Uncomfortable Discoveries

Potter Residence, (Dec. 22 nd )...

"Hey Harry," Nathan said, entering his brother's room, "Mum wants to talk to us."

"Oh?" Harry asked, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "What did you do now?"

"Nothing," Nathan said a little too quickly. "Well, nothing that would get you in trouble."

"Whatever," Harry said as he and his brother went downstairs and into the living room where their mother and father were talking.

"Harry, Nathan, your mother has just gotten off the fellowphone with the Grangers," James said brightly. Harry and Nathan both snickered at their father's intentional mispronouncing of the Muggle device.

Lily shook her head. "James, stop being stupid. Anyway boys, your father and I have discussed it, and we're going to be having a small party on New Year's. As of right now, the only people who are coming are your uncles, the Weasleys, and the Grangers. Harry, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to invite anyone from Hogwarts? Albus will be providing Portkeys for everyone so we don't have to worry about giving away the secret to the Fidelius Charm."

Harry shifted nervously. "Ugh, no, I'm good," he said before making an excuse and going back upstairs to his room.

"That was strange," James commented.

"I know," Lily said in concern. "He's been acting a little 'off' lately. Nathan, did anything happen at Hogwarts?"

"I'm not sure," he said, feeling slightly guilty that something might be wrong with his brother and he hadn't realized. "I… well, Harry and I weren't able to spend a lot of time together this last term, so I didn't get to talk to him a lot."

Lily appeared surprised. "Why weren't you able to spend time together?"

"You didn't get into a fight, did you?" James asked. "Harry mentioned that you two didn't sit together on the train ride back home."

"No, we didn't get into a fight," Nathan said quickly, "It's just...he's in Ravenclaw, and I'm in Gryffindor. We don't share any classes, and I've been really busy with Quidditch and everything."

Lily and James shared a disbelieving look. "So you didn't talk to each other for an entire term?"

Nathan shook his head. "No, we did... just not a lot."

"Who does Harry spend time with?" asked Lily intently. "I know we've spoken about Ron and Hermione, but somehow I can't remember Harry ever mentioning his friends."

"I--I really don't know," Nathan admitted.

"I don't like the sound of this," Lily muttered. "Nathan, try harder. Can you think of anyone that Harry is close to at Hogwarts or might have mentioned as being a friend?"

Nathan thought back. He recalled all the times he saw Harry studying in the Library surrounded by books, but never people. At meals, his head was always down, never involved in conversation. The happy smile on his face whenever they talked, and the brief flash of annoyance whenever Nathan had to leave and do something with Ron or Hermione.

With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Nathan remembered Hermione's comment about Harry sitting alone on the express. "I--I can't think of anybody."

"Nathan, why don't you go fly outside," James ordered. "Your mother and I need to talk."

Reluctantly, Nathan nodded his head and went outside. He didn't go flying though; he was too disappointed in himself. Sure he was busy at Hogwarts, but he should have recognized something was bothering Harry. He'd make it up to his brother next term. He'd make time to hang out with him, even if it meant hanging out in a library for a day studying. Nathan smiled slightly, Hermione would probably like that plan.

Once Nathan was outside, James turned to his wife. "Do you think I should go talk to Harry?

"I don't know, James," Lily muttered. "Merlin, I knew something seemed off with Harry."

"What do you think we should do? After how quickly Harry left, he clearly doesn't want to talk about it."

"He's probably embarrassed, James. How would you feel?"

"I honestly don't know," James admitted. "I met Sirius on the express along with Remus and... him. I never had a problem with friends at Hogwarts after that."

"I can't believe Nathan," Lily said, the disappointment evident in her voice. "He should have realized something was wrong. I don't believe that tripe about how being in different houses means they didn't have time for one another. Severus and I were in different houses and that didn't stop us from being best friends for the longest time."

James smartly swallowed the comment he wanted to make about Snivellus. Lily and the greasy git had reconnected several years ago and had been steadily rebuilding their friendship. They had even started to do some Potions research together. It had at first bothered him, but he had smartly swallowed his pride and never said anything. He had Lily, and he knew that she loved him. Snivellus wasn't worth fighting with his wife over anymore.

"So what do we do about Harry?" James finally asked.

"I think we should let him come to us," Lily said after a moment of thought. "I don't want him to feel bad over Christmas, and Harry knows he can trust us with anything. If he hasn't talked to us about his problems by the start of the new year, we'll sit him down and talk to him about it."

"I hope you're right."

"Me too, James. Me too."