Draco says with a sneer. 

He nods towards the High Table where a very morose-looking Hagrid is picking at his food and Harry looks but barely sees, his mind buzzing with terrible possibilities… Voldemort returning to power… Voldemort coming after him to finish the job… Voldemort killing his dads like he killed James and Lily Potter…

But no, he tells himself firmly. I won’t let that happen. Besides, as long as Dumbledore is around, we’re all safe. 

”I suppose Weasley’s brother finally took his precious dragon away”, Draco continues. 

”Yeah…” Harry murmurs, something niggling at the back of his mind. 

”Wonder what cutsie name he came up with — Cuddles, maybe —”

Harry suddenly feels his blood run cold as he turns to look at Hagrid as the half-giant gets up and starts walking out of the Great Hall. 

”Oh no… Oh, why didn’t I see that before —” Harry moans and jumps to his feet.

”What? What is it?” Draco says. 

”I need to talk to Hagrid!” Harry says and starts running after him. 

”Harry, wait —!” 

But Harry can’t wait. He needs to speak to Hagrid right now, before it’s too late. He can hear Draco running after him, but he doesn’t slow down to let him catch up. He can see Hagrid across the lawn, almost at his hut already and he runs faster. 

”Wait —!” Draco pants behind him. 

”Hagrid —!” Harry yells as he gets closer to the hut and Hagrid pauses with his hand on the doorknob and looks back. ”Hagrid, I need — to talk — to you —!”

Harry thunders to a stop in front of Hagrid and takes a deep breath. 

”Harry?” Hagrid frowns. ”Wha’s goin’ on?”

”Hagrid”, Harry says. ”You know that night you won the dragon’s egg? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?”

”Oh”, Hagrid says dully. ”Dunno. He wouldn’ take his cloak off and he had his hood pulled down over ’is face… Nothin’ unusual abou’ tha’ though… Yeh get all sorts in the Hog’s Head…”

”But what did you talk about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?”

”Mighta come up…” Hagrid says, frowning as he tries to remember. ”Yeah, he asked me what I did, an’ I told ’im I was gamekeeper here… he asked me wha’ sorta creatures I look after, so I told ’im… an’ I said wha’ I always really wanted was a dragon…” Hagrid heaves a sad sigh. ”Tha’s when he said he had the egg, said ’e could play me for it… but… let’s see… can’ remember too too well, he kept buyin’ me drinks, yeh see… no, yes, he said he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn’ want it ter go ter any old home o’ course…”

”And… what did you tell him then?” Harry says, as dread starts pooling in his belly. 

”Well, I told ’im, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy!”

”And did he — did he seem interested in Fluffy?” Harry says, trying to keep his voice under control.

”Well, o’course he was interested in ’im! How often d’yeh come across a three-headed dog, even if yer in the trade? But I told ’im, Fluffy’s a piece o’ cake as long as yeh know ’ow to calm ’im down — jus’ play ’im a bit o’ music an’ he’ll fall righta sleep!”

Harry groans and behind him, Draco groans as well. Hagrid seems to shake himself out of his memories and looks between the two of them, quite horrified with himself. 

”I shouldn’ta told yeh that!” he blurts. ”Forget I said it! Hey — where’re yeh goin’?”

But Harry ignores him and starts running back towards the castle, Draco close on his heel. 

”That — stupid — oaf!” he pants behind Harry. 

”Never mind that, we have to warn Dumbledore — now!”

They take the front steps two at a time and hurtle inside the Entrance Hall. Harry looks around, as if hoping a sign pointing them in the direction of the Headmaster’s Office might suddenly appear out of nowhere. 

”How do we find him?” he pants. 

Draco just shakes his head, doubled over as he is, trying to catch his breath. 

”What are you two doing inside?” the stern voice of Professor McGonagall startles them and they wheel around to see her coming down the marble staircase carrying a large pile of books. 

”We need to see Professor Dumbledore”, Harry says immediately. 

”See Professor Dumbledore?” McGonagall repeats and squints at them as though it was something rather fishy to want to do. ”Why?”

”Its — it’s kind of a secret”, he says. 

McGonagall gives him an unimpressed look, ”Well, you can’t. Professor Dumbledore left for London ten minutes ago.”

”He’s gone?” Harry says frantically. ”Now?”

”Yes”, McGonagall says curtly. ”Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time — it’s my understanding that he received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic this morning and he flew off for London at once.”

”But this is important —!”

”Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?”

”Look”, Harry says, finally throwing caution to the wind. ”It’s about the Philosopher’s Stone —”

The books McGonagall has been carrying tumble out of her arms and scatter on the marble floor around her.

”How do you know —?” she splutters.

”Never mind that, we think someone is going to try and steal it —!”

”Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow”, she says after a moment. ”I don’t know how you found out about the stone, but I can assure you that it is well protected.”

”But Professor —”

”Potter, I know what I’m talking about!” she says shortly and waves her wand at the books and makes them pile up in her arms again. ”I suggest you two go back outside and enjoy the sunshine.”

Harry and Draco watch her disappear through a door, then turn to look at each other. 

”It’s tonight”, Harry says grimly. ”Snape’s going to try and steal the stone tonight —”

Draco opens his mouth to protest, but Harry immediately cuts him off, ”We don’t have time to argue about this, okay! I just know I’m right, and you’re going to have to trust me!”

”Fine”, Draco says surly. ”So what do you suggest we do? You heard what McGonagall said. Dumbledore won’t be back until tomorrow.”

”We can’t wait ’til then. It’ll be too late.”

”Yeah, so what are we going to do?” Draco says again. 

”We’ll just have to try and get the stone first.”

”What?” Draco gasps. 

”Yeah? What else are we gonna do? Nothing?”

”But — but — we’ll be expelled —!”

”So what! Don’t you understand? If Snape — or whoever — gets a hold of that Stone, Voldemort is coming back!”

”W-w-wha— Vol— What?”

”Yeah, don’t you see? That’s who’s out there in the forest, that’s who’s been feeding off the unicorns to stay alive  — long enough to get his hands on the Philosopher’s Stone — and if we don’t stop him — there won’t be a Hogwarts left to be expelled from! He’ll flatten it to the ground, or, or, turn it into a school for Dark Arts or something!”

”B-b-but he’s d-dead —”

”No”, Harry says swiftly and he just knows it’s true, even though the tought only just occurred to him a while ago, he’s never been so sure of anything in his entire life. ”He’s not dead. He’s just weak. I know it’s him, or my scar wouldn’t be hurting…”

”Oh, Merlin…” Draco says in a small voice, and Harry notices for the first time that the boy is trembling all over. 

”It’s okay”, he says. ”I’ll take my Invisibility Cloak and sneak through the trapdoor and I’ll grab the stone before he can get his hands on it and keep it safe until tomorrow when Dumbledore gets back.”

”You can’t go by yourself — we need to tell someone!”

”Who?” Harry counters. ”McGonagall didn’t believe us. Who else can we tell? And don’t say Snape!”

”Well —”

”No! And it’s no use telling our parents, they won’t believe us and even if they do they won’t make it here in time.”

”Ehm — maybe — I don’t know — a Prefect?”

”No”, Harry says again, gentler this time, because he knows Draco is only frightened for him. ”I’ll go by myself, it will be easier to sneak past Sn— whoever— if it’s just me under the Cloak.”

”We both fit under the Cloak”, Draco says so quietly that Harry barely hears him. 

”What?”

”I said, we both fit under the Cloak. I c-could come with you.”

Draco boy looks white as a ghost and is trembling slightly, but there’s a determined look in his eyes.  Harry feels his chest swell and smiles at him. 

They go to the library to look for defensive and protective spells, anything they might need to get past the enchantments guarding the stone. 

”Hang on”, Draco whispers. ”The oaf — I mean, Hagrid — said Professor Sprout was one of the teachers who had helped guard the stone, right? So we need some books on herbology…” 

He jumps up and hurries down the aisles, scanning the subject signs. 

”Heya Harry…”

Harry looks up and sees Ron and Hermione Granger enter the library and waves back. Ron comes up to him and looks around at the piles of books on the table with a frown, ”What are you doing?”

”Ehm…”

”Here, I found some books on flesh-eating plants that might be useful”, Draco’s muffled voice can be heard from the other side of a toppling pile of books he’s carrying. 

”What’s that?” Hermione says rather shrilly. ”Why would you need to read about those? Did Professor Sprout say anything about —?”

”It’s not for the exams”, Harry says quickly, but that just makes the girl look even more suspiscious. ”Look… We’re going to try at get to the Stone.”

”What?” Ron and Hermione exclaim. 

”You told her?” Harry asks Ron wryly and the redhead blushes.

”Never mind that”, Hermione says. ”What do you mean you’re going to steal —?”

”I didn’t say we’re going to steal it”, Harry snaps. ”We’re going to keep it safe until Dumbledore gets back tomorrow, before someone else steals it!”

”And what makes you think you two will manage to keep it safe if even Dumbledore’s precautions aren’t enough to keep it from getting stolen?” 

”Because —!” Harry says loudly, then immediately lowers his voice again and looks around carefully. ”Because we know who wants to steal it and we know they know how to get past the three-headed dog, and probably the enchantments as well…”

”But you can’t go alone”, Ron says, looking slightly awe-struck as he gazes at Harry. 

”He won’t be going alone”, Draco says coldly. 

”What, you’re going with him — oh, that makes me feel loads better —”

”Don’t fight”, Harry mutters, before Draco can retaliate. 

”Well, we’re coming with you”, Ron says. 

”Like Hell you are —!” Draco snarls. 

”Shut up, Malfoy!”

”Okay, okay!” Harry says, holding his hands up. ”Draco — they can come if they want, we need all the help we can get, there’s no way we’re going to memorise all these books before nightfall, okay…”

Draco says nothing, but sulks for the rest of the afternoon, flicking idly through a copy of A Thousand Magical Herbs And Fungi while the others talk in hushed tones, Harry bringing Ron and Hermione up to speed with everything he’s worked out so far. 

By the end of it, they both look white as sheets. 

”That’s why we have to try and get to the Stone first, or Vol—”

”Don’t say the name”, Ron whimpers.

”Fine. You-Know-Who might rise to power again… So we’re all agreed? We’ll meet on the third floor after dinner?”

They all nod and go their separate ways. Draco is still sulking all throughout dinner, but Harry ignores him. He’s got bigger things to worry about. Ever since the idea popped into his head, that Voldemort might be back at any moment and come after him, every time his scar prickles he jumps and looks around as if expecting to see him burst out of the nearest door. 

”You know it’s weird, don’t you?” Draco says airly as they make their way towards the third floor after dinner. ”You’re the only Slytherin to socialise with Gryffindors. And it’s not just Slytherin, it’s all the houses. People don’t usually make friends with people from other houses…”

”What’s your point?” Harry sighs. 

”It’s just weird, that’s all… Like maybe you rather be in Gryffindor, maybe you wish the Sorting Hat had put you Gryffindor instead of Slytherin…”

”No, because it asked me if I wanted to be in Slytherin or Gryffindor”, Harry says matter-of-factly. ”And I told it — well, I — I told it I couldn’t choose, actually.”

”And now you regret not telling it to put you in Gryffindor?” Draco says sharply. 

”No, not at all”, Harry says truthfully. ”I like being in Slytherin. I like our Common Room and I like going to bed and listening to the lake lapping at the windows in our dorm. I like most of the people in Slytherin, except for Greg and Vincent… and Pansy…”

Draco’s lips twitch a little, ”Oh, is that all?”

”Well, then there’s my number one favourite thing about being in Slytherin… The reason I was thinking about wanting to be in Slytherin in the first place when the Sorting Hat asked me…”

”And what’s that?” Draco says, carefully keeping his voice and face neutral but his eyes are glittering. 

”You”, Harry says simply. 

Before Draco has a chance to respond to that, they round the corner and come face to face with Ron and Hermione who are waiting for them outside the door to Fluffy’s corridor. Harry leans close to the door and listens for Fluffy’s growls and snuffles, but he doesn’t hear any of that… He hears music… And snoring… 

”Oh no…” he breathes and quickly straightens up again. ”He’s already got past Fluffy!”