Wednesday 4th November

The Great Hall – 17:47

Hermione had decided to sit next to Tracey at dinner. She wasn't entirely sure why, but it was not just because all of her friends had either strangely disappeared or were drunk on the floor in their common room.

Okay, fine, maybe just a little bit.

"What's wrong?" Tracey immediately asked as Hermione squeezed next to her on the bench at the Slytherin table.

Hermione sighed as she sat. "Does something always need to be wrong?"

Tracey raised one eyebrow. "So, you're here for what? Fun?"

"I'll go if that's what you really want?" Hermione challenged. "I'll leave you to all your friends." She gestured to the empty bench in front of them.

The sixth year Slytherin about six feet away from Hermione on the bench raised an eyebrow and turned his back to them as her gesture reached him.

"Fine." Tracey sighed. "But be warned: I don't like small talk."

Hermione smiled as she began to load some chicken pie onto her plate. "Does anyone?"

They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes. This gave Hermione time to analyse Tracey. She was pretty – like, really pretty. All that dark hair contrasted perfectly with her light skin and deep-set blue eyes.

From what little Hermione knew, she also knew that Tracey was also very smart and cunning. Yet, she was always alone. Hermione wondered if that was by choice or if what Draco had said was true: because she was a Half-Blood the Slytherins had always treated her differently for it.

Tracey was an annoying enigma for Hermione. It was true when she had said they'd never really noticed her before. But was it just Hermione who had never noticed her before? Had everyone else known her existence and it was only Hermione who seemed to ignore everyone outside of her immediate circle? Was Hermione, in fact, a bloody hypocrite?

In the past year of self-reflection, Hermione had recognised that she was not a very social person. Or more specifically; she didn't make friends very easily. Harry and Ron had had to knock out a troll to become her friend, for goodness sake.

Tracey broke the silence as a strange sadness at the thought of Ron began to creep into Hermione.

"Zabini does this every year," Tracey burst out, putting food in her mouth immediately afterwards as though to distract from the fact that she had spoken.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. The dinner plates disappeared, and the puddings popped up in front of them. A trifle was the closet to Hermione. She didn't make a move for any.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. "He gets drunk in the common room and misses dinner?"

Tracey gave a small smile and shrugged. "Something like that. His drinking becomes unbearably worse around this time of year."

This surprised Hermione. "So, he doesn't like his birthday?"

A faint sigh left Tracey. "Well… if you want the blatant truth, it's the last time he saw his dad before... well… I don't even need to say it; we all bloody know."

"Oh… right." Hermione felt uncomfortable. No one ever spoke about Blaise's home life. It was very mysterious and out of reach to those outside of his inner circle, and apparently to those in it as well by the look on Tracey's face.

"Yeah," Tracey replied as though she could read Hermione's mind. "I've had to survive these parties every year since fifth year." She gestured to her plate, piled high with food. "I've learned how to get through it without dying of alcohol poisoning."

Hermione laughed, but she still felt sad for Blaise. "Is there anything we could do for him to change his memory? Make it a nice day instead. Something small… like a gift?"

Tracey rolled her eyes. "We've all tried for years, so don't waste your energy."

"There must be something he's always wanted?" Hermione had the urge to stick her tongue out at Tracey's disapproving expression. She wouldn't back down without a fight. Surely the nest of Slytherins hadn't thought of something the pack of Gryffindors would have?

But then, as Hermione began to feel doubtful, Tracey's frown suddenly melted away and her expression became thoughtful. "I suppose there is…" Tracey supplemented. "But it's a bit too much," she continued. "Plus, we'll never get it in time with this stupid weather… it's not worth the hassle… sorry, I shouldn't have said anything…"

But Hermione felt lighter already. "Don't even think about the time or effort," she replied jovially. "I've got that sorted. Just tell me what it is, and I'll get it."

The hopefulness in her voice proved contagious as Tracey's annoyance and disappointment melted away and she began to mirror the smile that was growing on Hermione's face.

Hermione placed a hand firmly on the Slytherin table. "We're going to give him the best damn birthday ever."

…

Eighth Year Dorms – 17:47

There are some instances in your life which take until you are alone in contemplation to truly understand the significance of them.

Draco had been sat on the edge of his bed for a while. An hour, if anyone had been counting. It had been a strange day. In truth, he couldn't pinpoint the exact time things began to get strange for him. It had been so long that he'd accepted the strange just as part of his life now. What even counted as 'strange' anymore?

Spending the afternoon with and without Ginny had really gotten to him. It was unexplainable but the fading line between him and the Weasley's made Draco feel unstable in some way.

After dropping Ginny off with the Three Drunken Musketeers downstairs, he'd gone to his room to change, and be alone for a moment. It had been rather overwhelming; to be so close to people who had always been so far away… far away from everything about Draco's life. Everything Draco had known and perceived to be reality.

He shook his head softly to himself as he buttoned up his dark grey shirt. At the start of the year Hermione had told him that they were on the same side and Draco had laughed in her face. Looking at himself now, there was no way he could have guessed how right she would be.

Draco had done a one-eighty on his life in a manner of months and it was rather frightening. Had Ginny Weasley been right? Had she misjudged him? Or was she simply noticing the 'new' Draco which had manifested over the past few months? Had he become an entirely new person? Was this an evolution?

A familiar panic began to creep into Draco's chest and stomach. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I need a drink," he muttered as he opened them again. There was a pressure on his chest that wouldn't budge, but he bore it; as he had learned to.

With a quick, blurry, glance in the mirror and a hand through his hair, Draco cocked a smile onto his face. Yes, he thought, that's much better. He braced himself for the madness he could begin to hear downstairs. Another year, another looming hangover courteous of Zabini, he thought confidently, but with a tinge of nervousness.

The door closed with a soft click behind him and Draco's smile remained plastered onto his face. However, what Draco did not notice was that his smile no longer hurt to stretch; his lip was no longer split.

His skin had healed itself completely in the few hours since the run-in with Ron's fist in the hospital.

…

Eighth Year Common Room – 17:47

"Okay," Hannah mumbled. She attempted to shuffle upwards on the loveseat she, Reg and Blaise were cramped into, but her hair got caught in the web of limbs and she dropped back down with a huff in defeat. She leaned her head on her hand on the arm of the couch. "Here… Uh, why the drink so…"

"Shhh…" Blaise replied loudly. "Birthday."

Hannah's lips formed an almost perfect O. "Birthday!" she exclaimed, suddenly remembering. "Why don't we do something?" she asked innocently.

Regulus mumbled something under her right elbow.

"I think that's what this is, Han-Han…" Blaise threw a hand over his shoulder to the rest of the room.

Hannah followed his resting hand to see what he was referring to. There were people! In the common room! Who weren't just the sad eighteen eighth years!

"Right!" she mumbled. Of course. She remembered now. They had invited people to come over. To be entirely honest, she hadn't expected anyone to come at all. How had they even gotten in? There was supposed to be a password on the portrait, wasn't there?

Regulus mumbled something again and with much effort, Hannah was able to dislodge her elbow so that she could hear him better.

"Need another drink?" she asked.

Regulus' eyes were half-closed and while he had a smile on his face, his eyebrows were drawn down into a frown. "Forgot to invite Harry," he mumbled.

"Aw shit," Blaise replied. "So we did."

Regulus began to sit up and Hannah couldn't even budge to help him. "I'll go… get him," he grunted with effort.

"Do you have to?" Ginny intercepted.

Hannah looked at her in surprise and the squeak that came from Blaise was one she would never forget. They had entirely forgotten Ginny had been sitting in the chair next to them.

Regulus put his hand on his chest and shook his head. "Well, hell, it's not nice to sneak up on people like that."

Ginny raised her eyebrows and took a sip out of the bottle of beer she had kept perched on her knee. "I've been here for an hour! Plus, we're in the middle of a party. You've bloody spoken to me…"

Hannah felt her legs be lifted as Regulus finally made it out of their trio of knotted limbs. He stood and tried to stretch his arms above his head but stumbled a little towards Ginny.

"Whoops," he laughed. "Well, whatever, I'm gonna go get Harry. The poor bastard is probably sitting at home all alone and all sad."

Ginny shuffled forward in her seat in an effort to stand up. "Well, if Harry's coming, then I'm leaving."

Blaise snorted. "Don't be petty. Just stay. Ignore him. Show him how much fun you can have."

Ginny paused. She looked torn between being right and knowing that Blaise was right. She sat back in the seat after a moment and took a long drink of her beer; only stopping when she had finished.

"Well, if I do… then I'm going to have another drink," Ginny finally replied, a little breathless.

Blaise blinked his eyes in surprise, as though he hadn't expected her to listen to him and take his advice. "At once!" he replied enthusiastically.

Hannah didn't have time to move before Blaise had shot across her outstretched legs to reach the last of the whiskey they had wedged between the cushions of the loveseat.

"Ow!" she cried as his pointy elbow jabbed into her thigh. "You could have just asked!"

Blaise ignored her as he sat back up and held out the bottle for Ginny to take, over-stretching himself across the side of armrest to reach her. Ginny pursed her lips and stared at the bottle for a second before shuffling forward to take it out of Blaise's hand.

"We don't have any glasses," Blaise stated when she took it and pulled the cork out the top.

Ginny shrugged and took a swig of the bottle. "You'll need another though," she said as she shook it so the liquid at the bottom sloshed up the sides. There was about an half an inch left.

"On it," Hannah replied. She turned her hand over with a flick of her fingers, and in the centre of her palm, a bottle of gin materialised. She'd pay her uncle back later. Apparently, the laws of magic still applied to them when it came to creating food and drink, so Hannah had instead been conjuring bottles from the Leaky Cauldron, her uncle's place.

Regulus whistled. "We better get some glasses now."

"And some tonic water," Ginny replied, eyeing the bottle sceptically.

Hannah briefly met Regulus' gaze, and even although they were pretty drunk, they both understood one thing: she probably shouldn't have shown off her magic like that.

"Hey!" Blaise intercepted the awkwardness nicely. "Where did that come from?"

Hannah left Regulus with a sheepish grin and turned to the birthday boy. "Secret stash," she replied with a wink.

Regulus rolled his eyes. "I'm going to go get Harry, or as I like to call him: Mum."

Ginny spluttered whiskey all across the rug as she began to laugh. "Why on earth is that?"

Hannah stared at him incredulously. Reg had a smirk on his face, but he was being entirely serious.

"What else would you call the person who gave you life?"

"Oh, you're ridiculous!" Hannah exclaimed with a laugh and threw a cushion at him.

He caught it with one hand and winked at her. "Now, here comes my ride – Draco!"

They all turned to where Reg had directed his call. Draco appeared from the dorm stairs and walked directly towards them. Hannah was caught off-guard as he approached. Draco looked… good. Really damn good. Had she really never noticed before? Had he always looked like this? So tall and lean and confident? Is this what having a stroke is like? Hannah thought as Draco approached.

"Still at it, I see," Draco said, his smile widening at the sight of Blaise's lolling head. He held his hand out for the bottle of gin Hannah was still clutching. The sudden closeness of him surprised Hannah and she thrust the bottle at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing. Hannah let out a breath as the weight of the bottle left her hand. She turned her gaze to Regulus. There it is, she thought as her chest fluttered. He smiled at her and she melted. There was the true comfort of someone you like. It should feel like this, she thought as she smiled back.

"Here," Draco said. "I think some appropriate glasses are needed to accompany this wonderful gin." He waved his hand in a similar way that Hannah had, and five glasses tinted with blue appeared in mid-air.

"And some bloody tonic water, please," Ginny added.

Draco was silent as he poured the gin into each of the glasses. Hannah realised he wasn't going to summon the mixer, so with another flick of the wrist, a bottle of tonic water appeared in her other hand.

"Mother of Merlin…" Regulus began nervously. He looked around to see if anyone had seen. "Can you lot just bloody stop that?"

Draco pushed the full glasses through the air with a slight nudge and they hovered next to each person until they picked it up. Well, everyone but Blaise who was almost unconscious.

"To Blaise being a lightweight and snowstorms," Draco said as he raised his glass, sans tonic water.

Hannah added some to her own glass and tossed it over to Ginny who did the same. They raised their glasses to join Draco's. Blaise attempted to before Regulus propped up his arm with his own.

"To necromancy and hot girls!" Regulus added with a wink at Hannah.

Hannah's face was beginning to heat again, and she rolled her eyes at them both. "To Hogwarts," she concluded.

The serene sound of the glasses clinking was followed by the spluttering of the boys, who had attempted to take Hendricks as a shot. Hannah shook her head as she took a sip of her lovely, refreshing G&T.

…

11 Elgin Crescent, London – 18:15

There was no other way to say it: Alphard Black was a fucking cool dude.

Harry had finally made time to go see the house he'd actually been left by Sirius, and hell, had he been impressed. It hadn't looked like much when he'd appeared on Elgin Crescent; more like a building plot than a building. But Harry knew that was just the concealed magic.

Once he'd placed his hand on the black wrought iron gate, the enchantments lifted, revealing a pale blue, three storey town-house. Harry's heart was beating out of his chest as he climbed the tiled steps. This beautiful terraced house was his, all his.

He pulled the small silver key out of his back pocket as he stared at the arched black door. Harry placed a hand on the door-knob (which was in the centre of the large door) as he turned the key in the lock. Then, as the innards clicked and the door swung open, a wave of magic flew through Harry; that was when he knew that this was his place.

.

It was hours until Harry stopped wandering around the large house. He had been greeted by a sprawling reception room to the left of the entrance hall and as he'd continued up and down the stairs, Harry had been surprised to discover that there were five floors in the house, including a basement.

The kitchen and living room had been on the lower ground floor and there was even a wine cellar in the basement. It had appeared that Alphard had preferred Muggle décor as he even had a utility room in the basement and Muggle appliances – ahead of the times even for the 70's.

Or perhaps it had been Sirius? Harry was unsure if Sirius had even had time to live there in the three short years he had outside of Hogwarts. There was still so much he didn't know.

In the dim light of twilight, Harry had settled into a small office-come-library on the top floor. He had been delighted to discover that he could similarly turn electric lights on the same way he could light a candle in Hogwarts. With a flick of his hand, Harry turned on a small lamp on the side-table next to the armchair he was sat in at the bay window.

He had a view of the whole street and he could see some people hurrying home from work. Harry smiled and took a deep breath in the silence of the comforting house; this was true contentment. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the brown leather back of the chair for a few minutes.

That was, until, he heard a clatter downstairs. Harry's eyes shot open and he sped towards the door and hovered at the top of the stairs for a moment, listening for any more movement. He heard mumbling voices.

Harry began to creep down the first stairs. It sounded like it was a couple of people… at the front door or entrance hall. As he made it to the second floor, he could make out what they were saying.

"… can't be right. I knew you were too drunk to Apparate!"

"I don't even Apparate anymore! This is where he is! I'm bloody right, I know it."

"If this is some random person's house, I'm going to kill you… wow look at this!"

"Fucking hell… don't bloody touch anything! Wait… I hear something."

Harry had quickly recognised his intruder's voices when he'd made it to the second floor. He made no attempt to be quiet and they did not realise he was behind them until he spoke.

"I'm going to have to change the wards on this place," Harry said, trying to stifle his laughter.

Harry saw Draco physically jump, but Regulus' scream of horror tipped him over the edge. His laughter burst out of him in a splutter and a snort. There were tears in his eyes as Draco and Regulus turned to face him, their faces showing their rage.

Draco pushed Regulus' arm. "And you said he'd be alone and sad."

Regulus glared between Draco and Harry. "Well, he is alone and in the dark," he grumbled. "What even is this place?"

Harry wiped his eyes and a smile stayed on his face. "You've never been here? It's the house Alphard left to Sirius."

Realisation dawned on Draco's face and Regulus just shrugged. "Mother burned him off the tapestry before I could even think about accidental magic."

Draco turned to face the reception room and waved his hand. A series of lights turned on throughout the room and he whistled. "So, this is all yours now?"

Harry and Regulus followed him into the room. Harry lowered the blinds with a flick of his fingers. He wasn't sure how the wards worked on this place yet, but he didn't want to take any chances and freak out the neighbours already.

"Alphard left it to Sirius and now that Reg is back, Grimmauld Place is his again. So, I get Elgin." Harry held up his hands to show the room.

Regulus scrunched up his nose at the nicely decorated room. "Can we swap?"

Harry dropped onto one of the couches. "Absolutely not," he replied with a smug grin.

"And to think," Regulus replied with a teasing annoyed tone. "We came to invite you to a party."

Harry feigned surprise. "So that's why you stink of booze?"

"Care to join?" Draco asked, similarly dropping into a matching armchair.

Harry shrugged. He was guessing that it was why they had spontaneously appeared in his home. His heart skipped a little as he was reminded that this was his home.

"I don't really want to go out tonight," he replied honestly. He'd just got settled in; he didn't want to go back to Hogwarts already.

"Ginny wants you to come!" Regulus lied.

Harry rolled his eyes. His hidden elation at Ginny's mention was short lived as Draco snorted at Reg's statement.

Draco cleared his throat in the awkward silence which followed and sat forward on his elbows. "Look," he began. "We want you to come celebrate Blaise's birthday with all your friends at your favourite place in the world – isn't that enough?"

Harry bit back a smile at Draco's sincerity. He pretended to wipe a tear away from his eye. "Wow, Draco, I didn't know I meant so much to you. If you really want me to come…"

Draco stood up. "Arsehole. Now can we go? I think I'm starting to sober up."

Harry and Reg both stood too, Reg grinning from ear to ear. With a miniscule summoning motion, they walked over and stood next to Draco.

"Shouldn't I be the one taking us there? I am the sober one…"

Reg shushed Harry. "Draco is our lift. This is his thing now."

Harry frowned but decided not to ask. He just grabbed hold of Draco's arm and disappeared into the darkness with his friends.

…

Corridor outside the Eighth Year Common Room – 18:23

By the time they had finished carb-loading and Hermione had been able to convince Tracey that she could actually Apparate them directly out of Hogwarts without killing them, they didn't have long to return before Blaise would pass out (as per Tracey's party calculations). Hermione had the 'gift' tucked inside her cardigan and a sudden bout of insecurity hit her.

"What if he doesn't like it?" She paused as they reached the portrait hole.

Tracey turned with one eyebrow raised. "He'll love it, come on."

The portrait swung out towards them without prompt and Tracey stepped through ahead of Hermione. The burst of music and chatter which followed surprised her; Hermione had half-expected Blaise to have been lying about inviting other people.

They weaved through the surprising number of students to where Tracey swore she'd seen the back of Draco's head.

Hermione heard Tracey greet her friends before she saw them. Careful to protect the gift, Hermione pushed around a very tall, blonde fifth year whom she suspected to be a Hufflepuff Beater.

They were all in the same place she'd left them almost two hours ago, except now with extended drunk variants. Blaise was in the exact spot as earlier, but now accompanied by a very cheery Ginny. Hannah had fallen asleep with her legs over Blaise's lap and her head in Regulus', who was chatting animatedly to Draco and Harry, conveniently sat the furthest from Ginny.

"Hermione!" Harry called over-exuberantly. "Where have you been?"

Eyeing the G&T in his hand, Hermione edged around the couch following Tracey. She raised her eyebrows but made no comment; Harry could not handle white spirits. He didn't even wait for a response as Tracey sat next to him on the floor and his attention was immediately diverted.

"Oi." Tracey hit the bottom of Blaise's shoe which was dangling in front of her, after greeting Harry. "We got you a birthday gift."

Blaise's face turned from happy to absolute joy as he looked between Tracey and Hermione. "Really?" he asked, his eyes alight.

Hermione's heart was beating fast as six pairs of eyes (minus Hannah's) turned to face her expectantly. "We… um, weren't sure which kind you'd like…" she muttered as she began to carefully bring the gift out of her cardigan. "So we went with the store recommendation…"

The tiny ball of fluff began to wake as Hermione held out the kitten for Blaise to take. The little grey cat mewed quietly as it opened its eyes to see Blaise. Everyone was silent as his face remained frozen in his joy.

Hermione placed the kitten in his lap and Blaise unfroze. He moved as though in slow motion to pick up the grey fluff ball and held her so gently as he began to murmur soft words to her.

"Mon petite cherie," he said so that they could hear.

Then, he began to cry.

…

A/N: I do realise they drink a lot. But come on, what would teenagers who lived together do after defeating the Dark Lord during the most stressful exam period of their lives? Plus, have you met British teenagers?

Exactly.

Fun facts:

Harry's new home address does kind of exist, but I chose the house number 11 because: the number one is said to symbolise leadership, strength, and confidence. It has also been said to symbolise an arrow, which reflects willpower and precision. It's also reflective of individuality, self-discovery, and self-empowerment. So, I thought it was a nice reference to Harry's journey to where he is now.

Blaise's birthday is actually the 4th of November (as per JKR) (his name is also a French derivative of the Latin blaesus for "lisping"). In mythology Blaise was the tutor and, later, biographer, of Merlin – which makes his name a very appropriate name for a wizard. And awfully appropriate for this story…

Forever grateful for the attention so please review lol.

Holly – xo