Hey guys. It's been a minute. I could offer you excuses on why I wasn't writing and I could tell you my entire life story, but I won't. I apologize for being late but I had to deal with life. This chapter is extra long to make up for my absence. Between you and I, I really just wanna skip to when Harry is in his twenties and he and Benjamin can be together forever lol... it's soon. :)

Thanks for sticking by me. I want to thank my alerters, my favoriters, and my reviewers. :*

It's undergone three edits and two revisions on basic grammarly, soooo... maybe readable. *shrugs*

Milky Way

It was gray outside, quiet save for the few eager children rushing downstairs to check their stockings. Benjamin counted the number of Christmas trees peeking through curtains, the air filled snowmen on the manicured lawns, plastic Father Christmases on roofs and the eccentric houses decorated in tiny bulbs of multicolored lights like climbing ivy. He blew out, the cloud of heat hung in the air.

He liked to be outside in the early hours of the morning. Amun, his maker, berated him when he crawled out of their musty temples underground to watch the sun as its rays warmed the golden sand. Amun was worried about an unseen threat, the Volturi. Amun had tried to frighten him. He had told Benjamin stories about the Volturi and their cruelty and greed masked behind benevolence and absolution. If Benjamin wasn't careful he would be taken by the Volturi. Benjamin knew better. He was not a thing. His freedom would not be dictated by scary stories.

Right here was the freedom Benjamin had craved under Amun's thumb for all those years. He loved the lack of rules. He liked that he was able to talk to people again, he was excited to be part of a community, even if it was in this strange land full of strange people and their strange fanaticism of idols like Father Christmas, Fawkes, and football. And in his freedom he found his munchkin, then four, now eleven.

"What would you say, Tia?" Benjamin asked aloud. He thought about her the most. Longing filled him, she had been by his side since they were children and when he had shed his mortality he refused to be parted from her. Tia was an amazing woman, a true queen of kings. He wanted nothing more than for his munchkin and Tia to meet. "Tia, you are going love him."

The door behind him opened. "A girlfriend?" There was Remus, a strange werewolf, leaning against the doorway. Remus smelled better, he no longer reeked of sickness.

"We like to think of each other as siblings," Benjamin said with a teasing smile.

In the dark corners of Cairo, Benjamin had first kissed Tia's sweet mouth and she had kissed back and they fumbled around touching and feeling until they had their fill. They agreed they worked better platonically.

"Oh."

Benjamin was humored by the contrast of Remus and Harry. Harry exalted in his status of bachelor, Remus was disappointed. It was easy to read. He thought Remus was probably unsettled by his candid claim on Harry. Benjamin hadn't meant to raise alarm by the claim. It wasn't as if he said he intended to take his munchkin as a mate.

Benjamin stood up from the porch and brushed pebbles and dirt from his pants. Remus looked ahead, his thin pink lips were pressed hard, they seemed to disappear altogether.

"Did something happen?" Benjamin asked curiously.

Remus pushed back brown-gold hair, "Another letter from the Ministry."

Benjamin knew what it was before Remus said it.

"Another rejection."

Remus, Lily, and he had been trying since early November to get permission to see Sirius Black: a childhood friend of Lily and Remus, godfather to Harry, a possible murderer, and an inmate of Azkaban. Their biggest hope was a retrial. They received rejection letters or a 'return to sender' stamped on their unopened letters. Benjamin personally preferred the rejection letters. The envelopes used were a terrifyingly wonderful sight, they spoke!

"Is Sirius worth all this trouble?" Benjamin pictured Sirius Black to be a swaggering youth with a devil-may-care attitude. From what Benjamin read and heard, Sirius Black was a rebel and he had been wrongly imprisoned. Benjamin liked rebels and he valued freedom greatly, what he didn't like was the potential of trouble brewing on his doorstep. Not with his munchkin.

"Yes, Sirius would do the same for any of us."

Benjamin laughed. "He's loyal, I admire loyalty. I'm saying maybe we should take a break and come back to the issue. Sirius isn't going anywhere. Azkaban is impossible to escape, right?"

"That's not the point, another day is too long. You don't understand the damaging effects of prolonged exposure to dementors. Sirius could be on the brink of insanity, or soulless husk if a dementor decided it wanted lunch."

Benjamin heard about those creatures. He was curious if they had any effect on vampires. Edward Cullen, Constipated as Benjamin fondly remembered him, had an interesting theory about the souls of vampires or the lack thereof.

"Writing rejection letters isn't helping Sirius," Benjamin pointed out.

Remus had a heavy dangerous stare like the wolf he turned into with each full moon.

"What do you suggest?"

Benjamin shrugged. Another day was too long. "Plan B."

"Harry."

"Harry," Benjamin repeated, soft was his tone, his body language hard. "How does Harry fit into this?"

"Lily and I talked. If Harry were to issue a personal statement then they wouldn't ignore our letters."

"You mean if you used his fame."

Remus was silent.

"Your people are fanatic about him, about his tragedy and both of you would push it further." Benjamin's face darkened. Products and merchandise were sold under Harry's name. Bedtime stories of Harry Potter's triumph over the wizarding world´s greatest evil were told by every parent Burbage proudly told him, it was an ugly hedonistic form of idolization.

"It's another plan," Remus said, his heavy stare didn't falter. Remus knew his truth, he saw and accepted it as an option.

"Come up with a better one," Benjamin said, he glanced toward the window above them.

Remus nodded. His hand on the doorknob. Benjamin stopped him. "Why did you come out here?"

"To ask if you wanted me to drink the brandy and eat the mince pie."

Benjamin laughed, quick and loud, tension gone. "You're asking me if Harry still believes in Father Christmas?"

Remus offered a sheepish smile. A small laugh slipped passed his lips. There was a sudden urge to tell Remus how years ago Harry had witnessed a pissed half-dressed Father Christmas kissing his Aunt Tunia under the white mistletoe and his subsequent valiant attempt to save his Aunt Tunia's honor. It ended with the whale stuck to the ceiling and the dramatic reveal of him acting the part of Father Christmas.

Remus touched the doorknob and Benjamin stopped him for a final time.

"Remus," Benjamin said quietly, cheer gone. "I will tell Harry about Sirius, it will be his decision to help."

Or not.

...

The house smelled of baked turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cocoa, brandy, and pie.

Benjamin rubbed his nose and folded on the couch. Human food was alien, it was an unappetizing mess of sights and smells even if he remembered the vague pleasures and tastes from eating. Benjamin wanted blood for Christmas dinner, he was cold and blood was one of the few things that warmed him.

"Happy Christmas," Harry yawned. He came to the couch and rubbed under his crooked glasses. Benjamin noted the dark circles drawn black under his eyes. Soon Benjamin would have to start calling him raccoon. What is wrong with you, why won't you tell me?

"Happy Christmas," Benjamin said. "Breakfast or presents first?" Benjamin combed through Harry's unruly black hair, Harry gladly leaned into his touch. The indecision was clear as Harry looked between the heavy stockings hanging over the fireplace and the lot of gifts under the evergreen. His stomach growled.

"Breakfast." Lily decided, her bright red hair braided over her shoulder. She appeared in one of the downstairs paintings, roomier than the one upstairs. Lily moved freely in the house now. A combination of Remus' suggestion to buy more artwork of the magical kind and Lily's hunch of her ability to move through objects as long they were compatible with her magic. Lily had a habit of disappearing from the house, she never told them where she went.

"Yes, Mum." Harry rolled his eyes and headed to the kitchen.

Benjamin watched him, a fond tilt to his lips. How long would it be before teenage rebellion hit and he no longer listened to Lily?

Benjamin got up to follow, he stopped in front of Lily. The shade and the almond shape of her eyes were so like Harry's, they read differently. Less open.

"He got up again," Lily said. Her hands pressed together. "And last night-" she stopped, pale.

"Tell me."

Lily was entitled to her secrets, but not when it dealt with his munchkin. She was not allowed to keep that information from Benjamin.

"He was talking in his sleep."

"Harry does-"

"He was speaking in a different language, I... I can't be sure, it sounded like parseltongue."

Lily and Remus often slipped foreign words into their speech. Benjamin waited for her explanation.

"It's the language of snakes. The language is thought to be hereditary like Metamorphmagus. It's extremely difficult to learn, it borders on the impossible. There have been exceptions like Herpo the Foul or Paracelsus but they were documented to live within magical serpent communities for years and even then they only understood the language, you see, Harry can't speak it."

Benjamin was confused. "Hasn't Harry told you about Stiles?"

"No, Harry has never mentioned a Stiles. Is he a friend?"

"Stiles the Snake," Benjamin said slowly. "A friend of his," Benjamin remembered vividly the yellow boa-constrictor wrapped around Harry, and Harry the picture of serenity.

"He's been able to speak to snakes since he was seven, younger probably." Benjamin wasn't sure if Harry had ever spoken parseltongue in his sleep.

It wasn't easy to catch Lily off-guard, Benjamin felt as if he had. Her eyes were on him and her thoughts were somewhere else.

"Lily," Benjamin said, then said again.

Lily pushed red strands from her pale face, her color was slow to return. It must be hard for her, Benjamin thought. She was a portrait, sentient and capable yes, but a ghost of what she once was: Harry's mother.

"We will get to the bottom of this."

"Yes," she said. "We will."

Breakfast was quick. Harry eagerly went back to his mound of gifts. He settled in the middle of the floor, while he, Lily, and Remus watched him from the outside as he tore through the wrapping of one present after another. This was the first Christmas they spent together from the beginning of the day. Usually, the mornings and early afternoons were spent with the Dursleys, and the rest of the day spent over at Benjamin's house.

Docile obedient animals the whale and the giraffe were. Benjamin hadn't insisted on anything regarding Harry in years.

Soon the living room floor was covered in a sea of brightly colored tissue paper and patterned wrapping paper. His friends were a generous bunch. An aloe plant from Neville, 101 Football Matches Gone Horribly Wrong by Xavier Xanders and a new set of quills from Hermione, a gift certificate to Quality Quidditch Supplies and 1809: Attack of the Killer Forest from Theodore, a gigantic hard cake from Hagrid (the Hogwarts groundskeeper, Benjamin was told), and an assortment of headbands and candies from Cedric Diggory and Dean Thomas respectively. From the Dursleys, Harry received three computer games, two video games, a new bicycle, and to Benjamin's delight and Harry's scowl much-needed clothes and socks and shoes. The warthog, Marge, sent Harry a brisk Christmas card filled with two £100 notes and one £50. Lily and he had agreed upon a football jersey, a new football, and cleats for the munchkin and Remus gave Harry a gift certificate to Honeydukes and Zonko's. Tomorrow, Benjamin was sure Harry would half-forget his gifts, probably wanting to go and buy something with his holiday money before the football matches started. Then, he'd be glued to the television for the rest of the day, pudding smeared around his mouth as he recounted each play.

There was a small awe in the winter festivities, in seeing Harry happy. Benjamin's childhood could not have been more separate from his munchkin's. He dimly recalled constant hunger pains and crafty tricks to stay alive for the next winter, foreigners that ogled them, the poor children, like monkeys in the zoo. If Benjamin had not possessed the gift of fire, he did not doubt that he would have died early.

"Clean up the wrapping paper and do your thank you's," Benjamin said.

"Benjamin," Harry whined sweetly.

"It isn't too late for Father Christmas to take your gifts back for a more appropriate time," Benjamin said coolly.

Harry frowned. Benjamin frowned right back. Harry muttered blackly under his breath, but he did as he was told. His mess was swiftly gone. Harry's thoughts were filled with half protests and ideas of simply saying 'No,' Benjamin was sure. He knew it would only be a short while longer before Harry gained his voice and confidence to push against direction.

The verbal thank you's followed, short and sweet, as did the thank you cards to be sent out when the post resumed its schedule. Hedwig would be sent out the same day. The snowy owl was given her much deserved a vacation. Lily wandered outside of her painting's boundaries with a promise to be around during dinner and Remus had business to attend to upstairs. Benjamin smiled. Harry smiled right back.

Harry sat next to Benjamin, he was warm. Some days, Benjamin was envious of the natural life Harry exuded. Benjamin was always cold, disconnected excepting those few precious moments he fed, he lived.

The new football rolled between Harry's feet.

"Do you want to go to the park?" Benjamin asked.

"Please."

And it was gray outside as it had been this morning. The difference was the lack of sound from the houses. The excitement of Christmas had faded into a quiet observance, or the kids and adults had gone back to bed for a few more hours before Christmas dinner was announced and the out-of-towners started to arrive at their doors.

Little Whinging was theirs and they spent it in silence. Harry's football at his toes, occasionally he shuffled it over to Benjamin in the space of sidewalk between them. It was hard to not miss the little boy, the one told him every little thought, good or bad. It was hard to not be frustrated at the teen Harry was becoming, hard to not balk at the hypocrisy of Harry's want for more information from him, but Harry's refusal to share his own matters. Benjamin supposed this was growing up.

"Why don't you invite your family over for the hols?"

Benjamin shook his head. His pity loop cut short. Harry scratched the side of his nose and waited.

"Still curious about my family, munchkin?"

Harry hummed with a short bob of his head.

"They don't like to travel much."

"Not even for Christmas," Harry said, horrified by the sound of it.

"Don't worry, I'll see them soon," Benjamin reassured.

"When," Harry said sharply, he stopped on the sidewalk and crossed his arms. "I suppose when I go back to Hogwarts, or during the summer. When did you plan on telling me?"

I have raised a wife, Benjamin thought amused.

"Slow down," Benjamin chuckled. "I'd tell you before I left."

"What d'you mean by soon?" Harry pressed, his arms were slow to unknot.

"Don't frown, you'll get wrinkles."

Harry flaunted his frown. And when he pushed his lips together they seemed to pucker in lieu of disappearing.

"My family and I are never apart for long, they find me or I find them." Benjamin neglected to mention the time aspect. He had been in England for a handful of years. The years he spent here amounted to mere minutes for Amun. He was sure he would have to be gone for at least a quarter of a century before Amun started to search for him, and then when three-quarters of a century passed may be Amun would start searching seriously. He wasn't sure about Tia. He expected her arrival soon, how soon he couldn't say. With the way his munchkin took to strangers lately, Benjamin hoped it was later even if he wanted them to meet. Harry would love Tia.

"D'you disappear on them a lot?"

Benjamin laughed. "Every chance I get. My adopted father, Amun, he's protective. I don't like it."

"I think you like pushing his buttons. Poor Amun."

Benjamin grinned ruefully. He squeezed Harry's shoulder and ruffled his hair. He didn't deny it. There was sort of rush gained when he did as he pleased and Amun only argued. Amun never tried to stop him. He couldn't. Once Tia told him he was like the sun and they had no choice but to be dragged into his orbit.

"It's like you replaced them, you don't care!"

Harry kicked his football and it flew straight, whizzing through the air, bouncing and rolling until the ball was a tiny speck in the distance. Harry gave him a searing glare and he kicked into a run, curses rang loudly in Benjamin's ears. Sudden. Benjamin stared at his munchkin's back, his coat´s blue hood flapped behind him. Benjamin's only choice was to follow.

If Benjamin learned one lesson in all his years of dealing with humans, with Harry, it was their emotions. They were quick to strike and drown, and notoriously difficult to overcome.

What did I do? What do I do- what happened? Other than his first day and our argument (Harry's nightmares aside) we've fine. Right?

Benjamin tried to keep away the worries. These emotions were gone like summer rain showers. Harry was at the corner turning into the park, his ball back to his feet. Benjamin's finger traced Harry's soft cheek, chubby with the last holds of baby fat and down under until he grasped his chin.

Angry bright green eyes glared behind smudged glasses.

"Harry, what's this really about?" Benjamin asked softly.

Predictably, Harry tried to wiggle away like a fish caught on a hook. Harry puffed at him.

"Lemme go!" Harry demanded.

"No."

"I'll scream. I'll kick."

"Go ahead."

Benjamin counted two nostril flares. Benjamin never wavered.

Harry flushed a furious red, face screwed as he exploded. "You don't care! Not even about your own family! You don't care! And you treat me like... like- you boss me around in front of everyone, always taking the piss when we talk."

"It's not like that."

"I saw you talking to Remus this morning, and I know you talked to Mum earlier, and I know it was important because you never talk to me about important things."

Benjamin read the frustrated sheen in Harry's eyes. He did not cry. If Harry cried he would look like a child, even the tremors that had marked his speech smoothed into an agitated steadiness.

"I could handle it when it was Mum, Remus, but with you meeting your family soon, whenever, we aren't going to be friends anymore."

"Munchkin. Listen," Benjamin said, he relaxed his grip and bent so they were level. "Listen, you are the most important thing- person to me. Know that. It is not as if I talk to Lily and Remus about only important matters, like it not as if I talk you only about unimportant matters. However, you must understand, you are a child and they are not."

"I'm not," Harry said. "I'm not!" he repeated hot. Maybe if he tapped his heels together three times it would work.

His insistence belied the truth. Benjamin rubbed cold thumbs on Harry's cheeks, he held his face. Harry would not be cajoled.

"You and I munchkin, we are forever." Benjamin licked his dry lips, perhaps those words were too heavy for his munchkin. Forever was literal to Benjamin, for Harry forever could mean the minute commercials between football matches or a hundred years, nothing to Benjamin's immortality.

"I can't ever get another best friend, that was a condition right?"

"Let me go," Harry said.

Benjamin listened, loss at how to move ahead. He did not know to communicate with this Harry, even when he had been angry with him at seven he cracked with sweet words. It was hard to reconcile with now and before.

Harry picked up his ball, he left Benjamin where he was.

For a dreary afternoon, Benjamin stayed on the metal benches, Harry was alone in the park's field. He kicked his ball again and again into a goal post. There were moments, few, Harry would pause and glance unsure at him as if to make sure he was there. It was overshadowed by the storm on his face, sweat at his brow, his words were too low to catch.

Benjamin thought of solutions and apologies, trying to figure how a good start to Christmas had come to an explosive argument like a landmine he hadn't seen or anticipated. He was left to deal with the damage. Concentrated, Benjamin didn't notice when Harry approached until he said a crisp, "I want to go now," inclining his head. His coat was tied around his waist, black hair sticking to his forehead, his ball stained by dirt and grass.

Harry walked ahead on their trek back home. The hope that he had worked through his frustrations shriveled. Harry brushed passed Remus' gentle greeting to go upstairs. His slammed bedroom door rattling the windows.

Remus frowned, Benjamin spotted the question on his lips.

"I don't know," Benjamin sighed. "We were talking and then!" he shrugged helplessly.

Remus chuckled. "Maybe he's hungry. He was a cranky baby."

Benjamin went into the living room to sit down. He would not get into that conversations when Harry just ripped him on being a child. He shook his head.

"It has to be more," Benjamin muttered. The circles around Harry's eyes were black this morning. Lily had said Harry had gotten up last night.

Benjamin remembered the nights Harry spent in his bedroom. "It's fine" and "I'm fine" had crept from underneath the door, thin and fragile, it filled the room until Benjamin repeated along with his munchkin. Benjamin had waited, dead heart in his throat.

Hours had passed before his bathroom door creaked open, Harry had stood in the doorway as light flooded out. He had been whiter than a sheet and there was a gleam of trepidation as he reached to click off the light, shivering, as he moved to crawl back into his cocoon. Harry had given no indication that he had noticed the change of sheets. There were no whispers of reassurance that he was indeed okay.

Benjamin floundered then as he did now. He had not sleep because he could not sleep, as did Harry. Harry had remained close to the wall, tense like a coil waiting to spring. Waiting for Benjamin. Nightmares, Benjamin had chalked it up to be, perhaps naively on his part, he should have said something that night. Comforted him.

"Harry adores you," Remus said calmly. "It will pass."

Benjamin had no doubt, but knowing Harry was upstairs sulking was compounded by the way Harry dismissed him. Benjamin swallowed venom.

Remus bullied him setting the table. Remus was a strict taskmaster, keen on order. It had to be perfect.

"I have good news."

"Really?" Benjamin welcomed it.

"A job." Remus smiled, he was so much more handsome when he smiled, his joy infectious. Benjamin perked, napkin and knife in hand.

"Really," Benjamin stressed. "I didn't know you were looking for a job."

"I put an ad in the Prophet, I forgot about it."

"What's the job?"

"Right - a day tutor for the Greengrass family." The wizards did not send their children to school until they were eleven. The wizards hired tutors.

"Congratulations, Remus."

"I would not have expected them to answer my ad," Remus confessed. He cleared his throat appearing embarrassed.

"They are pureblood," he said haltingly. "It is unusual for them to associate with people like me."

"People change, or they're desperate," Benjamin remarked. A job was a job. Benjamin didn't think it mattered as long as he was paid. "Trust yourself and be certain you have a binding contract."

Amun told him that once. Egyptians were wily people.

"I can start paying rent."

"No, you won't."

"You don't want my money."

"No," Benjamin said shortly. "You can use the money for your own place."

"Trying to get rid of me?" Remus joked.

Yes and no. Harry needed his own bedroom and he was sure Remus wanted to establish his own place, he seemed to do more than his fair share around the house. No doubt fueled by notions of repayment. Benjamin winked.

"When do you start?"

"The week of Harry goes back."

"It'll be quiet around the house, I'll only have Lily to talk too and she's a portrait."

"And what's wrong with being a portrait," said Lily archly. She appeared bright-eyed and teasing. Benjamin preferred Lily to Remus. Remus was kind, helpful, and pleasantly strange and he was a good friend if only a little dour for his taste. It was Lily that pulled people in. She was beautiful like the princesses in fairy tales and smarter than any Einstein and witty and bright, stubborn and spirited.

"Nothing!"

"I should think so," Lily giggled. "You'd sulk at the ceiling without me."

Benjamin groaned.

Remus waved his wand, the wand was short where the owner was tall, a handsome wood covered in grooves like beauty marks. Roasted turkey and mashed potatoes and meat pies and carrots and a great number of dishes levitated from the kitchen one by one, there were so many Benjamin wondered where Remus got the time or the food. The dishes landed gracefully on the table. Another flourish of his wand and the candles breathed red and yellow. Dinner began with Harry. The loud clatter of his silverware and his pointed ignoring of Benjamin was noticeable painful awkward.

Benjamin bared on with smiles and good cheer. Remus and Lily were fine actors as they too put on the charade of normalcy. Harry didn't know how to hide his anger, his munchkin was too honest. Benjamin's brown fingers twitched against the stiff tablecloth.

Dinner was silent. Benjamin hated silence. He inhaled and the candles went out.

"Better without them," Harry muttered.

"Yea."

Help him, Benjamin just needed to get through this dinner. He poked his turkey viciously.

...

"You missed a gift," Remus said. They moved to the living room. Harry and Remus had eaten their fill of the main courses and pudding, they were sluggish and content, or (Benjamin spared a glance at Harry) it was something resembling that.

Remus pointed underneath the tree where another gift was, it was plainly wrapped as if it had been waiting there. Benjamin had laid the gifts out early in the morning, how had this one slipped by? Benjamin's eyebrows were raised at Remus. Remus shook his head.

Some of Harry's stiffness melted away at the sight of the new gift, a familiar gleam of excitement had his munchkin shimmying in the space between Remus and him. Harry grabbed at his present. The wrapping paper fell and out came a mystery. A cloth of silver.

Harry picked it up, he had an obvious look of confusion. He could never see the point of clothes for the holidays instead of "actual" presents like toys and games.

"What is it?" asked Harry, he was vaguely disappointed.

Remus jumped forward. "An invisibility cloak," Remus said, laughing and shaking all at once. "It belongs... belonged to James, your father. I'd recognize it anywhere - I have enough memories of it."

"James told me he had lent it, to who I can't remember," Lily chimed in. "How did the cloak end up here?"

"A good question," Benjamin said. How had the cloak come here and without his notice? No human could escape a vampire's keen senses.

"Try it," Remus encouraged.

Harry's eyed the cloak and Remus suspiciously, magic and the extent of its power new. Harry covered himself in the cloak and he was gone.

Gone.

Benjamin did not see him, he did not smell him. His heartbeat. Nothing. There laid the only floor.

"Take it off," Benjamin hissed agitated as a viper. "Now!"

Harry threw off the cloak, he was wide-eyed and startled. Glued to the carpet, the cloak flowed around Harry fusing him with the floor. Benjamin towered over him. It was a miracle he wasn't spitting venom, nor were his incisors out. His hand burned white-hot, the candles in the background flared with life.

Benjamin ripped the cloak away and it felt like water as it slipped through his fingers. He left it to fall to the ground in a silvery heap. "Never put that on," Benjamin spat.

"Benjamin!" Remus.

"Say it, promise me, you will never put on the invisibility cloak."

"Don't talk to my son like that!"

"Benjamin," Remus again.

"Harry," Benjamin didn't care about Lily and Remus. What mattered was the promise. He needed the safety of certainty. Harry must listen to him. "Swear!"

"I swear," whispered Harry, his teeth chattered. His pink bottom lip trembled and he took a shaky gulp. He darted upstairs. For the second time, the windows rattled in their pane. Benjamin needed to apologize.

"What the hell was that about?" Lily shouted. "If you think it's okay to scare him, I'll quickly correct you."

Burn her, Benjamin was surprised at the ruthless thought and how much of him didn't protest. He liked Lily the best.

"He is mine."

"Harry is not something to be owned," Lily stormed.

"He is mine!" for the third time the windows rattled. They'd fall out by night's end.

Benjamin closed his eyes searching for a way to explain himself beyond a possessive toddler faced with the prospect of losing a favored toy. "I'm sorry."

"I shouldn't have yelled at you, at Harry."

Lily's scowl darkened, she listened.

"I don't like that... the invisibility cloak. S'not natural."

Amun told him too many times, vampires were the single perfect creature on Earth. His senses were absolute. "I'll go mad if I can't find Harry," Benjamin explained. He had a vivid image in his mind. Some vampires met the sun in their frenzy, he would go on a rampage. He would be unstoppable with his gifts.

"Protective," Remus said behind him.

"Overly so," Lily said. "He's not an object. You can't dictate what he can and can't do."

Benjamin nodded meekly, agreeing if only to put it behind him. "I know and I won't, but I don't want any mischief with the cloak," he said. He said more without words because Lily nodded stiffly.

Benjamin glanced over his shoulder at Remus. He nodded toward the fallen fabric unwilling to touch it again. "Please give him the cloak and tell him I'm sorry."

"Put Harry in a tower," Lily said. "Where you can keep eye on him always and you can be certain he's never stolen."

"I could never," Benjamin replied. Hadn't Amun done the same to him and he had rebelled.

She gave him a chilling glare like she did not believe him. She left him with a curt good night. Benjamin knew she'd be upstairs to check on Harry. What she would say to him Benjamin considered briefly. He trusted Lily would not go behind his back and dismiss his words.

...

Seven minutes until midnight. Benjamin had been on the couch for hours, he had not moved or blinked. He shed his human facade. He wished for the day to be over, gray clouds to be replaced by the bright sun. There was a tomorrow, always a tomorrow, it was a truth he lived by for years.

"Benjamin,"was whispered in the dark. Benjamin turned toward the staircase to see the midnight creeper.

Benjamin struggled to keep his smile. Tomorrow had come sooner than he thought. Benjamin waited, keeping his silence in case he was scared away. The creaks on the steps came to a halt and there Harry rested on the bottom step clutching onto the white banister.

There was a rare naked anxiety shone on Harry's face, it had been more common when he was younger when faced with a new experience. His footsteps were heavy as he came across the floor and he hesitated near the couch.

It was dark. Benjamin knew Harry could not see as he did, but he stared at his face as if he could and then to the empty space next to Benjamin. Harry took his seat and drew his knees under his chin. There was a resurge of the nervous glances from earlier.

When Harry was seven Benjamin had been the one to apologize and bridge the gap. Now it was Harry's turn he struggled to overcome the wall he created.

"I'm sorry," Harry rushed out, sudden and abrupt. His face was rich with embarrassment. His body tilted toward Benjamin. "I'm sorry to have been so awful and mean and rude today," he babbled, he had taken Benjamin's silence for reproach. Benjamin waited to get a word in. It was plain to see Harry being frustrated, not necessarily sorry for his actions. Benjamin understood.

"D'you forgive me?" Harry asked fear coated his words. He tensed, squinting at Benjamin in the dark.

All at once, Benjamin laid a strong arm wound around Harry's shoulders and he pushed the boy to him in a brief hug. He stroked Harry's soft hair. "I do," Benjamin declared.

He let Harry remain on where he was and said nothing to the half-muffled sniffs, the minute shakes, and his shirt becoming wet. Benjamin waited until Harry pulled back. Harry wiped his nose with his shirt.

"You and I need to talk," Benjamin said lightly. "Starting with the night you came back. Is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

Harry's jaw clenched.

"They're just nightmares."

"Part of the reason why I talk to your Mum and Remus is that they are forthcoming when they have a problem and they need help to fix it," Benjamin said.

Harry drew back and stared for a good long while. "They are nightmares and they started a couple of weeks ago."

"Nightmares about?" Benjamin prodded.

"The troll," Harry said, red. He shook his head, "It's stupid, I know, but I-"

"It's not," Benjamin interrupted. "You were nearly killed. I'd have nightmares."

Harry laughed. "You? I don't believe it. You aren't scared of anything."

You don't know how wrong you are, Benjamin thought, he took in his munchkin and was silently gleeful of the easy affection between them returning.

"There is very little I am frightened of," Benjamin corrected. "But we aren't talking about me. Why didn't you tell me, or your mother earlier?"

"I didn't want anyone to worry, they are just nightmares!" Harry exclaimed he crossed his arms.

"Harry, your silence has made us worry as has your lack of sleeping," Benjamin pointed out.

Harry flinched, though he put on a brave face. "I already said I'm sorry."

"And that is a good start, but what is to be done to change the situation? Lily has told me you've been getting up in the middle of the night... like now."

"I don't know," Harry admitted quietly. "I just don't want to sleep. I don't want to hear Mum's screaming."

And these persistent nightmares were about trolls? Benjamin wanted to ask where had his Mum fit in the nightmares and why was she screaming?

"I understand," Benjamin said. Harry had confessed to having nightmares and not wanting to sleep, it was best he didn't push now. Benjamin feared he would clam up.

His arm was still around Harry. He wondered what was there to do. He didn't think this was a job for Nytol, or even a digestive and warm milk. They had no guarantees of sure sleep without nightmares.

"Would you like to stay down here for awhile?" Benjamin asked.

Harry nodded enthusiastically. He moved closer and created a space in Benjamin's side. For the first time in days Harry seemed to relax, and so had Benjamin.