11 Brothers Stick Together?

Hogwarts Library, (Oct. 17 th )...

Sitting in his familiar back table in the library, Harry glanced at the books on Charms, Defense, and Transfiguration that were spread out all around him. Had any of his professors walked by, they would have been slightly concerned at the intense look of concentration and the ever-growing list of incantations the young man was writing down.

"Hey Harry, long time no see."

Harry looked up and smiled as Nathan walked over. His smile faded slightly when he saw Ron Weasley following his brother like a lost puppy.

Harry hadn't seen much of his brother since coming to Hogwarts. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws didn't share any classes together, and it was generally frowned upon to sit with anyone other than one's housemates at meal times. Also, the fact that Nathan had somehow managed to do the impossible by getting placed onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a first year meant a lot of his time was now spent at practice. As such, Harry had only sporadically spoken to his brother, and whenever he had been able to talk to Nathan, Ron Weasley was always present at his brother's side.

Not that Harry had any major problem with Ron; he was a decent enough bloke. Still, Harry was getting slightly annoyed that every time he wanted to hang out with his brother or share some of the problems he had been having since coming to Hogwarts, Ron was always there tagging along.

"Nathan, I'm surprised to see you in a library," Harry quipped.

Nathan smiled. "I've come here to rescue you from yourself, Harry. Come on, Ron and I are going to go explore the castle. These books," he said, motioning to the massive stack surrounding his brother, "can wait."

"No Nathan. Maybe another time."

"Harry, come on. What is so important?" Nathan asked, grabbing the nearest book and looking at it. His eyes widened slightly as he read the title. "Why are you reading a third year Transfiguration book?"

"I am trying to figure out how to transfigure something, obviously," Harry said evasively. Quirrell had told him that he was not, under any circumstances, to tell anyone about his extra lessons. Harry assumed that the man didn't want it getting back to the other faculty that he was spending several hours a week cursing a student. Regardless of the fact that Harry had agreed to the lessons, and kept coming back for more, it wouldn't look good for Quirrell if this news got out.

"Geez, you're like a male Granger," Weasley said with a smirk.

"I'm sorry I actually enjoy learning magic, Weasley," Harry said defensively. He had seen Granger a few times in the library. He had even attempted to talk to her once. After the girl had snapped at him to leave her alone and that she wasn't going to help him with his homework, Harry was rather insulted and hadn't tried to approach her again.

"But Harry this is a third-year book, do you even understand this stuff?" Nathan asked, sounding a little bit impressed and taking a seat across from his brother.

"Some of it is over my head," Harry admitted, "but Madam Pince gave me a good book on theory that has helped a lot. Do you want to read it?"

"Maybe," Nathan said as he continued to flip through pages in the Transfiguration book.

"Nathan, not you too," Ron whined. "Come on, we were going to explore the castle!"

Nathan looked between his brother and Ron for a second. "Well I did promise Ron we'd go exploring."

"Go," Harry said, trying not to sound bitter. "I'll give you the book later."

"Alright, I'll see you later, Harry, don't study too hard." Nathan grinned. "I wouldn't want your brain to explode."

"Get out of here before you get me in trouble for being loud," Harry said, enjoying the familiar banter with his brother.