Harry's eyes fluttered open to immediately meet Colin's. Colin was smiling, Harry could tell even though the other boy's lips were pressed lightly against Harry's own. Harry had been dreaming about kissing the boy next to him, but the reality was better than anything he could imagine.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty, or should I say good evening." Harry glanced out the window. Moonlight shone through it in a wide sliver and Harry could see a handful of stars sparkling from where he was on the bed.

Harry grinned and leaned over to give Colin another kiss. He looked at his wrist, then realized he wasn't wearing a watch, "D'you know what time it is?"

"Some where around midnight, I think."

Harry sat up, leaning against the headboard of the bed. Colin followed suit, curling up against Harry and leaning his head on Harry's chest. Harry played idly with a lock of Colin's hair.

"Just what are we going to do, Colin?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

Colin didn't answer this question, Harry could see by the look on his face that he had no idea what they were to do.

Harry opened his mouth to say something else, but he never got the chance, as a tapping at the window and a shadow that blocked the moonlight distracted him. He looked through the glass to see his snowy owl hovering just outside.

"Hedwig!" he cried in surprise, rushing over to the window to open it and let her in.

"You found me!" Harry smiled, petting the owl lightly. Hedwig looked proud of herself for finding her master. She nibbled Harry's finger affectionately.

"I was hoping you'd turn up. I need to send a letter to Ron as soon as I can." He clucked his tongue for a moment, thinking. "I've not got any parchment, though. Guess it'll have to wait until morning."

Hedwig hooted, flying to the top of the dresser that sat in the corner.

"They've got one of those places that's open twenty-four hours a day down in Diagon Alley, I'm sure of it." said Colin. "I'm not really all that tired any more, either. We did sleep an awfully long while. Want to go for a walk?"

Harry smiled, "Just let me get dressed."

It only took a moment or two for Harry to get dressed in the clothes he'd hastily discarded earlier. They looked slightly wrinkled, but they were fine for a late night walk through Diagon Alley. Colin was ready in a similar amount of time.

"We'd better check in on Dennis." Colin left their room, closely followed by Harry. He opened the door to his brother's room and peeked in. Harry could hear light snoring.

"He'll be sleeping for a while yet, I think. No need to leave a note or anything."

The pair of them went quietly down the stairs and into the bar part of the Leaky Cauldron. A tired looking witch stood behind the bar and a lone wizard sat hunched on the other side. There was a mug of butterbeer in front of him which he appeared to have been nursing for quite a while. The tired witch raised her eyebrows at Harry and Colin but didn't say anything.

The night was cool and Harry slid his arm around Colin's shoulders as they walked. Colin draped his arm around Harry's waist. Harry felt perfectly comfortable.

Cho Chang was the only person Harry could really compare Dennis to in any kind of romantic way. During their brief attempt what didn't really seem like a relationship the previous year, almost everything Harry had done had brought the girl to tears or heated anger. The last Harry had heard, she was going out with a boy who'd also gone out with Ginny. He couldn't remember the boy's name at the moment, no big loss there. He thought it might have been one of her fellow Ravenclaws. For as long as Harry could remember, he'd not been able to understand girls very well and given his current company, that didn't seem like it would be a problem. As a bonus, he hadn't made Colin angry or made him cry and they'd been together for almost twenty-four hours straight.

Harry had been thinking recently that the fairer sex might just not be for him, given his previous record with members of said gender. Given the hustle and bustle of the life he'd been forced to live, he'd never given much thought to it. Boys dated girls, boys kissed girls and boys did several other things with girls.

In the past few weeks, Harry had remembered that some boys date, kiss, and do several other things with other boys, and the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to appeal to him. The Boy-Who-Lived didn't know if he was completely off of girls, but Colin was a welcome, refreshing change to the sobbing Cho he'd had the pleasure of courting.

Harry kept walking down the deserted street, empty of its usual large crowd of witches and wizards doing the shopping they could only do in Diagon Alley. It took him a moment to realize that Colin had stopped walking. He only realized when he tugged on the other boy's hand and met resistance.

"Sorry." Harry flushed. "Lost my head there for a moment." He grinned sheepishly at Colin, who chuckled lightly and smiled up at him.

"We're here." Harry looked at the magically lit storefront, sporting a flashing red and blue sign. Peering in through the large window under the sign, Harry saw no customers. The only inhabitant of the shop was a short, blonde haired wizard near the front of the store behind a counter.

A bell chimed cheerily as Harry and Colin entered. The wizard looked up from the copy of the Daily Prophet he was reading, giving them a bit of a smile before looking back down and continuing his reading. Harry glanced into the aisles between tall, thick wooden shelves, glancing at shining words that hovered above each aisle, gliding back and forth in an eerily quiet manner.

Over an aisle near the middle of the shop hovered the words 'Quills, stationary, and assorted accessories.' This was, of course, the place to look and Harry headed straight for it. He was met with the sight of parchments, inks, and quills in several different colors. Harry chose a package of standard-coloured parchment, a bottle of green ink that glowed slightly when he held it away from the light produced by the many candles that burned brightly around the room, set in chandeliers that tinkled a bit of a melody. Last thing was a quill, and Harry chose a white one, since he wasn't particularly picky about it.

Harry went to the counter and as an after thought, he picked up a package of Droobles Best Blowing Gum from a table near the counter and placed it with his soon-to-be purchases.

"Will that be everything?" asked the wizard behind the counter, and Harry nodded. Up close, he could tell the man looked rather sleepy.

Just then the man let out a yawn, "Blast that Horace. I told him I didn't want him to be late, his shift was supposed to start twenty minutes ago." He was mumbling to himself more than talking to Harry and Colin. He jotted down Harry's items on a slip of parchment, on which the total amount of gold Harry owed appeared at the bottom of. The slip also duplicated itself, and the wizard handed the duplicate to Harry, saying, "One Galleons, five Sickles, please. Harry handed the man two Galleons and the man withdrew twelve Sickles from a drawer which he promptly handed to Harry. "Have a nice night, hope to see you again."

Harry nodded and started for the door of the shop. Colin followed, placing a slightly out of date issue of The Quibbler he'd been leafing through back on its shelf. The pair of them left the store, falling into step beside each other.

"Want a piece?" Harry asked Colin, holding out the package of blowing gum he'd just bought.

"Please." said Colin. "I just love Droobles! Those bubbles, they just used to drive Dennis mad when he was younger, the summer after my first year at Hogwarts. He'd try to pop them and get so frustrated when they wouldn't go." He chuckled lightly and unwrapped a piece, immediately sliding it into his mouth and chewing. After a few moments, he opened his mouth to speak, and several bubbles floated into the air, hovering there before being swept away in a breeze.

They were just at the edge of the shop they'd just left and Harry noticed a thin alley between it and the shop next to it. Grinning, he pushed Colin just into the Alley, pressing him against the wall of the shop and facing him. The bit of an alley was so thin that Harry's back pressed against the next building. Harry didn't mind, he had a kiss from Colin on his mind. He'd not kissed the other boy properly in hours, and he was right eager to feel those soft pink lips against his.

Harry bent his head slightly to kiss Colin, who obliged by tilting his face up. Their lips met and they kissed. It was a light kiss, at least at first. Soon, the kiss deepened, and Harry wanted, like he always did, for it to last an eternity. They kissed again, but this kiss didn't have the chance to become deeper, as it was interrupted quite early on.

"Out of the road!" said a voice, startling both Harry and Colin and making them pull apart.

"Out of the road, I say!" repeated the voice and its owner now pushed the two of them out of his way, not in a violent manner, yet enough to get them out of his way.

Harry wasn't too upset, just exasperated at the fact that he and Colin had been interrupted. He looked up to see a rather tall man striding towards the door of the 24-hour shop, and assumed the man was Horace whom the short wizard had been waiting for. At Horace's heels was the silhouette of a cat.

Harry and Colin grinned at each other and started off towards the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was hoping they might continue in their room.

"You know." said Horace, and Harry and Colin both turned to find him looking at them. "You ought not to be snogging in dark alley ways in the middle of the night. Get a room."

Horace seemed slightly flushed, and his mop of curly brown hair glistened wetly in the dim light cast by candles that hovered over the Alley. "Get a room."

Harry grinned, flushing, "We've got one, thanks." With that, Horace went into the store, the cat still on his heels. The door closed and the bell above it jingled. Moments later it jingled again, and Harry heard the short wizard mumbling to himself sleepily as he retreated in the opposite direction to that which himself and Colin were going.

It wasn't until then, after all the confusion of the past few minutes, that Harry realized he'd been chewing Colin's blowing gum since their kiss. Blushing, he offered Colin another piece, who took it. Harry pulled Colin close to his side, arm around his shoulders again. Colin kissed Harry's cheek, making him flush pink again, and they continued back towards the Leaky Cauldron in the same way they'd walked away from it, snuggled closely together.

It wasn't until they were back in their room in the Leaky Cauldron, just snuggling into bed that either of them said another word.

"Thanks, Harry." said Colin out of the blue, startling Harry slightly. "Thanks for everything. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"It's quite all right, Colin. I couldn't let him hurt you, I just couldn't." Harry turned to Colin and smiled to him in what little light was coming through the window. Tears glimmered on Colin's cheeks. Harry leaned over and kissed them away, pulling Colin into a warm hug. Colin sobbed against his chest and Harry rubbed the other boy's back soothingly. After what they'd gone through in the past few hours, Harry perfectly understood the need for emotional release, and he held Colin in his arms long after the other boy had cried himself to sleep.

It was early the next morning when Harry got out of bed, leaving Colin snuggled warmly in the bed, still sleeping. He smiled down at the other boy, leaning down to kiss his forehead lightly. Taking parchment, ink, and quill with him, he went to the table inside the room and sat down, starting to work on writing a letter to Ron.

Ron,

I'm at the Leaky Cauldron, and most likely won't be returning to Privet Drive before school starts, so I won't be there on the day that your Mum and Dad were going to come get me. The Creevey brothers are with me, and I'm hoping they can come along with me to your house. It's a long story, one I'd rather not explain in a letter. Please send a response back with Hedwig as soon as you can.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Harry

Harry reread the letter to make sure he hadn't left anything out. Satisfied, he went over and prodded Hedwig awake. She opened her eyes reluctantly after a few moments and looked down at him, looking rather ruffled.

"Can you take this to Ron for me, Hedwig?" Harry asked. After blinking at him blearily for a moment, the owl stuck out her leg for him to attach the envelope. Since he didn't have anything to tie it with, he had to settle for wrapping the parchment itself awkwardly around Hedwig's leg. She blinked at him, and he shrugged. She wasted no time, however, and after Harry opened the window she promptly flew out of it.

The sound of Hedwig's exit caused Colin to stir. He murmured as he opened his eyes, looking over at Harry and squinting in the sunlight that was starting to stream through the window.

"Morning." he said groggily, sitting up. Harry grinned at Colin. He looked quite cute after he'd just woken up, with disheveled hair and all. He rubbed at his eyes and seemed to wake up.

There was a soft knock on their door just then, and without waiting for them to answer, Dennis walked in with visibly drooping eyelids and sat on the edge of their bed, looking quite sleepy himself.

"G'morning." Said Dennis, blinking at the two of them in turn.

"Good Morning." Harry said, feeling rather cheerful. He felt a world apart from the events that had forced them to where they were. He was quite happy being here with Colin and Dennis in the early morning instead of back at number four, Privet Drive, where he would have most likely been getting a talking to from Uncle Vernon for something or other. He'd returned to the Dursley's house after term had ended and he'd stayed there for a month or so. He would rather have not returned at all, but his mother's final sacrifice was connected to her blood. Aunt Petunia and Dudley were his mother's only living relatives, as far as he knew, so he had to put up with them during the summer for the magic to keep working.

"Shall we go have breakfast?" Harry asked the Creevey brothers, who were becoming steadily more awake.

"I just want to lay around a bit longer." said Dennis, stifling a yawn with his hand and flopping back on the side of the bed Harry had vacated minutes earlier. Harry chuckled.

In a few minutes, though, the three of them were ready to go downstairs for breakfast, where each of them ordered a large stack of waffles smothered in maple syrup. Their plates kept refilling themselves until the three boys were stuffed and none among the three of them good eat another bite. Harry paid for their meal when they'd finished and supposed they'd make a day of wandering around Diagon alley and taking in what there was to see. There was always something new to discover in Diagon Alley, after all. It was always full of surprises.

They stepped out into the bright morning sun, and, with the help of a wizard who was also going into the alley, gained entry through the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron. Most of the shops were just opening, and witches and wizards of several varieties busied themselves outside shops, cleaning up, or in window displays arranging things. The day was full of the promise of fun and enjoyment. Harry would have told himself that nothing could go wrong on a day like that day, but saying such things to yourself was a sure-fire jinx.

The first stop they made was at Flourish and Blotts Bookstore, which Harry had rarely entered aside from those times each summer when he had to buy new textbooks for school. He found out they had quite an interesting selection of books after taking the time to browse each section of the store thoroughly. He bought the first book in a series novels for himself, having never read any wizarding fiction before. Not wanting his companions to feel left out, he bought a photo album for Colin. Although he didn't stalk Harry with his camera any more, he still took a lot of pictures. He got Dennis a comic book he'd been leafing through near the front of the store, and both brothers thanked him happily, although Colin tried to protest that Harry didn't have to spend any money on them.

"It's no problem." Harry said simply.

By the time they left the bookstore, it was nearly eleven-thirty, and Harry thought it was quite time to stop for lunch. They settled outside a small, quaint looking cafe and their order was soon taken by a small, squeaky house elf. The elf was quick and soon returned with a large tray full of food, nearly suffering what could have been a fatal accident. It couldn't see over the top of the tray and it nearly tripped over the small table cloth it wore as a toga.

"So, what's the plan, Harry?" asked Dennis, taking a bite out of a sandwich he took off the tray.

"I figure, if we can, we'll spent as much of the rest of the summer as we can at the Burrow, then we'll go to school." Harry replied.

"I bet my Dad will be feeling terrible just about now, and worried about where we are... We could probably go home, I don't think he'd ever act like that again... I don't think I'm ready to face him, though. Maybe in a couple weeks, before school starts. I'll write him when we get to the Burrow. That will be fun, I've never been to Ron's house. Oh, I hope he doesn't mind."

Harry smiled, "Ron and his family have been putting up with me for years. I don't think they'll mind the extra company too much."

They chattered for the rest of their meal about what Quidditch teams were looking good for the year, if any of the newest brooms looked any good, and they contemplated for a while over who might be replacing the awful Professor Umbridge as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

After lunch, they whiled away the afternoon wandering around one of the allies that went off from Diagon Alley which none of them had ever been down before, or even noticed. Harry wondered if Diagon Alley had parts that came and went as they pleased, like Hogwarts did. The three of them were very content that evening as they walked back to the Leaky Cauldron, each finishing their last of several cool butterbeers they'd been drinking all afternoon. The three of them went to the room Harry and Colin were sharing to find Hedwig perched on the back of a chair, a letter bound to her leg in the proper way. It was obviously a reply from Ron. Harry rushed over and untied it, starting to read it aloud as she flew to the top of the room's dresser.

Harry,

I talked it over with Mum and Dad, and they've gone nearly mad worrying. They say they're going to Diagon Alley first thing in the morning to get you. They say it's okay that the Creeveys come, too. Once Hermione gets here in a week, though, it'll be right crowded around here, I think. Anyway, can't wait to see you tomorrow!

Ron

PS – My Mum sent an owl to Dumbledore, I couldn't stop her. I guess my powers of persuasion only went so far as to convince her they didn't need to come get you as soon as they read your letter. He'll probably come see you once you get here.

Harry rolled the letter back up and shoved it in his pocket. He was quite glad the Weasleys were coming so soon. Once he was at the Burrow, he just knew his life would regain at least a little of the order it had lost. He'd not been to the Burrow in ages and being there always seemed to make his troubles melt away. It was more of a home to him than any other place ever had been.

"Right then. If Ron says they're coming for us first thing, we ought to get to bed. I have a feeling that'll be good and early tomorrow morning. No trouble, is it?"

Colin and Dennis shook their heads no.

"Good. We don't have anything to pack, so I guess it's to bed. See you in the morning, Dennis."

"G'night." Dennis left the room and Harry heard the click of Dennis' door closing moments later. He'd soon stripped down to his underwear to sleep, since he didn't have any pajamas. He was glad that there wasn't much difference between underwear from a wizard store and muggle underwear. He crawled into bed, Colin following him moments after. They snuggled up together, and fell asleep after mumbled goodnights.

Harry was sitting on the park bench where he'd first kissed Colin. It was oddly dark and the street lamps were off. Colin sat next to him, looking eerily serious.

"Colin?" Harry questioned. Colin turned to him, and let out a yell.

"What is it?" Harry asked. His voice had become quite cold and high-pitched. He knew why Colin was screaming.

"Stop screaming!" said Harry. He reached out a long, spider-like hand and clenched it around Colin's throat, who spluttered and coughed, looking at him with fear-filled eyes. Harry heard himself utter a cold laugh, and with that, he sat bolt upright in bed.

Harry let out a startled yell in the dark, his scar smarting painfully. Colin stirred beside him, jostled by the sudden movement and sound.

"Harry? What's wrong?" He asked groggily.

"It's..." Harry started. Could he tell Colin? He'd never really discussed these sorts of things with anyone but Ron and Hermione. "It's just my scar. When I'm asleep, I have these dreams that sort of, well, connect me with Volde-" Colin shuddered. "I mean, he-who-must-not-be-named."

"That must be horrible."

Harry nodded, frightened by the dream himself. It was obviously just a dream, something Voldemort had placed in his mind, because Colin was laying next to him and though he looked quite sleepy, he was as healthy looking as ever. Even the bruise from his father had gone down quite a bit, so he looked even a little better than he had earlier. The dream left Harry feeling shaken.

"What was the dream about?"

Harry shook his head, "You don't want to know."

After a moment of the two of them staring at each other in the dark, Harry more felt than saw Colin shrug. Harry lay back down and wrapped his arms around Colin, feeling like he needed to protect the other boy.

He knew he would have to. Voldemort now knew, because of the horrible connection he'd forged with Harry when they first encountered each other, that Colin had become more important to Harry in some way. The dark lord was going to try and use that to his advantage to get to Harry.

Harry couldn't let that happen, no matter what. He'd rather die himself than let Voldemort hurt anyone. He also knew that in the end, it was either he or Voldemort that would have to die. His mission was clear, he just didn't know when it would go into action. Things were just starting to get bad.

Harry stayed awake for a long time that night, contemplating. He might become closer to Colin than he'd ever been with anyone else and he didn't like the fact that that would bring extra danger to the other boy's life. After what felt like an hour of this Harry fell into a thankfully dreamless sleep, still holding Colin in his arms.

Harry woke slowly the next morning to muffled shuffling around and whispers. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and glanced around blearily until he found his glasses and put them on.

Mrs Weasley and Colin were busying themselves packing away what few things the boys had with them into their school trunks, which Harry was only slightly surprised to see. He wondered if they'd got his Aunt and Uncle to give his trunk to them some how, or if they'd used more creative methods.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Harry asked. Colin started a little, having not noticed that Harry had awoken. Mrs Weasley turned and smiled warmly.

"Good morning, Harry dear." She walked over to the small table in the room and picked up a tray full of food; some steaming pancakes topped with butter and syrup, a plate of toast and some orange juice. She brought it over and sat it in Harry's lap.

"I thought it was best to let you sleep. Colin told me about the nightmare you had." Just great, now Mrs Weasley would have something else to worry about.

Colin blushed a little as he approached, "Feeling okay, Harry?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry scratched his head sleepily, then stifled a yawn that seemed to force out the last of his tiredness. He was ready for the morning, and dug in heartily to the stack of pancakes.

There was a sudden tapping at the window, and the three occupants of the room glanced over to see a medium-sized brown owl tapping its beak against the glass, thick parchments bound to its leg.

Mrs Weasley went over and unlatched the window and the owl flew in and perched on the back of a chair, holding out the leg that had parchments tied to it. Mrs Weasley untied them, and gave the owl a small bit of bacon that was left on someone's discarded breakfast plate. It was soon gone out the window again.

"Your letters from Hogwarts." Mrs Weasley told Harry and Colin. "Your brother's, too." She added, turning to Colin. "I'll buy your things for school today, before I take you all back to the Burrow."

Harry opened his mouth to tell her she didn't have to go to all the trouble, but she held up a hand. "I've got to get Ron's and Ginny's things, as well, and I'm used to buying for more than two, anyway." She frowned a little, and Harry decided to let her go on with it.

"Get the money for our things from my vault." Harry told her.

"Harry! You don't have to do that." Colin piped up.

"How else are you going to get your school things? It's no problem, you know. If you really feel like you need to, you can pay me back later." Since Mrs Weasley's head was now turned away from them, Harry waggled his eyebrows, which made Colin giggle and the sound of Colin actually giggling made Harry laugh out loud. Soon the pair of them were having quite a fit. Mrs Weasley was just glad to see Harry smiling and laughing like he hadn't done in a long while and let them be. She tidied up the room a little more, then left, telling them to meet her back in the dining area of the Leaky Cauldron at lunchtime.

The door had just barely clicked shut behind Mrs Weasley when Colin almost bounded over and bounced onto the bed, grinning widely as he kissed Harry on the cheek, then lightly on the lips, "I've been just dying to do that all morning. I just didn't think you'd appreciate it in front of her.

"She'll find out soon enough, and I know she'll be okay with it. The Weasleys are very understanding, and they love me" Harry didn't have any doubt in his mind that his relationship with Colin wouldn't make the Weasleys think any less of him. He could depend on them; they were more his family than the Dursleys ever could be.

Harry and Colin got dressed, went and got Dennis, then went out into the alley for a walk. It was already busy, and getting quite warm in the crowded space, the sun shining brightly over head. Out here, it was hard for Harry to feel anything but happy with the warm sunlight on his face and Colin by his side.

They contented themselves with looking at the displays in shop windows for the most part, occasionally going in to get a closer look at this or that. There wasn't much that they hadn't already seen, so it was more to busy themselves until lunch when they would meet with Mrs Weasley.

"Let's get some Every-Flavour beans." Colin nodded in agreement, and after buying a rather large pouch of the candies, they sat down on a bench and ate them one at a time, commenting if they got a particularly peculiar flavor. The three of them having been raised in the muggle world, these sorts of treats were slightly more interesting to them than they were to other wizards, but they were practically normal now. Harry hadn't run into much in a long time that shocked him.

After being quiet for a couple of minutes, Colin turned to Harry, looking quite serious.

"What is it?" Harry asked him, slightly alarmed.

"What are we going to do, Harry? About this whole mess, I mean."

"I think we should worry about that when the time comes, and the time won't come until you want it to." Harry smiled encouragingly. "We'll be off to the Burrow soon, and then off to school. The last couple of days won't really matter all that much. Well, some parts will matter." Harry winked at Colin with a grin.

Colin chuckled, popping an Every-Flavour bean in his mouth. He frowned immediately and spat it onto the ground. Harry and Dennis looked at him.

"Earwax." He stated, gagging slightly.

Harry had no way of knowing how things would turn out. He hoped Colin would be able to make up with his father. He hoped that one day, he would defeat Voldemort. All he really knew for sure was that Colin had helped him find the optimism he hadn't known he'd lost. With that, he could face anything.