Author's Note: Er... I got nothing actually. Just read the stuff at the end. Very important.

I..............................................................................................I

It was June of Harry's sixth year and everyone was cramming for end of the year exams, wishing that summer would hurry up and arrive.

Ginny was standing in the hall talking to Hermione and Eloise when suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her, but couldn't see anything. She jumped and let out a small scream of surprise before turning around with an evil grin. She grabbed the front of Harry's invisibility cloak and lifted it up to expose her laughing boyfriend. She gave him a mischievous look before pushing him up against a wall, letting the invisibility cloak fall over the pair of them.

Hermione and Eloise exchanged a look as they heard a lot of hushed laughing and sounds of kissing. They both rolled their eyes while secretly thinking how adorable it was.

"Alright you two," Hermione called to the invisible pair, "if you want to walk with us to dinner, you'd better come on because we're not going to wait."

The two appeared seemingly out of thin air and Harry stuffed his cloak into his book bag.

"How are O.W.L.s going, Ginny?" Eloise asked.

Ginny made gagging sounds before finding herself under Hermione's stern gaze. She smiled happily.

"I'm almost positive I got an O in Muggle Studies at least," she said excitedly, giving Harry a thankful smile. He'd continued tutoring her in the subject all year, with a few trips to the Stensons' new house to help.

"I'm a little worried about the Advanced Potions exam I just took. Does anyone know what ingredient would neutralize basilisk venom?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Willow bark," Harry and Eloise answered at the same time, exchanging grins. Snape had insisted Harry and Draco come to him for tutoring at least once a week, either to clarify what he'd already taught, or prepare them for what he was going to teach. Harry had, in turn, continued to tutor Ron, Eloise, and Neville, with Hermione and Draco joining them for study groups or when Harry was unavailable for tutoring.

The "Hated by Snape" club had disappeared and though its three original members couldn't exactly say they loved Potions, the experience had greatly improved along with their understanding of it.

It all worked out well. Harry would tutor in Potions and Defense, Hermione would tutor in Transfiguration, Eloise in Charms, Neville in Herbology, with everyone else pitching in where they could.

Ron worked harder in school that year than he ever had before, determined to become a healer. Harry found his friend working even harder each time Harry checked back into the Hospital Wing. He didn't get sick that often, but his immune system did have a harder time fighting things so he came down with illnesses more than he used to. Thankfully, it was never anything too bad and he was always back on his feet, running around sooner than Madam Pomfrey approved of.

"Good," Hermione said uncertainly, trying to remember back to the exam, "I'm pretty sure that's what I put."

"So Harry, how much you want to bet you get the highest Defense score?" Eloise said with a grin. Harry blushed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not that good in Defense. I just enjoy it more than others," Harry said modestly. Everyone else rolled their eyes.

"Harry, face it," Hermione said with a smile, "you are amazing at Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Yeah, Har, you must come to grips with the fact," Ginny said in a psychiatrist-like voice, poking Harry in the side to see his nose scrunch up in that cute way it did every time he was tickled.

The four ran into Draco on the way in.

"Hey Dray," Harry greeted. "Are we sitting Slytherin or Gryffindor today?"

"We're sitting Hufflepuff tomorrow," Eloise said firmly. "No excuses about them not accepting Slytherins because you know everyone's been fine with you sitting there with me and I miss my table."

"Okay Eloise, don't get your knickers in a twist," Draco said with a smirk. Eloise made a face at him and the blonde chuckled. "We're sitting Gryff since we sat Sly yesterday. At least that's where Blaise and Ron said they'd meet us."

Harry remembered back to September 1st of that year with a grin.

Draco had gone ahead to Hogwarts early with Snape to avoid any conflicts on the train. Harry had walked in to find him sitting at the Slytherin table with the other Slytherins who had sat down either casting mean looks over at him or ignoring him all together.

Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table as necessary for the Sorting and beginning speeches, but when the food came, he filled up his plate and said goodbye to his friends, who already knew what he was going to do.

Everyone in the hall watched with curiosity as Harry walked from the Gryffindor table over to the Slytherin one, almost everyone believing a fight was going to break out.

Therefore, the majority of the student body, the ghosts, and part of the staff were very shocked to hear Harry simply ask Draco if he could squeeze in, ignoring the fact that there was plenty of room. They all nearly had heart attacks when Draco let him and the two started talking amicably, but settled for staring in shock.

Charles Crabbe immediately grabbed his friends and they followed him over to where Harry was sitting, sliding in next to him. He stuck his tongue out at his older brother who was making menacing gestures toward him and asked Harry and Draco about their summers before turning to his own friends, leaving the two sixth years to talk.

The two looked up in surprise to see Blaise Zabini carry his plate over from the other end of the table and sit gracefully down facing the two.

"Sorry, my brother was just sorted so I had to make sure he settled in with the other first years. I wanted to owl you this summer, Draco, but my family went on a cruise and there weren't any owls I could use. Anyway, I wanted you to know I'm on your side, screw what those imbeciles think," he said, jutting his thumb over at Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Nott who all scowled back.

"Thanks, Zabini," Draco said in surprise.

"Don't be stupid, Draco, call me Blaise. I hear your last name's Snape now, but there's no way I can call you that without it just being too strange and confusing. So, er, what are you doing here, Potter?" he asked. It wasn't a cruel comment, just slightly suspicious.

"Call me Harry," Harry said, reaching his hand across the table. "Draco and I put all the stupid house rivalry crap behind us and became friends over summer."

Blaise hesitated, but then shook his hand firmly. "Well, that's certainly unexpected."

Draco and Harry chuckled and Blaise looked at the blonde curiously.

"Well, it looks like you've changed a bit, Draco. I don't think I've ever seen you laugh like that before. Thank Merlin you're actually human. I was seriously doubting it before now."

Draco feigned offense. "Human? Please. I rank deity at least."

"Millicent!" the three heard Pansy shriek indignantly. They looked up to see Millicent Bullstrode brushing Pansy off. She came over and sat next to Blaise.

"Ugh, I hate her," she said with a roll of the eyes. "So, Potter, I heard you beat the shit out of Theo."

"Nott? Er...yeah, we got into a bit of a fight, but..." he started to defend himself, but Millicent cut him off.

"Then I already like you. That guy is so irritating. I'm glad to hear you knocked him off the little pedestal he's placed him self on. And you seem to have done similar for Draco, though Draco has seemed to improve while Nott remains his insufferable self," she continued.

Harry grinned while Draco sputtered indignantly.

"I was not..."

"You were," Millicent said quickly, cutting Draco off. "But seeing what you did at the end of last year made me think you might have some sort of personality and conviction in there, and as long as you don't ever call me gorilla girl again, I'm on your side in this. Potter, I'm still not sure about you, but we'll see."

Harry grinned. "Call me Harry and I guess we'll see," he said, shaking her hand.

"So, Harry, what's your Quidditch team?" Blaise asked hopefully.

"Well, I'm not really fanatical about one team, though I like players on several different teams. I'd probably say the Meteorites though, because of their Seeker," Harry said thoughtfully as he chewed on a roll.

"Damn, why can't I find one person who likes the Chudley Cannons?" Blaise asked disappointedly.

Draco and Harry both stilled and looked at him.

"My friend Ron's insane about the Chudley Cannons," Harry said.

"Weasley? No way," Blaise said, sounding a bit excited.

Harry called for Ron and motioned for him to come over. The redhead approached the table with extreme caution, looking very doubtful about the whole thing...until he found out Blaise was just about as fanatical about the Cannons as he was. He instantly ran back to Gryffindor to grab his plate before settling in next to Blaise to talk Quidditch.

They soon found that Millicent got on very well with Eloise, both having been made fun of for their looks before. Now the other students were used to them sitting at each other's tables and though the two houses were a bit wary at first, as the year went on, more and more started intermixing at meal times as they began to accept the others as fellow students rather than look at them as the enemy.

Though house rivalries still existed, Harry and Draco's friendship had really been a big step toward breaking them down, or at least making them less violent.

The five sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Poor Sev," Harry said with a chuckle, looking up at the staff table. Snape looked tired and a bit frazzled to those who knew him. He was eating with one hand and holding a book about end-of-term pregnancy and newborns in the other, eyes focused on the words. Harry spotted the gold wedding band on his finger. He and Laura had eloped at the end of summer, a fact that still made Eloise giggle gleefully.

"George says Kota's still singing 'The Circle of Life' every time the subject gets brought up," Ginny said.

"I still can't believe he's having a kid," Ron said in disbelief. "I mean, Professor Snape rocking a baby to sleep just isn't an image that comes naturally."

"Rocking a baby? What about changing a diaper?" Draco asked, making a face. "He's gotten used to Anna's messes, but this is a bit of a different story."

"He'll do fine. He's great with Anna and he's so excited, even if he doesn't show it," Harry said. "Plus he's read practically every book in existence on the subject."

"And that's a really good way to prepare for anything," Hermione commented seriously. Everyone chuckled. "What?" she asked indignantly.

"You know, he actually gave points to Hufflepuff yesterday. He must be happy," Eloise said.

"Or too distracted to realize what he's doing," Ginny pointed out.

"You know, the thing about it that I can't truly believe," said Ron quietly, making the others lean in to hear him, "is that in order for Laura to be pregnant, she and Professor Snape must've..." He trailed off, nodding suggestively.

All of their heads snapped to the staff table before turning back to the center and there was a resounding, "Ewww."

"Merlin's beard, Ron," Draco groaned. "Please, I don't need these sort of pictures. Oh sick, get out of my head."

"Have either of you actually seen them kissing?" Neville asked curiously.

Harry and Draco nodded.

"It's disturbing," they both said simultaneously.

"You know, Professor Snape's not that bad," Millicent mused, looking up at the staff table thoughtfully. "He's got that whole dark and mysterious thing going on."

"Yeah, he's actually kind of sexy," Hermione said mischievously.

"Oh I've had many a fantasy about detention in Potions," Ginny said with a nod.

The boys all looked at them in abject horror.

Ginny laughed and gave Harry's hand a squeeze. "We're just kidding."

"I'm not," Millicent interjected.

"Actually, he is quite dishy," Lavender butted into the conversation.

"He's got delicate hands," Parvati said seriously. The boys looked at her as if she'd grown another head but she ignored them. "And the cutest thing ever: I was in detention and he was grading papers and his wife and stepdaughter came, both adorable by the way, and he actually smiled and looked excited. He even picked up his stepdaughter and he promised he'd hang a picture she'd drawn for him in his office."

"Aww, that is so sweet!" Eloise exclaimed with a dreamy look on her face. All the girls seemed to agree, getting those strange looks on their faces that let the boys know this was a very "cute" thing that they may be expected to do in the future.

"His office is covered in them. That's why he doesn't let most students in there. He doesn't want to let people have any reason to be less intimidated of him and pictures of stick figures holding hands under rainbows doesn't exactly get across the message of fear," Harry confided. He enjoyed trying to get people to see there was another side to Snape, though most still refused to believe it.

"Rainbows and stick figures holding hands? Draco, you've been drawing pictures for your godfather again? That's so cute," Blaise teased.

Draco scowled and threw a spoonful of peas at the Slytherin as everyone laughed.

"Draco is a budding artist, don't tease, Blaise," Harry joked, slinging his arm over the blonde's shoulder, who made a face at him and pushed it off, threatening to dump soup into Harry's lap.

"Mum says it should be any day now," Ron said through a mouthful of food.

Mrs. Weasley had been helping Laura through the pregnancy. She had gotten really excited about he whole thing, and of course, had a lot of experience. During the last few months, Laura had basically moved into the Burrow with Anna, though they had a house near Hogsmeade where they went on the weekends when Snape came home.

"If it cries too much, though, I'm moving into the Lighthouse with you, Harry," Draco said warningly.

"I've already moved in an extra bed," Harry informed him. They'd already talked about this throughout the year and it had taken a lot of assurances on Harry's part to make sure Draco knew he was welcome at the Lighthouse anytime, as long as he didn't mind sharing a room with him and Ron, when the redhead was staying over. He'd also had a talk with Ron to make sure he was okay with the whole thing and wasn't jealous. Harry made sure to let Ron know that he would always be Harry's best friend, but Ron assured him that the conversation wasn't necessary. He already knew.

Harry had opened up a bit to his friends during the year. It started with Ron, who had gotten Neville to keep the other boys out of the dorm for a while and had proceeded to bring up what he'd witnessed in the Nightmare Chamber. He brought up Harry's worries about Sirius along with what happened at the Dursleys'.

Harry had screamed and yelled and tried to get out, but Ron stood firm until Harry broke down into tears and let out a lot of what he'd pent up for so long, especially with the frustrating fears about Sirius turning into the type of guardian his uncle had been that Harry could never bring up with his godfather. Now, the two would make sure to find alone time to just talk about things every once in awhile. Ron realized he couldn't just interrogate Harry all the time, and confided some of his own self-doubts with his friend as well. They'd helped each other a lot and their friendship had grown even tighter in the process.

Draco had also become a confidant of Harry's. The two could talk about their families and get a better understanding from the other than they could from anyone else. Draco still had issues about killing his father, but Harry helped him through the bad times.

Hermione was the one Harry went to for practical advice. She was always there to try to analyze the problem and make a plan of action to solve it. She could almost always cut right to the source of the issue, often even when Harry didn't know what it was. Sometimes she knew just what to say to make Harry feel better, unlike anyone else could really do.

Ginny was always there to talk to, but Harry usually just fed off her silent support. When something was bothering him, Ginny was the one he could go to when he just didn't feel like talking about it. Ginny could tolerate not knowing, not curing. She could stand to simply sit there for hours with him in silence, just being there for him, and sometimes giving him very heavenly massages.

All his friends helped him in their own ways. The famous trio still stood strong, but they were part of a larger group now full of its own tighter relationships among it. Harry would never confide in Blaise, just as Draco would never confide in Eloise, but they all enjoyed being in each other's company and they all had someone they could go to for the deeper things.

Snape also made it clear to Harry that he was there, and Harry found it was often the Potions master he'd go to, especially when he felt he'd made a mistake of some sort. There were things he'd go to Remus or Sirius for and some things he went to Snape for and didn't really question the difference. He guessed it was mostly because they'd both been in a dark place at one point in their lives, and had each helped the other out of it. Snape seemed to need Harry a lot of the time, and often pulled him off after class to ask his advice about things. It made Harry feel important, and he really liked that feeling.

He still remembered how nervous he was the first time he went to Snape to talk. They had still been getting over some of the rifts created the summer before, so it had been a big step.

Harry slowly walked down to the dungeons, not really thinking about where he was going, but when the temperature began to drop and his footsteps echoed more noticeably, he realized where he was and why he was there. He took a deep breath and forced himself to keep going. When he got to the door to Snape's office, he stood there debating with himself for a long time. He actually began walking away before he decisively turned back and with a deep breath, knocked hesitantly at the door.

Nobody answered.

"Harry?" came a voice from behind, causing Harry to jump.

"Er, hi Professor," Harry muttered embarrassedly.

"We're not in class; you can call me Sev," Snape reminded him again.

"Oh yeah, right."

"Did you want to talk to me about something?" Snape asked with the slightest tinge of hope in his voice.

"Oh, um, well, I was just...I thought you might just not be doing anything but it's your free time so I'll just..."

"Harry, of course I have time for you," Snape said, unlocking his office door and leading Harry through. Snape sat down in his desk chair and Harry awkwardly took his place in the chair facing it. "So what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Harry looked down at his hands and fidgeted uncomfortably. "I was just wondering, well, you know when we were talking about flawed perfection and about the bad place people get stuck in, and well I know you've said before that you were in that place, right?"

"Yes, I was in that place for a very long time," Snape said, pushing away his discomfort with the topic and letting Harry get to what he was trying to say.

Harry nodded and continued. "Well, I was just wondering if you ever feel like, I don't know, like you want to go back, or maybe not want to but are at the edge of it maybe? I mean, just hypothetically."

Snape immediately grew worried but made sure not to let it show. "Of course. I think once you've been there, especially so soon after getting out, it's easier to slip back. I've had some close calls and have slipped back in a few times since then, but I got out again pretty quickly," he admitted. He mentally crossed his fingers and pushed back a little. "Do you ever feel that way?"

Harry sighed and nodded, still not looking at him.

Snape conjured up some tea and slid Harry over a cup. The Gryffindor took it with a grateful smile and sipped it to calm his nerves a bit.

"Have you been feeling that way at all lately? Did something happen?" Snape probed a bit further.

Harry shrugged. "Well, I was at Kota's house last weekend for her birthday, my Muggle friend that was at my birthday, and the telly was on...do you know what that is?"

Snape nodded even if he only had a vague idea.

"Anyways, there was this thing on, a talk show. Nobody was really watching it but I was in the room and it was about this guy who was older and he'd been, um, abused by his dad and he was saying he has all these violent tendencies and that when his kids misbehave he has to restrain himself from hitting them. I guess it's kind of stupid to get upset over something like a talk show, but I just couldn't help but think that might be me in the future."

"Harry, I was a spy for a great deal of my life and if there's one thing I learned how to do, it's how to judge character. I was trained to observe people and determine things about them, especially if they had the potential to be violent or not. That is one thing I've never gotten wrong when judging someone and I can assure you that you don't fit into that category."

"But what if..."

"Harry, listen to me. You know yourself better than anyone. Have you ever felt like you wanted to hit Anna?"

"No," Harry said, still unconvinced.

"Have you ever wanted to physically hurt someone who didn't deserve it or who was significantly weaker than you?"

"No," he said unsurely, trying to wrack his brain to make sure there were no incidents of that.

"Harry, stop doing this to yourself. I understand why you'd be worried about something like this, but you do not have that in you. If I even detected the slightest hint of that in you, I would never have placed Anna in your care and I feel completely safe doing that," Snape assured him.

Harry finally looked him in the eye. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

"You know, Harry, I'm not sure if I ever made it clear that I realize you're the one who pulled me out of my own dark place," Snape said with great difficulty, still unused to expressing such emotion.

Harry blushed. "I didn't..."

"Yes you did," Snape cut him off firmly. "It was you. And then you went and made sure I didn't slip back in."

Harry looked at him skeptically. "How did I do that? You were mad at me half the summer."

"I wasn't mad at you, Harry, I was just confused about a lot of things. I took out a lot of my frustrations on you because I was so used to doing so, I guess," Snape admitted regretfully.

Harry snorted. "I must have some huge sign on me somewhere that just says 'abuse me', huh?" he muttered before looking embarrassed at the words that had slipped out of his mouth. "Not that I'm implying that you..."

"No, I deserve that. I am sorry for what I did to you, Harry. I hope you know that. I'm sorry for how I treated you since you were eleven, but I'm especially sorry for what I did to you this summer. I was a bastard."

Harry's jaw dropped at the statement and the shocked look on his face was comical enough for the Potion's master to crack a smile.

"Well that was unexpected," Harry muttered with a smirk once he regained his senses.

"And sadly, no one will ever believe you."

"Hmm...I'll have to get a pensieve at some point and show that to all the Potions classes," Harry joked.

"I still know how to make thousands of potions with very embarrassing side effects," Snape threatened lightly.

Harry cracked a grin.

Snape mentally sighed before venturing into darker territory. "Have you heard from your relatives lately?"

Harry's grin melted instantly. "Er, yeah, just the usual letter from Aunt Petunia going on about how I'm a disgrace and how I should burn in Hell and all that fun stuff," he said, trying to pass it off lightly. "Don't tell Sirius or Remus though. Sirius would freak if he heard and overreact, and Remus, I don't know, I just don't want him to know. I guess he just wouldn't understand. I met his parents, you know. They're really nice and really...parent-y. I think they love him even more because he's a werewolf, which is just...great...really great," he said sincerely but with a tinge of sadness to his voice.

"Not the type to go shutting children in cupboards," Snape commented.

Harry snorted. "Nope. Not likely. No throwing through glass tables either and I doubt there were many stabbings involved in their family gatherings," he said bitterly, though he tried to pass it off as joking.

"No mandatory lessons in dark magic or Death Eater initiations," Snape put in. Harry didn't miss the fact that he was referring to his own childhood.

"Or endless chores or days without food," he added with a sigh.

"Or screaming parents or impossible standards or looks of shame," Snape added.

"Wow, we're a couple of bright rays of sunshine, huh?" Harry laughed dryly.

"Everyone needs to vent sometimes," Snape said thoughtfully, taking a sip of his tea. "We have a problem in that because we're not quite the open type. We're too closed off for our own good."

"Don't you talk to Laura?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but I must admit I generally avoid such topics of conversation. As you were saying, it's difficult to talk about that sort of thing to someone who couldn't really understand. Maybe one day, but I think it's better to begin talking about the hard stuff with someone who understands," Snape said carefully, hoping Harry would take the bait.

Harry swirled the tea in his cup around thoughtfully.

"What about Draco? You could talk to him. Maybe you could help each other because you two had such similar childhoods it seems with the whole Death Eater parent thing," Harry suggested.

Snape sighed inwardly. "Draco and I do talk but I'd like to have talks with you as well."

Harry looked up at him doubtfully. "Why?"

Snape resisted banging his head against the desk. "Because you're important to me, Harry," he said with great difficulty. "Because you're the one that pulled me out of that dark place. This time I want to actually get to know you and that's part of who you are."

"I don't want that to be part of who I am," Harry muttered.

"I know, but you can't escape the past. We both have the marks to prove it," he said, tapping on his forearm where his Dark Mark was concealed by his robes. "How about we make it a thing, this whole talking business," he said awkwardly, having never been good at this sort of thing.

Harry blinked up at him in confusion. "Erm, okay."

"Maybe, every Monday and Thursday you could come after dinner?" he said unsurely, surprising himself. He usually made sure to make statements of such things, not questions. "It could always be changed later of course."

"Are you sure? Aren't you busy or something?" Harry asked fidgeting with the hem of his robes.

"There are very few people who I'll always make sure to have time for, Harry, and you're one of them," Snape said firmly, trying to make Harry see how much he was determined to fix the damage he'd done and how much he wanted to have Harry around.

"Thanks, Professor," Harry said genuinely.

"Sev," Snape corrected.

"Oh, right," Harry said with a nod.

And they had talked. Some days they just talked about inane gossip around the school or what had gone on that week. Sometimes Harry would come in with humorous stories, always trying to make the Potions master laugh, which he began to do more and more. Other times they talked about darker things, periods of their life they usually kept hidden. It was good for them both though neither would admit it out loud.

They both found it amusing that people still weren't quite used to their new relationship. It had been the first day of Potions class that had really shocked people. Harry chuckled whenever he thought back on it.

Snape stormed into the classroom, robes billowing menacingly as usual.

"I do hope you all are finished congratulating yourselves on being slightly less moronic than the rest of the students in your year for making it into this class. There are some of you who show promise, and others that only got into this class by some miracle. This year will be much more difficult than previous ones and I expect you all to try harder than you have in the past. I expect nothing less than the best," he said ominously.

While the rest of the students paled slightly or shifted nervously in their seats, Draco smirked in amusement and Harry kept his eyes on his desk to keep himself from laughing.

When they partnered up, Harry discovered the reason Draco had helped so much in getting Ron into Advanced Potions and had to admit it had been very sly.

"You're going to be my partner of course," the blonde had informed him when Snape told them to pair off. "Granger's got Weasley. Funny how that worked out," he said with a knowing smirk that suddenly made Harry realize why Draco had been so eager to help Ron get into Advanced Potions.

Since they'd already gone over the potion during the summer, the two chatted quietly while they worked. Suddenly, a cauldron exploded behind them where Pansy and Nott were working. Harry turned around to see the pair shooting him glares.

"Professor! Potter threw something into our cauldron! He sabotaged our potion!" Pansy cried.

"I did not!" Harry said incredulously. "Professor..."

Snape put a hand up to silence him. Nott and Pansy grinned evilly behind their professor before Snape whirled around to face them.

"Miss Parkinson. Do you mean to tell me that Mr. Potter somehow left his body, leaving it animated and speaking to his lab partner, and possessed your body just to throw a dung bomb into your cauldron before returning to his own body to feign innocence? Is that your story?" Snape asked with a sneer.

"N-no, sir, he..."

"Well, that's funny since I saw your hand dropping the dung bomb into your cauldron."

"It wasn't..." she protested.

"Are you insulting my intelligence, Miss Parkinson?" he asked menacingly.

"No sir," she said quietly, looking very confused.

"Do not lie to me ever again or I will have you out of this class faster than you can make an excuse, do you understand?" Snape said coldly.

"Yes sir," she muttered.

"Detention for the week and ten points from Slytherin for being idiotic enough to sabotage your own cauldron," he said before addressing the whole class. "We are working with delicate potions in this class. It is not a joke or a game. I am forced to presume that those in this class have enough maturity to handle it. There will be no pranks or horsing around, am I understood?"

"Yes sir," the class responded.

"Good," he said sharply before going around and telling people what they were doing wrong.

When he got to Harry and Draco's potion, he nodded in approval.

"Excellent work," he said with a masked expression.

The whole class nearly choked, though they thankfully didn't or Snape might have been inclined to take points out of annoyance.

He refused to demonstrate blatant favoritism toward the two in class, but did compliment their work when credit was due and no longer yelled at Harry. He still leaned toward his own students and was reluctant to take points off the Slytherin house, but no longer needed to feel pressured by his supposed allegiance to Voldemort, making things much more pleasant for students from other houses.

"Oh, Draco, when do we get to come and see the baby?" Eloise asked hopefully. Millicent nodded eagerly.

Draco groaned. The girls had been bugging him about it for ages. "When Sev says it's okay. But don't make Anna feel left out. I don't need her acting out in jealous rage," he said sternly. "She'd probably burn the house down or something, little pyro that she is." Harry hid a grin, knowing how protective Draco was of the little girl.

"We won't," Eloise said excitedly. "I happen to find Anna adorable as well."

"Let's hope the baby has dark hair though, because Professor Snape looks a bit out of place with all the blondes," Neville said.

"That's why we have Harry around," Draco joked, "to keep Sev from feeling too overpowered by us gorgeous blondes."

"I somehow feel like I should be insulted by that comment," Harry commented.

"Don't be, Har, you're definitely bloody gorgeous," Ginny said, squeezing his hand. "And don't you dare call me delusional or I will hurt you." Ginny was the only one who felt comfortable making these sorts of comments to Harry, and Harry never took them the wrong way.

Harry just smiled shyly and kissed her on the cheek, making him blush far more than her, which she of course found adorable. She met his eyes mischievously.

"Mm, Harry and I are going to go study. We'll see you all later."

Harry, of course, was oblivious as always.

"Are we doing Muggle Studies?" he asked.

"Um, more the study of wizards who grew up with Muggles," she said, making the rest of the group either chuckle or roll their eyes, not needing to know Ginny's plan to "study" her boyfriend.

"Oh," Harry said dumbly, "is that for your Muggle Studies class?"

Ginny just laughed and took his hand in hers. "Harry, this is why I adore you so much."

The two said their farewells before they walked out from the dining halls, laughing with each other.

"Aw, that's so cute. Harry has absolutely no idea he's about to get snogged silly by Ginny," Millicent said.

"Thank you, Millicent," Ron muttered sarcastically, not too keen on the image of his sister snogging anyone.

"I'm just glad they're happy," Hermione said, watching as the pair left. Everyone knew she really meant she was glad Ginny was making Harry so happy. All those who knew him well had a bit of a protective instinct for him and seeing him truly laugh and smile, especially after the previous summer, made them all happy.

They weren't naïve. They knew Harry still had his problems, his dark days, his doubts, but they were all there for him now to make sure they weren't the norm, just as he was there for them with their own problems.

Everyone had their dark days really, though they dwelled on different things during them. But they now had people to stand by them during these days, and that was worth everything.

I.....................I

That night, Harry was jerked awake to someone hissing his name frantically and shaking his shoulders.

Harry's eyes flew open to find Snape practically pulling him from the bed, looking completely frenzied.

"Wha'?" he muttered as Snape pulled him over to his dresser and yanked open one of the drawers, grabbing a pair of pants and a shirt and stuffing them in a bag.

"It's time!" he said in a panicked voice.

"Time for what?" Harry asked groggily. The other boys began waking up.

"Whas go on?" Seamus murmured, peering sleepily through his curtains.

"Laura. Baby. Now," Snape managed to get out, thrusting Harry's shoes at him and grabbing his cloak.

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed, waking up fully and running after Snape as the man pulled him out of the door and down the stairs. Draco was waiting at the bottom, looking excited and shifting from one foot to the next.

"Come on!" he called impatiently.

"Wait, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to tell the headmaster you're going to be out for a few days or..." he trailed off, confused at to why he'd been called out of bed.

"Don't be an idiot, Harry, you're coming with us," Snape said, hurrying to the portrait.

Harry stopped, looking at Snape in surprise. "With you? But why? I mean, this is a family thing. You don't have to..."

"Harry!" Snape exclaimed, doubling back and taking hold of Harry's arm and pulling him along. "You're coming. I want you there and so does Laura. Now come on!"

Harry grinned excitedly and followed him out of the common room.

The three raced through the dark halls toward Dumbledore's office, Harry still holding his shoes in his hands. Snape shouted the password at the gargoyle and the three raced passed, up the moving staircase.

Dumbledore was waiting at his office door with a twinkle in his eye, gesturing them through.

"Good luck, Severus," he said warmly before the three flooed off to the hospital.

The two boys followed Snape up to the maternity ward and found Mrs. Weasley pacing in the hall while Anna was twirling in circles. She caught sight of them and threw her arms up in the air.

"Finally! Thank Merlin you're here. Severus, she's in here, and hurry. She's nearly ready to deliver," she said, leading him into a delivery room. As the door opened, the two boys heard Laura's voice screaming out.

"SEVERUS! Where the hell were you? AHHHH! Oh Merlin, I hate you for this! Damn you, you bloody..."

The door closed, cutting off the sound. The two boys and Anna all looked at each other in surprise at Laura's welcoming words for her husband.

Anna ran over to them and hugged their legs, one for each boy so Draco and Harry were a bit stuck together. She looked up at them with a big grin.

"Am I going to have a little brother or a little sister?" she asked.

"We don't know yet, Anna. Sev and Laura wanted it to be a surprise, remember?" Draco explained for the umpteenth time.

Draco pried her arms from around their legs, allowing the two boys to plop down on a couch in the hall. Anna scrambled up onto Draco's lap and then jumped playfully over to Harry's.

She took Harry's face in her hands and put her eyes really close to his, giggling madly.

Suddenly she sat back with a frown. "Are Mummy and Daddy going to forget about me when they have a baby?" she asked worriedly. She had suddenly begun referring to Sev as her father once Laura and Snape got married.

"Never in a billion years could they forget about you," Harry reassured her.

Draco murmured something about being too noisy to forget about.

"They'll love you just as much as they love the new baby," Harry continued, casting a meaningful look at Draco to let him know he was included in that statement as well. Draco rolled his eyes, but looked slightly more relaxed.

"And I get to be a big sister, right? Just like you and Draco are my big brothers, right?" she asked proudly.

"Well, Draco's your big brother. I'm..." Harry began to protest, but Draco cut him off.

"Yes, just like Harry and I are your big brothers," he said firmly. "But, of course, I'm the cool, good-looking older brother."

"You're the funny brother, Draco, with pretty hair," Anna said matter-of-factly. "Daddy's funny, but he does not have pretty hair. Harry's nice and has goofy hair."

Draco laughed and Harry shot him a glare, smoothing his hand over his messy, black locks.

The three sat there anxiously for what seemed like hours until the door opened to let a few healers out. Mrs. Weasley poked out her head and motioned for the three to come in.

"I'm going now," she said, giving them each a hug. Draco still looked a bit put out whenever Mrs. Weasley hugged him, but Harry got a kick out of it. Anna loved Mrs. Weasley's hugs and always milked them for all they were worth. "Congratulations, you two," she said to Draco and Anna with a warm smile before letting them through and leaving.

Laura was sitting up in bed, soaked in sweat but beaming with joy. Snape was looking down in awe at the bundle in his arms that he was holding. He kept looking up at Laura with a huge, disbelieving smile that Harry had never seen before on the Potion's master. He had never seen Snape looking so deliriously happy.

Anna immediately raced over and scrambled up onto Laura's bed, trying to stand on it to get a look at the baby. Draco and Harry started over, but the healer in the room stopped Harry.

"Sorry, family only," he said firmly. "You'll have to wait outside."

Harry's face went a bit red with embarrassment and he started ducking out of the room, but Draco grabbed his arm.

"He is family, you incompetent..."

"Draco," Harry hissed to get the blonde to be quiet.

"They're family. They're my godsons," Snape said in his no nonsense tone, leaving no trace of the fact that he was stretching the truth a bit.

The healer rolled his eyes and let Harry through, sarcastically muttering something about being sure that he was the godfather of Harry Potter as he left the room.

Draco and Harry walked over to look at the baby. It was tiny and on its head was just the hint of blonde fuzz, but Snape didn't seem to mind.

"It's a boy," Laura said with a tearful smile. "His name is Aden. He's so beautiful, isn't he?"

"A boy?" Anna said, making a face. "We already have enough boys. Can we trade it for a girl?"

Everyone laughed and Laura grabbed her daughter, pulling her into a hug.

Harry watched as Snape gently placed Aden into his godson's arms. Draco looked very awkward holding the baby, but he smirked at the small child.

"Blonde, good; you're off to a good start, kid. You'll be in Slytherin, of course, and I'll have to make sure you know how to do your hair well, because, let's face it, your father is not one for gorgeous hair like mine. Plus, I'll make sure you're the coolest kid in the school when you get there, just like me," he said with a smirk.

Harry and Snape rolled their eyes.

"You do have pretty hair, Draco," Anna chirped.

"I know," Draco responded with a smug expression.

"Better watch it, Anna, you might make his ego expand until his head explodes," Harry said, grinning at Draco's subsequent glare.

"Alright, Draco, let Harry have a turn holding him," Snape instructed his godson who turned to transfer the small bundle to Harry's arms, but the Gryffindor froze.

"Me?" Harry said warily. "Are you sure about that?"

"Harry, if I can do it, you can," Draco said, the encouragement in the statement hidden beneath a layer of sarcasm.

"Harry, I trust you," Snape assured him. "It'll be fine."

Laura nodded in agreement.

Harry grinned excitedly as Draco helped maneuver the tiny baby into Harry's arms.

"Hey Aden," he said softly, "I'm Harry. I definitely can't give you tips on hair, but I can teach you to make a grilled cheese sandwich, how does that sound?" The infant made a noise somewhere in between a squawk and a screech. Everyone chuckled. "Okay then, I'll take that as a yes."

"Harry, will you teach me to make a grilled cheese sandwich?" Anna asked hopefully.

"Of course, Anna," Harry assured her.

"When? When?" she asked excitedly.

"Not until you're a little older," her mother jutted in. "Five is not old enough to be around a stove."

Snape caught Harry's eye and gave him a meaningful look, which Harry acknowledged with a nod before looking back down at Aden. Harry had told Snape once that when he had been Anna's age, he had been expected to watch and stir things on the stove, getting small burns whose scars had faded by now. Harry was very thankful that Snape had obviously not betrayed his trust by telling Laura.

Draco came up and peered down at the bundle in Harry's arms. "Now don't you let Harry influence you too much. He's a bit of a troublemaker, you know, always sneaking around in his Invisibility Cloak after hours. And you're definitely not to take any hair styling advice from him. You're going to be seeing a lot of him and he's practically another stepbrother to you, but don't let him turn you into a Gryffindor, okay?"

Harry looked up at his friend and the blonde smirked at him. Draco understood how thankful Harry was for the disguised reassurance that Harry wasn't going to be forgotten anytime soon. Draco understood that Harry needed that reassurance constantly and though he was uncomfortable being sentimental at all, he always made sure to give Harry that comfort because that was what friends did, as Draco had discovered through his friendship with the raven-haired boy.

"I want to be a Gryffindor like Harry!" Anna announced cheerfully. "And I want to be a Slytherin like Draco and Daddy! Red and green! Like Christmas!" She burst out into giggles.

No one had the heart to tell her right then that she couldn't be both.

"Strange family you've got here, Aden," Harry said with a teasing grin. Draco glared at him and playfully hit him upside the head.

"You're one to talk," he pointed out.

"I never said it was a bad thing," Harry protested. "I think Aden's going to be one happy kid."

Eventually Harry left the room to go find some food for everyone, having immediately offered to go to give the family some time to themselves.

"Harry," he heard the call from behind him. He turned to see the Potions master hurrying up to him and walking with him toward the stairwell. "So what do you think?" he asked, unable to contain his joy.

Harry chuckled at the uncharacteristic demonstration of blatant happiness on Snape's part. "I think Aden's a lucky kid," Harry said before pausing. "Thank you for inviting me here. It means a lot," he said shyly.

"Of course, Harry, you're practically part of the family, and if you ever get sick of living with someone with the maturity level of a..."

"Sev," Harry said warningly before the pair froze in surprise. It was the first time Harry had called the Potions master "Sev" on his own accord.

Snape couldn't help it. After a year of becoming used to demonstrating affection for Anna, Laura and Draco, and because the idea of Harry finally, after almost a whole year, becoming comfortable enough to call him by his first name just boosted his already deliriously happy mood, he couldn't help but pull the kid into a hug.

Harry let out a small yelp of surprise, but quickly recovered and awkwardly hugged the Potions master back. He still wasn't all that used to hugs, but Ginny, Sirius and Remus had been working on changing that throughout the year, along with a few of his other friends. Not to mention every time Mrs. Weasley saw him. He swore that woman had decided a minimal time requirement for fawning over him and was constantly competing with herself to see how long she could do it for. He was definitely getting better at it, though, he decided.

Snape finally broke the hug, but kept his arm slung over Harry's shoulders as they made their way up the stairs.

"How freaked out would everyone at school be if they saw this?" Harry asked with a laugh.

"Don't you go around ruining my reputation. People are starting to think I'm going soft."

"You are going soft," Harry said with a smirk.

"Never," Snape insisted.

"You are going soft, but that's okay, I won't tell anyone. Anyways, it's a good thing. It means Aden will have a happy childhood," Harry said wisely.

I........I

And Aden did have a happy childhood; they all made sure of that.

I..............................................................................................I

And thus concludes the 353 page story that is Flawed Perfection! I really hope you all enjoyed the fic! Alright, as you all know there's still going to be a very small epilogue. Also, I am still writing the alternate ending to Recnac. If you do not belong to my yahoo group, I suggest you join as there will be some small stuff there that will not be posted on There are already a few deleted scenes there that can't be found here. Also, you can read all the contest entries written by the members and vote for your favorite. It's absolutely free and anonymous, of course, so come on down! If you're interested but not sure how to join, just email me at celebony at yahoo dot com

Alright, I'd like to thank my beta Senri, who has been wonderful in dealing with my perfectionist attitude and has caught things that boggle my mind. I think he has editing superpowers at times. Senri, though sometimes you claim to have nothing to do, we both know how scary some of my chapters were before you cleaned up all the spelling and grammatical errors. As I always say, you rock! (And "gah" is not your word)

A special thanks to Wiccan PussyKat, ParanoiaIn2005 andMyr Halcyon for their constant and extraordinarily in-depth reviews. I looked forward to hearing from you guys every chapter. Also to Zarabrooke who sent me the most in depth reviews you could imagine by email. I've missed hearing from you since you went off to school, but your emails always make me do a little jig of joy. I'd also like to thank Marci for starting and managing my yahoo group!! Marci, you're fantastic!!

Thank you to all who've reviewed, this fic would not have even gotten close to where it did without you all! You guys nudged me along and kept this story going and for that, I thank you all! There's so many more of you that I should be listing here that I know I'm forgetting, but really, thank you all! Also, thank you to all those who have taken an active interest in the yahoo group! To those who have written for the contests and have voted in them. To Shikatanai for doing all the art! It's fantastic. Thanks to Earthmomling for always emailing me and being so active in the yahoo group. Thank you to Katie who has been such a great friend and who's always encouraging me with the fic, even if she's not so sly after I'd let her read the chapters early. Katie, when I say keep it quiet that I've let you read the chapter early, dropping hints into chats is not quite what I'm going for, hahaha.

So I take my leave from this fic, but if you ever want to ask questions, give suggestions, clue in on where I am with my next project or what I'm working on, etc, just email me at or join my yahoo group!

One last plea: PLEASE REVIEW!!!! Just as before, even if you don't like reviewing or if it's a thousand years after I originally posted, please review. I want to get an idea of how many people read this and would love to hear from you, even if it's a single-word review. I promise you I read every single one. Thanks!!

Now, onto review responses:

El Shabang: Wow, I can't believe my fic has made such an impact on you! That's possibly the best compliment I've ever received. I'm so thrilled you got such a grasp of the characters as that was really my main agenda. If people got nothing out of it but that, I'd be happy. Lol, I think I know what you mean about the characters being different yet the same; I'm glad you thought so! I wanted to take the main characters we all know and love and put my own spin on them, or see what they'd do in such drastic and dramatic situations. The thing I'm most thrilled about is the fact that you've been able to take something from it even if it's just a Harry Potter fanfic. The fact that something I wrote had that kind of impact on someone, as corny as it sounds, almost makes me tear up with joy. Ouch, that really did sound corny. I just want you to know that your review has made me so unspeakably happy, I've printed it out and glued it to the inside of my notebook for this story. Thank you so much for it. I can't tell you what it means to me.

Leontine-456: Lol, trust me, FP is a lot longer than RT. It's around 50 pages longer! In Recnac I started out with about 4 pages per chapters and with Flawed I always did at least 10, which accounts for the fewer chapters. No, Draco doesn't get sorted into Gryffindor, as you can see here. Draco's definitely Slytherin to the core. Lol, for now, Draco's still single, poor guy. Unfortunately he has a little problem with thinking he's better than everyone, so that doesn't really attract the kind of girls that would make good girlfriends. Snape still doesn't exactly act like a nice guy, but he's more fair, he just wants to keep his reputation as the intimidating Potions master. Lol, at least for now, Harry's not doing much in the way of pranking, but who knows what the influence of the two Marauders will do to him in the future. Er...Sirius didn't teach a dueling club, I think you're getting your fics confused, lol. Nah, Sirius isn't much of the teaching sort, but he'll visit quite often, I'm sure. He's too restless not to. Sirius does know how to cook, at least some things. He just has some very interesting accidents in the kitchen and people just like to tease him because he might not be the best. But Harry's never really lived with a family who put in the effort to cook for him, so he likes Sirius's cooking. Not to mention that after hearing the things going on over at the Dursleys, he's more content to keep Harry out of the kitchen. And no, I'm not going to write a six-year, because if I let Harry be happy, it would just be too boring, and if something happened to him, people would kill me for doing it to him. He's been through enough. I'm going to let him be for now and live the life he's always wanted: happy and boring. I may do another fic that doesn't take place in the Recnac universe, but we'll see.

Whispyraven: Wow, long review! If you want to keep up on extra scenes, you'll probably want to join my yahoo group. That way you'll be sure to get the updates, and that's where I'd be posting them anyways. You've caught a glimpse of Harry and Ginny's relationship here and you will again in the sequel, so that should hopefully answer your question. I'm so glad you liked the Harry/Sirius talks. Lol, um, I didn't write Sirius and Remus as a couple, just as friends, but whoever would like to pretend they're together is welcome to. Yes! I think you were the only one to get that, but yes, Luhrman as in Baz Luhrmann (just realized that was with two Ns). Moulin Rouge is my favorite movie and I think Baz Luhrmann's a genius! And yes, Ewan McGregor's a very fine man, lol. Hottie! I'm glad you liked the scenes with Anna and Harry and yes, Eloise is definitely right.

Thunder's Shadow: Really? Wow, thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked the chapter so much! I'm so thrilled you enjoyed so many aspects of it. Many like one area of the other, the angst or the romance, but it seems like you enjoyed the whole of it, which makes me very happy. About the Fred and George thing, I'm so glad you liked that bit. I didn't even really think about it until I was writing that scene and all of a sudden I realized how different they, and everyone, was reacting than they had in the past, and then I sort of realized how nobody's ever told Harry that he doesn't have to be the hero. Nobody ever chides him for putting his life on the line; they congratulate him for it! Doesn't that seem a bit wrong? Sorry, small rant there. Actually, I was really torn about the ending. I really considered ending it where you suggested, but from the beginning I had this vision of the story ending with Sirius seeing Harry off at the train station to show that things were going to be different now. JK always ends the story with Harry getting off the train to go with the Dursleys and I thought it was symbolic for me to end this one with him getting on the train with his new family there, to show how his life has totally turned around. Wow, that was a ramble. Anyways, I couldn't resist putting it in. Lol, I love long reviews! Never worry about making them too long, lol. I'm glad you like the Anna parts and you're right, Harry certainly is overdue for the chance to act like a kid. Thanks for the wonderful review!

ThreeToedSloth: lol, well I'm glad you forgive me! I know I've been extremely evil in the length of time it's been taking for me to update and I'm so sorry. Hahaha! I can just imagine your mom closing the door behind her, hearing you burst out into tears and just be very confused. Lol, nope, Laura and Snape are already married so no need to do that in the sequel. I'm so glad you liked the chapter so much!

Acciodanrad9: Thank you so much for the long review! Lol, I must be a major sucker for Harry. I just can't seem to kill him off, lol. I think now Sirius will be a lot more aware of how he acts around Harry, finally coming out of denial about how badly Harry was doing. I'm so glad you liked the Harry/Sirius scenes, I really liked writing them. They're two of the characters who've needed the most help throughout the fic, and now they're learning how to help each other, which is exactly where they need to be. Harry's finally able to trust Sirius and Sirius is finding his place as a father figure in Harry's life. Harry definitely has a strange family, but he's going to be happy for once.

ParanoiaIn2005: Lol, that's okay, you've left me many long reviews in the past so I think I can forgive you. I know all about time crunches. Lol, if you're worried about withdrawal, join my yahoo group! There's going to be a bunch of extra little goodies over there. Deleted scenes, of course, and then there's the contests with the fan-written entries based off the fics which are really great! Hmm, I'll have to read through the dialogue again. Don't worry, it's fine to have some criticisms, you're nice about them and they're good for me. They help me become better at writing.

Sarah the Bardess (Lol, thanks! I'm so glad you liked it!! Big hug right back at ya!), stahchild, angel74 (Why thank you! I know! I can hardly believe it myself! It means so much to me that you like my writing since I think you are such an incredible author and of course, you're an English teacher so your opinion obviously has a lot of credence. So thank you so much for all your wonderful input!), Charlie Quill, Von, Alaranth-88, Hollywood Dreams (lol, if Fred and George had actually managed to turn Snape's hair pink, I don't think they would have made it to the end of the fic alive, lol. But I love the idea! Maybe I'll do a little drabble on it), Marci018 (Why thank you! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter! Yeah! I definitely messed up with those, but I went and quickly changed it, so thanks for the clue-in! I hoped you liked the Snape/Harry convo in the epilogue, I'll work on the Draco/Harry one though. I do have more stories in mind! It might take me a little while to get my act together and write them, but until then, I think I'll play around with some one-shots and short things and such. Thank you once again for helping me with the yahoo group. You know how much I'm enjoying it), hpfanchrissy1502, ibcna, monica85, azntgr01, Sword Wielder-Firebreath (er, you okay? Lol), Dana (MP) (I'll definitely try to get more of the individual chats as extra scenes at my yahoo group. Thank you!), Japanese-jew (er, no, this isn't the one where Harry can't do magic), DreamersDisease (I'd never leave you guys hanging! Really? Why thank you!), Nation El-Diablo, darkerone (lol, thanks!), lonlyheartt, K, Melindaleo (does little dance of joy. I love to hear that you got so emotionally involved in my stories! Ooh, I really like your idea for an extra scene! I'll definitely keep that one in mind! Lol, my beta keeps saying the same thing about Harry and Ginny. He'd be thrilled to see an uninterrupted snogging session, but unfortunately I'm horrible at writing that sort of thing, lol), kneh13, Aishwarya (Thanks! I actually do have another fic that I'm planning, though not a sequel. I don't know if I'll actually do it, or how long it would take me to get started on it, but I do have one in mind. In the meanwhile, I might play around with some shorter things. I'm not sure yet.), griffter, weird13one, angelsleeping, blink gurl017, holly (lol, yeah, I know, I named them both that on purpose), dominy (wow, thank you!! A masterpiece? Lol, well that might be pushing it, but I love it anyways! Don't worry, the sequel will at least be a quite long one-shot, not one of those 200 word drabbles.), Lia Tween (lol, thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much! And no, I definitely never get sick of flattery, hahaha), A-Brighter-Dawn (Thank you!), Julie, ChildOfDarkness (and Kenny!) (lol, well, I've never seen that episode, but hey Kenny anyways. And hey you too. I'm sorry I made Harry live, but if it makes you feel better, I'm currently working on the alternate version of Recnac where Harry dies. Does that help at all? Lol, we'll see about posting that here.), lyss33, Jenn the Freak (hahaha, well I'm so glad you enjoyed it, even though your face hurts now. Lol, thank you so much! I really want to be a writer, even though I doubt I'll major in it. Need a backup career, after all! But thank you so much for the wonderful compliment!), Paddycakepadfoot (lol, I'm so glad you liked that part...even though I never thought to read it like that. Hahaha), W0lf QuEEn, Jessikat, Lourdes, pinksakuya (lol, well I'm glad to be the one to make you cry the hardest of all the authors. Hahaha, I'm so thrilled you liked it and can see it as a novel! Thank you so much! Lol, I do hope to write more fics that you might enjoy), Impish Delight, Phoenixmarauder, americanpie, peter-the rat (thanks! I'm glad you liked it!), Leena7 (Yay! It's always a triumph for me to make a reader cry...as sadistic as that sounds, lol. I'm so glad you've found your own flawed perfection. Hold onto those people who pulled you out of that place that a lot of us seem to get trapped in sometimes.), m, icy manipulator, Painted Fire (hahaha, you're very welcome), HaRrYrOxMuhSoX (well, I have another fic planned in my head, but I need a break before I decide if I want to tackle it.), Magic Marauder (lol, you aren't the only one to beg for another sequel, but I think I'll give Harry a break and let him lead a nice boring life...or at least the Harry from the Recnac/Flawed universe. I'm so glad to hear that I'll remain on your Author's Alert list. Thank you so much! I'll try to continue to entertain you guys with my drabblings despite my crazy college schedule in the future.), Ms Hobgoblin (Thank you! I'm so glad to hear I won't be booted off your author alert list any time soon!), Flaignhan, BabyBlu4 (Thank you so much for that wonderful compliment! I'm so glad to hear you were emotionally involved, that makes it easier to get across what I'm trying to, so thank you for being such a good reader.), Babylon for Life (Lol, aww, it's okay. hands over box of tissues Unfortunately, as you can see, Draco didn't play a very big part in the epilogue, but we'll see about the sequel.), Crazy.Homicidal.Insane.Cute.Ki (hahaha, lol, I'll see what I can do in the future. For the meanwhile, I guess you'll have to cruise around for other fics! Lol.), htbmny, cherry8914, Shawna (thank you! I'm glad you liked the ending and thank you for leaving a review even though you normally don't.), texasjeanette (Lol, thank you! I'll see what I can do about those extra scenes), AC TORPEY (hahaha, I'll see what I can do), Wynjara (I think if they'd actually managed to turn Snape's hair colors, they wouldn't have survived 'til the end of the b-day party), Nita (Thank you! I think the Harry from the Recnac/Flawed universe deserves a nice break, wouldn't you say? I think if I tortured him any more, I'd have people at my door with pickaxes.), Lupin123 (Thanks!), shadowsfriend (Thank you so much for being an active voter in the contests. They're very entertaining, in my opinion. I do have some more ideas, one in particular, but it would be a big commitment, so I'll have to take a break and see.), Luinlothana (Yeah, Draco definitely deserved to be part of the waking Harry up, especially after all he went through, really all for Harry. He's changed a lot throughout the fics, as has Sirius, and you've pointed out two things to show that. They both had to grow a lot, just as Harry did. Well, hopefully the scene with Harry and Snape in the epilogue made up for the lack of one in the last chapter. And gasp! He actually said he was sorry.), maya100, lost angel92 (thanks! I'm happy to know I'll always have a place on your alert list), EriEka127, Purple Ghost Sausage, Princess Sara (Well, I'm honored to be the first author to be able to make you shed some tears, and thank you for becoming emotionally involved in the story! I'll definitely try to write that Harry/Ron convo I glossed over in the epilogue.), cat 44 (I'm sorry you found Flawed to be slow, but I'm glad you at least liked Recnac. Lol, yeah, the last chapter was definitely filled with sap, but what can I say, I'm a sucker for a happy ending. You're right, Sirius hung around Crookshanks for awhile there. He was a bit nutters at the time though, and very desperate, I mean, he slashed up poor Ron's bedcurtains while he was sleeping! Once he came to his senses though, and calmed down a little bit from the "kill Peter" thing his fear returned full force.), sami1010220 (All the deleted scenes are going to my yahoo group in the files section. There are already about four shorties in there. Lol, nah, Harry's had enough torture. I couldn't put him through another sequel. I happen to be horribly forgetful so even if I tried to email you if I did something, I'd forget to do it. I'd suggest becoming part of my yahoo group or adding me to your authors alert list if you want to keep informed about updates. It's the only way I can assure that you'd know), Tigerlily, Colleen, crissy (lol, as much as I'd love to, I think Harry's in for a bit of a calmer life for now.), chip (lol, yeah, Snape with pink hair's definitely a scary thought), SiriusWOlf, CurlsofSerenity, Lauren, Theoddguy (I'm sorry you were disappointed. Many were, but that was the way it had to be. It wouldn't have been very climactic if Harry could just blow all the D.E.s away with his extra magic when he went to save Ron. I wanted to show that he's a hero even without his extra powers. It takes much more bravery to do something like that when you know you don't have the upper hand. And no, Voldemort's life/magic energy died with him because it was in his body when his body died. Wow, flashbacks to explanations in Recnac, lol), cute-kittycat-in-love, Fiery Ferret, mk-not-r2d2 (No, I'm actually American and go to school here. I do want to study abroad in the UK though, hopefully in London, but that won't be for another 2 years)