Chapter 32: What are Friends For...

(General POV)

The winter holidays had finally come to an end, which wasn't soon enough for Draco Malfoy, if the way he seemed to relax when he entered into the Great Hall was any indication. "Did you actually try to kill him?" Godric asked Harry as he stared across the room at the Slytherin table.

"No. We were given etiquette lessons over the holidays, and I don't think he appreciated them. They weren't that bad, so I don't know why he was complaining so much." Harry answered honestly. He rather enjoyed his time with Andromeda, and had told her such after their last lesson before the holidays and informed her that he couldn't wait to see her during the Easter Holidays.

She had told him he was the only one to tell her such things, and then informed him that he was her favorite student. She had said this while looking at Nymphadora, so Harry wasn't sure if she was being serious or just taunting her daughter, but he liked to believe what she said was true.

 "So how was it living with Malfoy? Are you going to be able to manage for the next five to six years without killing him?" Godric asked.

"We didn't really talk with each other, and I only saw him during lessons or at meals when I was home. I spent more than half of my holidays at either Hermione's or Neville's houses, so I wasn't home that much. If this keeps up, it shouldn't be hard at all to put up with him." Harry answered as he too looked over to Malfoy who was sitting alone at the far end of the Slytherin table.

"You spend an awful lot of time with Hermione." Godric said, his words snapping Harry's gaze to him, which only made him smirk. "So? What's wrong with spending time with her? She's my friend." Harry said, sounding a little defensive.

"Nothing. Just if I were you, I wouldn't hesitate when the time comes, otherwise someone else will see how awesome she is and steal her away from you." Godric said, his words confusing Harry.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, looking more lost than ever. "Well, its-" Godric started when suddenly Neville, Helga, Hannah, and Sally came strolling over and sat down next to them. "I'll tell you later." Godric whispered to Harry as he greeted the rest of their friends.

 Rowena and Hermione arrived a few minutes later, and Salazar only appeared about a minute before the feast. Savrin gave a brief welcome back speech before the feast got underway and everyone began telling each other all about their holidays. It was only after everyone had stuffed themselves with desert when Godric noticed Hannah staring at him with a look of confusion.

"What?" He asked her as he looked down at himself. "Did- Did you get bigger?" She asked him, and it was only then that the others took notice of how much bigger Godric seemed compared to before.

"Kids tend to do that until they hit a certain age. We all grow. Even you." Godric said as he not-so-subtly shot a glance at her growing bosom, which in turn made the young girl's face flush a dark crimson. "Don't be an ass." Helga warned him before she changed the topic to their Christmas presents.

 When the feast ended everyone went back to their dormitories to get some sleep. When Harry, Godric, and Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room, their attention was pulled to the snickering in the corner.

Looking over, Harry saw Ron, Seamus, and Dean laughing at a crude drawing Ron was holding up into the air for the whole common room to see. It was a stick figure of a person with what looked to be a mess of hair shooting out in every direction on it's head, then where the mouth should have been there were only two large teeth that went down past the chin of the stick figure.

Harry was confused about what the stick figure was until it started moving on the page and began to read a poor imitation of what looked like a book, then words suddenly appeared above its head. [At least books don't care how I look.]

 Harry was still looking at the picture in Ron's hand when Hermione ran past him and up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. Evidently she had clued in to who the drawing was supposed to be sooner than Harry or Godric, and she didn't find it funny at all.

"20 Points from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley! For being a right cunt!" Margret Jennings, a seventh-year prefect witch stated from behind Godric and Harry, then she went up the stairs after Hermione. Godric had only ever seen the woman in passing, but he found in this moment he rather liked the older prefect witch.

"What is your problem?!" Harry shouted at Ron as he angrily approached someone he once considered a friend. "It was just a joke! Besides, its not too far off from the real thing." Ron said as he held up the drawing for everyone to see.

Harry didn't realize he had even moved until he saw Ron sprawled out on the floor holding his nose, which was probably broken if the *crunch* sound was any indication.

"Not a bad hit, but you need to work on your swing. If you turn like this as you're punching, you get your whole weight behind the punch and you can hurt them even more." Godric said as he stepped up beside Harry and began to perform punches in the air.

"What?" Was all Harry said, looking confused and slightly angry at the whole situation. "Your punch. It needs some work." Godric said, again going through the motions on how to throw a proper punch.

 Percy Weasley came into the room a minute later, trailed by McGonagall, who after finding out the situation, gave Harry detention for three days for assaulting a student. Apparently Ron had already been punished with the broken nose and losing the house points, so he wasn't reprimanded any further and was simply told to go to the hospital wing.

"First night back at school and I've already got detention. Gramps isn't going to like this. On the plus side, Sirius might find it hilarious." Harry grumbled under his breath. "Hey, if you wouldn't have hit him, I would have. You were defending your friend, so don't worry about it." Godric told him, quite pleased with how the whole situation had turned out.

 Ignoring everyone else in the common room who were pointing and whispering about him, Harry moved up the stairs to his room, leaving Godric behind. He would have liked to go check up on Hermione, but boys weren't permitted to go up the girl's dormitory.

As soon as he entered his room, Harry went to his bed before drawing the curtains around him, then cast a few silencing charms around it so no one could hear what was going on inside. Sirius had taught him the spell over the summer, and he had used the spell a number of times to block out the snoring from the rest of the boys who shared the room with him. Godric in particular snored quite loudly, and unless you went to sleep before him, it was hard to sleep without the spell.

 Once everything was quiet, Harry pulled out his ACD and called Hermione. She didn't answer the first or second time, but on the third call she answered, and Harry could tell she was crying by her sniffling.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" He asked her. "I'll be okay. I was going to call my mum before I go to sleep." Hermione told him. Harry tried to tell her that Ron was just a prick and that there was no need to take him seriously, but he could tell the drawing still irked Hermione.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think I broke his nose just now." Harry finally admitted, earning a gasp from the girl. "You didn't?!" Hermione asked aghast.

"Yeah. I got detention for the next three days though, and McGonagall is going to call Sirius tonight to tell him." Harry said, surprising his friend. "Oh, Harry. You shouldn't have done that." She told him, sounding a little angry but slightly amused as well. However, she didn't seem sad anymore, which made this a win for Harry.

 The two of them talked for almost twenty minutes before finally deciding to call it a night. Just before they ended the call, Hermione said, "Thank you, Harry." then she hung up on him. Harry was about to go brush his teeth when his ACD lit up. Looking at the face of the gemstone, he let out a small groan when he saw that it was Arcturus. Deciding to not put this off, Harry answered the call.

"Hello, Gramps." Harry greeted, then quickly added, "I made it back to school in one piece, and the feast was good. I'm just about to brush my teeth before I turn in for the night." There was silence for a few seconds before Arcturus' voice sounded from the device. "I see. So is there nothing you want to tell me?"

The question didn't sound like a question, but rather more like an interrogation. Sighing, Harry spoke, "I don't know how much Professor McGonagall told you, but someone was insulting my friend so I broke his nose. I was given detention."

"After everything I've taught you in the last year, and you do something like this…" Arcturus began, sounding disappointed. "I would think after everything you've learned that you wouldn't be so barbaric. We're wizards, boy! Why didn't you use a curse or a hex on him?!" Arcturus asked, sounding somewhat angry, however Harry was simply confused.

 "Wait, what? You don't care that I broke someone's nose or that I got detention?" Harry asked, wondering if he was dreaming. "Of course not! With the things I did in school, it would be quite hypocritical to be mad at you for something as simple as this. But still, you have magic! The power to change the world at your fingertips, and ways to punish people without ever getting caught. Instead you resort to muggle means, and use brute force. The next time you get into trouble, it better be because you used magic!" Arcturus stated, confusing Harry even more.

"Now, now Arcturus! Don't tell the boy that! You'll turn him into the next Dark Lord!" Andromeda's voice sounded over the device. "Listen to me, Harry. What you did is fine because you were defending your friend, but sometimes violence isn't always the right solution." Andromeda said to him.

"Yes it is!" Arcturus shouted in the background. "Please try and not hurt anyone, however if it comes down to you or them, hurt them." Andromeda said quickly before the device was taken from her by Sirius.

 "Hey, Pup! It's about time you finally did something to warrant a letter home. I was beginning to worry you inherited more of your mum than your dad. Anyway, don't listen to anyone else. You did the right thing to stand up for your friend, and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Your dad defended me more times than I can count, and it meant the world to me. Your friend is lucky to have a friend like you, and I hope you don't change for anything. Don't worry about what the teachers say, you'll be fine. In fact, Gramps and I will stop by in a few days to check up on the school. Board inspection, we'll call it. I'm glad you made it safely. Goodnight, Harry." Sirius finished, then started yelling at Andromeda in the background before the call ended. \

'So I'm not in trouble… neat.' Harry thought as he flung the curtains to the bed aside. Finding out that he wasn't going to be in trouble at home was like a weight off of his shoulders, so with a skip in his step he left the room.

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 The next few days passed with nothing significant happening, other than Harry's detentions of course. Ron also gave Harry a death stare every time he looked at him, but he would flinch whenever Harry took a step in his direction.

For his first detention, Harry had had to write an essay for Professor McGonagall on transfiguration, which wasn't so bad because Hermione basically wrote it for him, then he had had to help mark some papers.

For his next detention, he'd had to help professor Sprout fertilize and tend to the Mandrakes they had been growing since the beginning of the year.

For his final detention, Harry was told he had to help professor Winslow polish every potion utensil in the classroom and make sure the ingredients were all preserved and stored away, while making notes about which ingredients would need stocked up soon. It wasn't so bad because the woman was very kind, and unlike Snape, she wasn't a greasy git. In fact, her hair sparkled and she smelled of coconuts and strawberries, but that's besides the point.

 Harry had just cleaned his fifty-second cauldron when the door to the classroom opened, and in walked Sirius. "Sirius? What are you doing here?!" Harry said excitedly as he moved to greet his Godfather. "I told you. Board inspection." Sirius answered with a smile.

Both of them froze when they heard someone clearing their throat, and turned to see the potions teacher standing in front of her desk. "Where are your manners, Harry? Introduce me to this lovely young lady." Sirius said as he strode past Harry towards his teacher.

"Sorry about that. Professor Winslow, this is my Godfather, Sirius Black, heir to the Ancient and noble house of Black. Sirius, this is my Potions teacher, Professor Winslow." Harry said coolly. "Please, just call me Elise." The potions teacher said as she extended her hand in greeting, but rather than shake it, Sirius leaned over and kissed the back of it. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Elise." Sirius said with a broad smile as he continued to hold the woman's hand.

 Harry watched the two of them stare at one another for almost a full minute before he got really uncomfortable, then decided he didn't want to watch them anymore and went about cleaning the rest of the utensils. When he finished cleaning, Sirius and his teacher were still standing over by her desk, only they were laughing at something.

Shaking his head, Harry went about checking over all of the ingredients in the storage room, writing down which ones were almost empty, and which ones they had an abundance of. That took him almost forty-five minutes, and when he finished he looked over towards Sirius and his teacher, both of whom were still standing where they had been when he left them.

'Remus did say Sirius was a womanizer. I just hope he doesn't do anything that would make her take her anger out on me.' Harry thought, dreading the idea of having another Potions teacher having it out for him.

 Walking over to the desk, Harry quickly drew the attention of both Sirius and the potions professor. "I'm done, Professor Winslow." Harry said, then extended the list of ingredients that he had catalogued.

"Oh. Thank you Mr. Potter. You may go now." She told him after taking the list from him. "I'll catch up with you later." Sirius told him, then gestured for him to leave. Having been properly dismissed, Harry left the room, absently wondering if Sirius was going to get into trouble.

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 (February 20, 1993)

 (General POV)

 Time seemed to move rather quickly, and before anyone knew it, it was time for the next Quidditch match. It was Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, but most people were betting on Gryffindor, if the last Gryffindor game was anything to go off of. Godric looked pumped and ready to go, as did the rest of the Gryffindor team, and Gryffindor house was in high spirits even though it would be quite cold outside today due to the snow.

"We're going to demolish your house." Godric said cheerfully to Helga, who frowned at him. "Only because you play dirty. Besides, you haven't won yet." Helga argued back. "Care to make a little wager?" Godric said, hoping to earn a few galleons on the side. "As if you need any more incentive to play dirty. No, I'll not be making any bets with you." Helga told him with a roll of her eyes.

 It wasn't much later before everyone gathered out on the Quidditch pitch and soon enough everyone was cheering as Hufflepuff and Gryffindor walked out onto the field. Madam Hooch blew her whistle as the two Bludgers, the Quaffle, and the Snitch were all released, then as one both teams rose into the air.

Alicia was the first one to get to the Quaffle, and after narrowly dodging one of the Hufflepuff players, she passed the Quaffle to Godric. Now in possession, Godric looped himself around the Hufflepuffs, then when one guy tried to hit him, Godric threw the Quaffle into the back of the guy's head and knocked him off of his broom, then caught the Quaffle as he continued on his way. When he neared the Hufflepuff goal post, he faked a throw but actually passed the Quaffle to Angelina who scored in the open hoop.

 Things proceeded much the same way for most of the game, with Hufflepuff getting the occasional goal. There was one point in the game where Harry almost caught the Snitch, but a Bludger hit the stick of his broom at the last second and knocked him off.

Thankfully Fred caught him mid-fall and George brought his broom over to him so they could continue. The whole thing only lasted about ten seconds, but it was enough time for the Snitch to disappear from sight, but thankfully the Hufflepuff Seeker hadn't been able to find it again either.

 Godric was flying with the Quaffle towards the Hufflepuff end when he noticed the two Hufflepuff chasers coming in on both sides of him. Smirking, he waited until the last second, then turned his broom upside down and let himself fall.

Where he had been before, the two Hufflepuffs who had been about to crash into him slammed into each other, and both of them were knocked off of their brooms, but thankfully someone was paying attention and they were placed on the ground before shortly climbing back on their brooms and racing after the Quaffle, which had already been thrown through their goal post.

 When Harry finally saw the Snitch again, he shot off like a rocket, only this time the Hufflepuff Seeker was hot on his tail. The Snitch led them around the stands and even into the range of the Bludger, but thankfully Fred had been there in time to shoot it back at the Hufflepuff Seeker and sent him tumbling through the air.

The guy was resilient however, because he never let go of his broom, and recovered before he even had a chance to fall. However it didn't matter, because the whistle blew a second before he managed to right himself, signalling the end of the match. Harry held the Snitch high into the air for everyone to see, causing the crowd of onlookers to roar and cheer.

"HARRY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS 390-60!" Lee Jordan announced over the microphone, and once more the crowd of onlookers began to cheer.

 "The Quidditch Cup is as good as mine!" Wood cried out as he almost smothered Harry with how tight he was holding him. "You mean 'Ours' Wood. The Quidditch Cup will be ours." Angelina corrected him, getting a quick nod from their captain.

"That's what I meant!" Wood clarified. Two games in a row they had dominated the opposing team, and now they only had Ravenclaw to deal with, but Wood was confident in their ability to take down the last obstacle standing in his way of the Cup.

 Most of the school, even the Hufflepuffs went to a raging party at the pools. Godric had invited everyone in the school, not feeling as though they shouldn't be included in the party, however it wasn't unexpected when almost no Slytherins showed up. Not even Salazar did, although that was because he was playing with a baby Kneazle in the Care of Magical Creatures classroom.

"I see Mr. Tibbles has grown a liking to you." A gruff voice behind him said, causing Salazar to turn to see who had entered. "Mr. Tibbles?" Salazar asked as he looked between Silvanus Kettleburn and the baby kitten he was currently holding.

"A first-year girl named him. She was actually the one who told me Milly had had kittens." Professor Kettleburn said as he stroked the back of a much larger dark-haired Kneazle laying only a few feet away from Salazar.

"You let her name this one Mr. Tibbles?" Salazar asked, still not sure about the name. "She named all four of the kittens. Mr. Tibbles, and that black one over there is Butch. The blue one is named Tom, and the white one is Toodles." Professor Kettleburn shared the name of all four kittens.

 "And you just let her name them?" Salazar asked curiously, not finding anything wrong with the names, just finding them a little odd. "They had to be named something, and I wasn't about to argue with the girl." Silvanus said, earning a shrug from Salazar.

He had decided to take a break for today, but instead of going to watch the Quidditch match, he had opted instead to play with the creatures wandering about the school until he found the baby Kneazles.

"Mr. Tibbles… For some reason that name doesn't sound so bad after saying it a few times." Salazar said to the kitten. He stayed with the kittens for another hour before he decided it was about time to head to dinner. "I'll come and see you all another day." Salazar said to the kittens who began running around his feet as he moved towards the door.

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 A month passed rather quickly, as well as the next Quidditch match. Slytherin had narrowly beaten Ravenclaw with a score of 180-160, but Gryffindor was still holding the lead in points over all, so neither team really celebrated all that much.

On March 20, Savrin called for Elysia to bring him any house-elf born this year, but only one had. Savrin had taken it to the tree in the forest, and just like he had done with the four ugly little creatures from the previous year, he placed the little house-elf's hand on the trunk of the tree, then he channeled his magic through it, creating a tether of magic that bound the elf to the tree.

The tree visibly grew before his eyes, and once more the little elf began to change. Its floppy ears straightened, its nose shrunk, and its skin grew darker and it grew ashen grey hair. It looked so much like the ones from the previous year, and thankfully it looked far less like the house-elves Savrin didn't like seeing.

 Looking at its hideous mother, Savrin passed the baby wood-elf to her and repeated the same warning he had given the other mothers the previous year. She would raise the baby and teach it manners, but he would be the one responsible for its education. She would also bring the little wood-elf to this place at least once a day, which would further tie it to the tree and the forest surrounding it.

"From now on, his name is Oakley. I don't care what it was before." Savrin told the mother who began to nod her head quickly in understanding.

 -------

 It was a day before the Easter Holidays and the Heads of each of the four houses had told the students that now was the time that they should begin thinking about the Elective Subjects they wanted to sign-up for in the following year. Every student was required to sign-up for at least two Elective subjects to go with the seven Core subjects taught at Hogwarts. Of course a student could sign-up for more than two Electives, but it wasn't required.

"What courses are you thinking of taking?" Neville asked Godric, who seemed to brush off McGonagall's words about their next year's courses. "Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies." Godric answered simply as he flipped through a comic book.

"Ancient Runes I understand, but why Muggle Studies?" Harry, who was sitting in the chair next to Godric asked curiously. "I find some of the things they create to be very entertaining. If I'm going to be required to do extra work next year that has no relevance to me or my goals, I'm going to pick one I might enjoy. As for Ancient Runes, I'm hoping the Headmaster changes it like I think he will, so hopefully I'll be able to learn something from it. I already know most of everything else." Godric said, confusing both boys once more.

"What are your goals? For after school, I mean." Neville asked. "Either become an Auror with the Ministry or an Adventurer who explores the world. Maybe both." Godric answered calmly as he flipped through another page.

 "I wish I knew what I wanted to be when I grow up." Neville said dejectedly. "Oh please, Nev. In a few years, Helga is going to ensnare you to the point where you won't ever be able to escape, and then she's going to force you to grow her ingredients for her potions, probably here at Hogwarts as a professor while she takes care of your many fat babies." Godric said while still reading his comic, missing the shocked expressions on both Harry and Neville.

"Wait, what?!" Neville asked, sounding so horrified that it drew Godric's attention away from his book. "Hmm? What did I say that surprised you?" Godric asked, finding their expressions to be different from what he was expecting.

"Helga's going to ensnare me and force me to grow her ingredients?!" Neville practically shouted at Godric, drawing more than a few gazes towards him. "Well, she is rather possessive. And you are already wrapped around her finger. I wouldn't say she's going to force you to do anything, but you're going to be too smitten with her to say no. Nothing wrong with that. As for the baby thing, I imagine you'll want to have children when you two get married. That's just how most people are." Godric said, not seeing anything wrong or inaccurate with the words of wisdom he was providing.

And it wasn't like he had no basis for the words either. Neville and Helga spent way too much time together, and the way Helga practically hung off Neville's hip, it was obvious she liked him, and given how he acted towards her, Neville most likely liked her too. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that the two would get together.

 Both Harry and Neville looked like fish out of water, but Godric ignored them as he got back to reading. He was enjoying his book too much to notice when Neville went fleeing from the common room, and he certainly wasn't paying attention when Harry glanced over at Hermione who was reading a book not too far away, then went running after him.

"Where did Harry and Neville run off to?" Hermione asked a few seconds after Harry left. She had been sitting at a table not too far away, and had only noticed the boys just now being gone.

"Neville went running off because he's worried about things that won't happen for at least another five to six years, and Harry went to calm him down even though he's thinking similar things about you." Godric answered without looking at the bushy-haired girl.

"About me? What about me?" Hermione asked. Given how inquisitive the girl was, she certainly wasn't happy with such a simple answer that gave her more questions than she had before.

 "Why not go and ask Harry. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy." Godric said as he waved the comic book up into the air. Hermione frowned before she went running from the common room, completely missing the smirk on Godric's face.

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 (Harry POV)

 The next day everyone was getting ready to board the train to go home for the Easter Holidays. Neville and Harry were silent as they sat at the table in the morning for breakfast, and Hermione just looked confused.

"Are you okay, Neville? You've been awfully quiet all morning." Helga asked worriedly from beside him, which for some reason only made his cheeks flush red. "My goodness, you don't look well." Helga said as she pressed the back of her hand to Neville's forehead, further embarrassing the poor boy.

Not being able to take it anymore, Neville shot from his seat and went running down the hall. "I wonder what that was about?..." Helga whispered to herself, then lost her train of thought when she noticed the large bundle of stuff on the floor beside the bench.

"Tsk! He forgot his trunk." She said, then withdrew her wand and waved it over the trunk and bags laying around causing them all to levitate into the air, then she went running off after the forgetful boy.

 Harry, who had seen all of this couldn't help but think about what Godric had said yesterday as his own face flushed slightly. He almost jumped out of his skin when a hand landed on his shoulder, but he calmed quickly when he saw that it was just Godric.

"Are you ever going to look at Hermione again without turning scarlet? Honestly, this is kind of sad." Godric whispered to him so that the others couldn't hear, but Harry was still embarrassed to hear it.

"Nothing says you have to look at her like that, and the choice is entirely up to you. Besides, you still have a few years yet to be thinking about such things because we're still children. Although we'll be teenagers next year, and from what I've heard, we should be getting into all sorts of mischief." Godric suggested unhelpfully, and Harry was half-tempted to punch him in the face after he realized Godric was just trying to get under his skin and make him feel like this. "You're an ass." Harry told him, earning a two-finger salute from Godric who didn't look one bit sorry.

 When Harry was boarding the carriage to take him to Hogsmeade, he was pleasantly surprised to see Helga and Neville talking with one another, and thankfully Neville looked as though he was back to his normal self.

"-and remember, Godric thrives on other people's misery and discomfort, so don't listen to some of the things he says. We're friends, and that's all that matters to me." Harry heard Helga say to Neville, who seemed to be taking all of this in stride now.

'I guess she had a talk with him about Godric. Noted.' Harry thought as he glanced over at Hermione. He had never actually thought of her that way until Godric pointed it out, at least he thought he hadn't, but he wasn't sure. 'Now that I have thought about it, I can't stop thinking about it.' Harry grumbled to himself, wishing he could go back to yesterday and punch Godric before he had ever opened his mouth.

 The train ride back to London was probably the longest ride of his life, and Harry couldn't help but wonder if this is how most people felt when they thought about girls. When he left the train, it took him only a few minutes to find Sirius, but after a quick look around he was confused when he didn't see Malfoy.

"Draco decided to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays." Sirius said, answering the unasked question. "Really?! So it'll just be me, you and Gramps then!" Harry said excitedly. "Well… *cough!* Let's get home." Sirius said, sounding a little funny to Harry. He didn't question it however because he was about to have two uninterrupted weeks without Malfoy, and he bet Sirius and him would get to do loads of fun things during the break.

 Arriving at Arcturus' mansion in Somerset, Harry had Dobby take his belongings to his room while he went to greet Arcturus. Entering into the dining room, Harry saw Arcturus sitting at the far end of the dining table flipping through some documents.

"Hello Gramps." Harry greeted the man. "Ah, it's good to see you, Harry. I trust school has been going well?" Arcturus asked as he looked up from his papers. "Yes sir. I've been learning lots and having fun." Harry answered.

"That's good. Any homework to finish?" Arcturus asked. "Just some required reading in Transfiguration. I've completed everything else we were assigned." Harry replied. "Excellent. Relax for the rest of the evening, and take care of it tomorrow. After that, you should be able to enjoy the rest of the holidays without interruption." Arcturus told him, getting a nod of understanding from Harry.

 After dinner, Harry asked Sirius what he had planned for them, but Sirius clammed up and said he was going to turn in early for the night because he wasn't feeling well. This happened for the next few nights, and Harry was growing concerned, at least until one morning when he woke up early to go and check up on Sirius, but to his surprise, Sirius wasn't there. In fact, the bed looked as though it hadn't been slept in.

Walking downstairs, Harry was just entering the main hall when he saw the door slowly open and Sirius slowly step inside the room. The man looked awful with his disheveled clothes and his hair up in a mess. He wasn't even wearing his shoes.

"Sirius?" Harry asked, surprising Sirius so much that he almost jumped out of his skin. "Harry! What are you doing awake?!" Sirius questioned as he pulled the collar of his shirt up higher on his neck. "I could ask the same thing about you. I thought you weren't feeling well?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well-… You see-… I was just out for a midnight stroll to get some fresh air and I lost track of time. Anyway, I'm rather tired." Sirius said as he moved past Harry towards the stairs. As he walked by him, Harry smelled a perfume on Sirius that was definitely not something his Godfather would typically wear. In fact, it smelled like strawberries and coconut.

 It took a minute to register where he had smelled that perfume before, and as if a lightbulb had been turned on, Harry understood everything. Looking up the stairs, Harry saw Sirius round the corner, and part of him wanted to shout at him that he knew the truth, but he didn't.

He didn't know what he wanted to do, because whatever he did, he would be calling Sirius out. His Godfather was not only sleeping with his teacher, but had lied to him as well. Harry didn't care what Sirius was doing, but he thought they were close enough that Sirius wouldn't keep this from him. It was the secret that made this so wrong.

 For the whole morning Harry was quiet, something which no one really took notice of. Around noon he was still thinking about what he should do when he thought of something. Pulling out his ACD, Harry called Godric. If there was one person who knew far more than he had any right to, and knew how to handle most every situation, it was Godric.

"What's up, Harry?" Godric asked as soon as he answered the call. "I need some advice." Harry said, then proceeded to explain the whole situation from when he got detention and Sirius meeting Miss Winslow up to now.

"That lucky bastard." Harry heard Godric mumble, and just when he was going to ask what he was talking about, Godric continued, "Okay, so you want him to admit what he's doing, or rather, who he's doing without lying about it, right?"

"I wouldn't phrase it like that, but yeah. What should I do?" Harry said, earning a chuckle from Godric. "Here's what I want you to do. Make sure your gramps and some other people are around, then bring up the fact that you know about him and Miss Winslow. It'll put him on the spot, but he won't be able to weasel his way out if other people are also questioning him. Maybe do it at dinner, but whatever you do, wait until after you've eaten. Sometimes these things can get awkward and people just go to their rooms hungry. You want to be full before that happens." Godric explained, and Harry nodded along even though Godric couldn't see him. "Alright, thanks Godric." Harry said before he ended the call.

 That night, Harry had asked Arcturus to invite Ted and Andromeda over, both of whom were delighted to hear from them and had accepted. When they all sat down for dinner, Harry remembered what Godric said and began to eat his food as quickly as possible, which in turn garnered more attention than he wanted.

"Are you alright, Harry? I swear, you're acting as though you haven't eaten in days." Ted asked, looking concerned for him. "I'm fine. I'm just really hungry." Harry said as he shovelled another bite of shepherd's pie into his mouth.

Only when he had cleaned his plate did he look over to Sirius who was in the middle of talking to Ted about something trivial, according to them at least. "Sirius, I have a question for you." Harry said, drawing all eyes to him. "What is it, pup?" Sirius asked with a smile.

Seeing his Godfather like that, Harry was almost tempted to not go through with this, but he didn't like being lied to, especially by Sirius. "I was just curious how long you and Miss Winslow have been seeing each other?" Harry asked quickly so he wouldn't have the time to back out of it.

 The room was silent as all eyes moved to Sirius. "What is he talking about, Sirius?" Arcturus asked his grandson, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. When Sirius didn't answer, Arcturus looked to Harry for clarification.

"He and Miss Winslow talked for a long time that day he came to Hogwarts to see me. And then last night he said he was going to sleep, but this morning I checked his room and it was empty and his bed hadn't been slept in. Then he tried sneaking into the house with his clothes all dishevelled, and he smelled just like her." Harry explained his line of questioning, though he sounded slightly hurt as he said it.

"Oh, Sirius! His teacher?! Really? Have you no decency?!" Andromeda rebuked the man who had yet to say anything. "Bad sport, old man. She could take this out on Harry if things don't go well." Ted said, shaking his head at the fact that Sirius would sleep with Harry's teacher.

"She wouldn't do that!" Sirius stated as he finally broke his silence. "So you are having intimate relations with Miss Elise Winslow, the Potions teacher who began teaching at the beginning of this school-year?" Arcturus asked with a calculating glint in his eyes. It was a little weird that he knew exactly who they were talking about, but he had probably looked over her application before, so the name probably stood out to him.

 Alright, yes! Elise and I have been seeing each other for a few months now, but we've only been intimate a few times!" Sirius admitted after everyone stared at him for almost half a minute. "Oh, thank Savrin. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that. I was worried about you and that werewolf. I thought you two had a thing going on." Arcturus said, much to the shock of everyone else.

"Remus and I are just friends, Gramps!" Sirius shouted. "Well, you two spend so much time together, I just assumed. Anyway, this is great news! You must bring her for dinner. How about tomorrow evening?!" Arcturus said, quite thrilled at the prospect of Sirius dating someone.

"Now hold on, Gramps! This is all just-!" Sirius tried to argue, but Arcturus interrupted him, "I'm afraid that wasn't a request. Either you invite her, or I will." The old man said, much to Sirius' annoyance. They argued back and forth for a good ten minutes before Sirius very reluctantly agreed. Of course Andromeda was delighted to invite herself over for dinner as well, saying that Elise would be more at ease with another woman present.

 Harry, who had been quiet for all of this, wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. Godric had been spot on when he said that things would get awkward, but even still he wasn't sure he could just get up and go to his room.

'What would that do, anyway?' Harry wondered, finding the situation to be rather annoying. Sure, he did know the truth now, and Sirius knew he knew, but now his teacher would be coming over for dinner and he wasn't sure what to do about that.

"Are you going to marry Miss Winslow?" Harry finally asked, finding that this was what really mattered at the moment. If Sirius was just going to sleep with the woman and be done with her, Harry was probably doomed to have a vengeful teacher, but if Sirius was seeking more than a fling from this, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"An excellent idea, Harry! They should get married and start producing an heir!" Arcturus shouted out in joy, much to the shock of Sirius. "That wasn't what he said!" Sirius growled at Arcturus before he turned his attention to Harry.

"I don't know if we're going to get married. We've never talked about it. We've never even talked about dating, so I think inviting her for dinner is going to be a surprise. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about her, but neither of us are sure what this is. We didn't want to tell anyone before we knew." Sirius explained, getting a nod from Harry who looked a little sheepish. He hadn't realized that Sirius was thinking all of this when he didn't reveal what he was doing.

"It's okay, Sirius. I'm sorry for bringing it up at dinner. That was Godric's idea." Harry admitted, which only earned an eye-twitch from Sirius. "I'm not so sure you should be hanging out with Godric. He seems like a bad influence." Sirius warned, but Harry brushed him off. Harry heard Andromeda scoff at Sirius' words and mumble something that sounded like, 'The pot calling the kettle, black' but he wasn't sure.

 "So it's decided then. Dinner, tomorrow night at 6:00 O-Clock. And she better be there Sirius, elsewise I'll be paying her a visit at the school." Arcturus warned, getting a tired nod from Sirius.

 It was only after they had all retired for the night when Sirius knocked on Harry's door before letting himself in a moment later. "You're going to visit Miss Winslow again, aren't you?" Harry asked, earning a sheepish smile from Sirius. "Well, at least I'm not sneaking out this time." Sirius admitted.

They were quiet for a minute before Harry asked, "When you're around her, does your stomach get all queasy? Like you're going to be sick if you say or do the wrong thing?" Harry didn't have to look at Sirius to see the smirk on his face, and he wondered if he was going to regret asking the question.

"There are times where I feel like that. Right now for instance. We've never discussed our relationship before, and now I'm about to invite her to dinner on pain of death from Gramps if I don't. Thanks for that, by the way." Sirius said with a laugh.

"I take it you're not asking out of curiosity? You've felt that feeling in your gut." Sirius asked with a smile. "She's my friend. One of my best friends, actually. I didn't really notice it before until Godric pointed out how we do everything together. He sort of hinted that she was going to ensnare me and get me wrapped around her finger." Harry said, earning a frown from Sirius.

"It sounds like your friend Godric is a real shit-disturber." Sirius stated pointedly. "Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your dad had it bad for your mother, but he never let it get him down. Even if she gets mad at you, don't push her away, but if she has emo friends, you get rid of them as soon as you can." Harry wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to that, so he simply nodded.

 They talked for a few more minutes before Sirius left to go and do as Arcturus instructed. It wasn't until the following morning when Sirius arrived to find both Harry and Arcturus waiting for him by the door that they got an answer to if she had accepted.

To Arcturus' great joy, she had, and he immediately got Kreacher and Dobby preparing a meal fit for a king while tidying the house. Come dinner time, Arcturus was walking Harry through how he should act, and what he should or shouldn't say.

"Is all of this really necessary Gramps? She's met Harry, so she's going to know if he acts differently. You've even got us all wearing these ridiculous suits." Sirius said, not seeing the point in the whole charade.

"It's not every day YOU bring someone home for dinner! I've been waiting a year for this moment, and I'll be damned if I let her get away!" Arcturus said, looking a little crazy, much to the amusement of Andromeda and Ted who were enjoying the show. They too were wearing clothes fit for a black-tie event, much like everyone else. Harry himself had never worn a suit and tie like this before, but he had to say that he did look quite dashing. 'I wonder if I should show this to Hermione?' He thought to himself.

 At 5:55pm the doorbell rang and Sirius moved to get the door, however everyone else moved along with him. "I can answer the door by myself." He told them all, but everyone ignored him. While Harry was waiting for Sirius to open the door, he noticed out of the corner of his eye Arcturus handed Kreacher a small bottle with some unknown liquid inside of it.

"Half in each cup." He heard Arcturus whisper to the little house-elf, who nodded his head before he popped away. Harry wanted to know what that was about, but before he had the chance to ask he saw the door open and his teacher step into the room. She was wearing a stunningly beautiful red dress that really accentuated her figure.

"Elise, this is my cousin, Andromeda Tonks and her husband Ted. The old man is my grandfather, Lord Arcturus Black, head of the most Ancient and Noble house of Black. And of course you know my Godson, Harry." Sirius introduced everyone to Elise.

 After greeting everyone, they moved to the dining room where everyone sat down and began to eat the eight-course meal, which ended with a raspberry chocolate soufflé. When dinner was finished, tea was served in the parlor room where everyone made somewhat small talk. Arcturus was actually the main voice of the conversation as he asked the woman about her life outside of the magical world.

"I heard from Headmaster Kincade that you managed to incorporate some muggle chemistry to increase the efficacy of a potion by ten percent. Do you think you can improve more potions?" Arcturus asked.

"Not many witches or wizards take the densities, pressures or the states of matter into consideration when thinking about potions, but because of my schooling in the muggle world I was able to learn all of that. I was surprised when Headmaster Kincade showed me his course outline and how he too was able to do what I did. Even after all I've discovered, there is still so much more to learn about potions." Elise explained excitedly.

 She wasn't a very talkative woman, at least until the subject of potions was brought up, then she became a complete chatterbox. They all talked for a little over an hour before Elise and Sirius suddenly decided to call it a night.

Harry had noticed that for the last fifteen or twenty minutes before they left that both of them were flushed, and Sirius was constantly shifting his legs around. The way they kept moving was a little weird, but when their faces were a bright crimson Harry knew they were probably not feeling all that well. When they left the house, Arcturus seemed to chuckle to himself as he skipped up the stairs, but for the life of him, Harry didn't know why.

 Meanwhile, Sirius and Elise appeared in an empty room before they began to rip each other's clothes off, and after some basic oral they went at each other like wild animals.

 ----------

 (General POV)

 The Easter Holidays soon came to an end and school resumed once more without much of note occurring. In the first week of May, Gryffindor played their quidditch match against Ravenclaw with the score being 310-110 for Gryffindor, and towards the end of the month then Hufflepuff beat Slytherin in their match with a score of 150-50 when their Seeker had caught the Snitch after only ten minutes of playing.

With that, the Quidditch season came to an end with Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup, much to Wood's great joy! The Gryffindor quidditch captain had almost cried tears of joy, and had tried to kiss Harry, but thankfully Fred and George had come to his rescue and hauled Wood away from him.

 Final exams had gone as smoothly as could be, with Godric, Rowena, Salazar, and Helga all getting (O's) in every subject. No one in their friend group got below an (E ) which had shocked Neville to say the least, though he shouldn't have been so surprised seeing as how he was doing quite well in the Trials. They had really given him a confidence boost, plus it helped that he had friends who encouraged him and helped him when he needed it.

The Seventh years who had diligently been doing the trials spent their points on things they couldn't get outside the school, and some of the things were rather ridiculous. One Gryffindor girl used her points to buy jewelry that would supposedly be worth a fortune in the muggle world, her goal being to retire once she graduated. Most of them spent their points on items that they could take out of the school, seeing as how they wouldn't be coming back the following year.

 One thing Godric did with his points was to buy back all of the house points he had lost with his points, however it seemed that was pointless because Salazar used his points to remove all of the points Godric had purchased. Godric complained about that, but it seemed as though Savrin didn't care and told him to suck it up.

Normally students couldn't remove house points from another house, but apparently that rule didn't apply to Godric and Salazar. According to Savrin, he wasn't in charge of that little rule, but rather it was Elysia. Godric wasn't sure why the spirit had it in for him, but he said a number of choice words that made everyone around him look away in embarrassment.

 With the year being over and the points all tallied together, Ravenclaw had been the obvious winners. Gryffindor was a close second with Hufflepuff in third place, and Slytherin was dead last.

They had certainly gained a number of points, but it seemed most of the students were too reliant on points being handed to them for breathing by Snape, so they really didn't know how to earn points the correct way. Most of the points they did have were awarded to Salazar, but even he couldn't win the house cup all by himself.

 Ravenclaw house was in high spirits during the awarding ceremony where everyone received their jackets, with Ravenclaws having the word 'Champion' written on the back of it. Their jackets were also enchanted with the warming and cleaning charms, further making them stand out from the others.

 "Well, Rowena. Your house did well this year, but next year I'm coming for not just the Quidditch Cup, but the House Cup as well." Godric told his friend who smirked at the challenge. So long as Salazar kept screwing Godric over at every turn, it would be a miracle if either of their two houses won the House Cup.

"I can't believe this year is already over." Helga said, sounding more disappointed than everyone else. "Hey, look on the bright side. Next year we get to take even more classes!" Hermione said excitedly, though no one else shared her enthusiasm. Everyone was excited for the future that may come, though some were more warry than others because they knew the threat that loomed over them all.

 Wanting to clear his mind, Salazar went to the Care of Magical Creature classroom, however he was still a few minutes away from the building when he saw rustling in a nearby tree. Walking over, he saw a little orange cat with large ears hanging on the edges of a branch.

"Mr. Tibbles?" He said as he summoned his wand from his ring and began to levitate the little Kneazle to his arms. "Oh, Mr. Tibbles. Why would you go and get yourself stuck up there?" Salazar asked the cat creature who would normally be a lot smarter than this.

Just as Salazar was about to continue on his way towards the nearby building, he suddenly heard the sound of branches breaking. Looking up, he barely registered the falling form before he was bulldozed into the ground. He groaned in pain for a minute before he felt something begin moving on top of him. "You're very soft." A smooth dreamy feminine voice sounded in his ears.

 Opening his eyes, Salazar had to move the long platinum blonde hair out of his eyes to see who was on him, and as soon as he saw her face he couldn't help but freeze. "Hello. I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood. I'm sorry for landing on you." The girl said, still sitting on him with her face only inches away from his own.

"You can land on me anytime." He said without thinking, then winced slightly when Luna adjusted herself. "I don't mean to be rude, but could you please get your knee out of my groin?" Salazar asked weakly, and thankfully Luna was quick to do as he had asked. Once she was off of him, she grabbed his hands and pulled him into a sitting position.

"I'm so sorry. I was trying to get my jumper out of the tree, but I grabbed a small branch that couldn't hold me." She said apologetically. Salazar wanted to ask her why her jumper was in the tree, but he forgot about that when he looked into her eyes. "My name is Salazar Slytherin. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." He said as he pushed himself to his feet, then grabbed her by the hands and helped her up.

 For longer than he cared to admit he held on to her hands, not wanting to let them go. He would have continued holding them as he stared into her silver eyes, but the little kitten that jumped up his shoulders had other plans.

""Mr. Tibbles."" They both said at the same time as the little kitten clawed at Salazar's neck, or more accurately, the necklace Salazar was wearing.

"Is that my necklace?" Luna asked as she stared at the rope around Salazar's neck. "Huh? Oh, right! I found this near the fountain awhile back!" Salazar said as he quickly moved to take the necklace off and held it out to her.

"You actually liked my necklace?" Luna asked curiously. "Yes." Salazar answered honestly. Granted, he had only thought it was interesting when he first found it, but after learning that it belonged to the girl he was searching for he had kind of grown attached to it.

"You can keep it, if you want." She told him with a smile. Returning said smile, Salazar slipped the necklace back over his head and tucked the bottle caps under his dress shirt. "Thank you, Luna." Salazar said happily, showing a rare genuine smile.

 The two of them went into the building where the rest of the creatures were, but after half an hour it was time for them to leave. Salazar didn't bother going to meet up with Godric and the others in their usual train compartment, instead he and Luna got a compartment and spent the entire trip back to London talking about the odd assortment of animals they would like to see someday.

Unlike every other time he had rode the train, the trip ended far too quickly for Salazar, and he wished it could continue for a few hours more, however all good things must come to an end.

"Good-bye Luna Lovegood. Until next time." Salazar said as he gave her a formal bow while holding her hand. She laughed in such a way that Salazar was brought down memory lane, and he couldn't help the smile that broke out across his face. "Until next time, Salazar. It was great meeting you." Luna said as she turned and walked towards a man who shared some similarities to her.

 Salazar stood there in the same spot for almost five minutes, and it was only when an arm wrapped around his shoulder that he was brought back to reality. "Where the hell were you, Sally?! We thought you had missed the train!" Godric said, but Salazar didn't seem to hear him.

"Come, Godric! We have a bank robbery to plan!" Salazar said so cheerfully, Godric, Rowena, and Helga all froze where they were standing. "Is he alright?" Rowena whispered to Helga, who looked kind of scared.

"I don't know, but I'm sure something bad is going to happen." The little blonde said as she surveyed the area around them. "Are you okay, Salazar? Did something happen to you?" Godric asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Godric! An angel straight from heaven hit me over the head, but it was worth it!" Salazar said as he continued on his way as though nothing had happened, which only further confused everyone.

 --------

 (Earlier That Day)

 (Sirius POV)

 Back at Hogwarts castle, Sirius made his way towards the Potions classroom with a skip in his step. With school now out for the summer, he could spend as much time as he wanted with Elise.

She had been rather quiet all week, but he figured that was just due to exams and the end of the year coming to a close. Entering into the classroom, he was pleasantly surprised to find her sitting at her desk with a far off look in her eyes, as if she was thinking about something.

"Hello, love!" He called to her as he brought out a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses. She smiled faintly at the flowers before said smile disappeared, replaced by a deep frown. "Is everything alright?" He asked her.

"Yes… No, actually. Sit down. There's something I need to tell you." She said seriously. A little worried at how serious she was being, he pulled over a chair and sat down in front of her.

Taking both of his hands in hers, Elise took a deep breath before she blurted out something that sent Sirius' mind reeling. "I'm pregnant."