Last time:

Harry stared ahead of himself as his mind slowly interpreted the sudden influx of information he had just received. After a moment he grinned slightly, happy that he wouldn't have to have the whole responsibility of the many titles he'd inherit, as he had previously thought he would, now he'd be able to share them with his family, and he was secretly hoping at least one of them would inherit at least one of the magical beings inheritance so he wouldn't have to rule three realms on his own.

"Harry?" Harry looked over to Selaga who gave him a gentle smile, "I'm going to send you back now, but remember you are welcome to visit any time, whether because you're in trouble, need someone to talk to or if you just want to plan a prank," Selaga said the last with a twinkle in his eyes and a sideways smile on his lips.

Harry grinned at the being that had given him his greatest wish, "Thank you," he whispered even though those words just didn't go nearly far enough to express his true feelings.

"No problem my boy! Oh and Harry," Selaga called as Harry began to fade, "I expect you'll be seeing a familiar face soon!" then there was black as he drifted off into a deep restful sleep.

… … …

Chapter 7: There's no place like home

… … … … … … … … … … … …

Harry woke with a slight whimper, his head hurt, a lot.

"Harry, you awake?" a young voice asked from above him.

Opening his eyes slowly, blinking a few times because of the light, he finally made out a pair of hazel eyes hovering over him.

"You're awake!" the owner of the eyes exclaimed and the next thing he knew he had been pulled into someone's arms.

"E'fin?" he asked softly, his head pounding and his mind in a slight confused haze.

"Yep," Ethan smiled down at his littlest brother, "mum will be in soon," he told him.

"mmhm," Harry murmured as he shifted more into his brothers arms, head resting against his elder brothers chest, "my head hurts," he whispered, eyes closed.

"Mum'll fix it when she gets here," Ethan told him confidently unable to stop smiling now his brother was finally awake, he looked up as the door opened and grinned when his mother walked in, "Mum! Harry's awake!" he told her excitedly, after all his brother had been sleeping for three days and no had known when he was going to wake up.

As soon as Lily heard this she was quick to rush over to her sons, "Harry, baby?" she asked almost hesitant to break up the adorable picture her two sons made cuddled together.

"Mommy?" Harry asked tiredly as he lifted his head from his brother's chest, "my head hurts,"

Lily frowned, "Alright, I'll just go and get a healer, I won't be long," she told him as she brushed a hand along his cheek and placed a kiss on his forehead.

The healer ran a scan with his wand and asked a few questions before giving him a potion to help with the pain. And as soon as the pain had left him, Harry was fast asleep again.

...

Harry smiled happily from his father's arms as he finally left the hospital, he was glad to be leaving especially as Christmas was just three days away.

"Happy to be out of there kitten?" his dad asked in amusement, using the new nickname Harry had gained, due to the fact that he practically purred when someone ran their hands through his hair, but he couldn't help it, his main animagus form was a feline and it just felt so good.

"Uhuh," Harry nodded, he felt as though nothing could ruin his happiness, he had everything he had ever wanted, a loving family and a home to return to, a home he was on his way to right now.

Harry lay his head against his father's shoulder in contentment when the sound of an explosion and screams caused his head to snap up in surprise. It didn't take long for the cause to become apparent to them, Death Eaters were attacking, and according to some people in the screaming crowd, they had blocked the exits, the floo and cast anti-apparation wards.

James quickly darted down a side alley and out of the crush of people before putting Harry down and taking something off from around his neck and placing it around Harry's. Looking down at it in curiosity, Harry saw that it was a thin chain with a golden stag hanging from the end.

"Listen to me Harry," James spoke in a quick soft voice as he looked him in the eye, "this is going to bring you home safe okay, it'll feel a bit weird but you'll be fine I promise," so it was a portkey then, "When you get home you let your mum know that the Alley's been attacked and that I'm staying to help out a bit," James told him, and Harry stared at him with large worried eyes, he didn't want his dad to stay here he wanted his dad to come home with him, "It's alright Harry," James hugged him as tears built in Harry's eyes, "I'll be fine I promise and when I get home we'll…" but whatever they were going to do was left unsaid as they were suddenly interrupted by a pained cry right behind them.

Spinning around James couldn't help but stare at the Death Eater who had obviously been sneaking up behind them only to become victim to a large cat creature which had pounced on him biting his wand arm and somehow electrocuting the man.

"Mystic!" Harry called to James's shock and the large cat turned and trotted towards them, leaving the unconscious man behind.

James raised his wand cautiously but Harry grabbed his arm, "It's okay dad, it's just Mystic,"

"B-But I thought…" James stuttered slightly as he watched the large killer cat purr as his tiny son patted it.

"Mystics a Sihir dad, they can change their size and usually have power over a storm element, Mystic has power over lightning," Harry smiled at his dad softly, "she's going to stay and help you,"

James stared at the cat for a moment longer before noise out on the main street jerked him back into action, he had to get his son to safety now, "Alright Harry, hold this tightly," he placed the stag in his sons hand, "now say after me, 'there's no place like home',"

Harry hesitated he didn't want to leave his father behind in trouble but he knew at the moment there was nothing he could do to help and arguing would just make things worse, so he did as he was told, "There's no place like home," he whispered and felt the awful hook behind the navel feeling as he was whisked away from his father.

…

THUMP! Harry sighed as he sat up slowly, pouting slightly, he was never going to get the hang of Portkeys! Looking around curiously at the fairly large room he had landed in Harry noted the three cot beds to one side with a large cabinet, likely holding medical potions and such. The place he was standing was in a large cleared space in the centre of the room. It was clear to Harry that this room was just used as an emergency portkey point, and was likely surrounded by a large amount of protective wards to keep any unfriendly's that might hitch a ride here contained in the room. Before he could take a closer look at anything or head to the door, said door opened and Sirius walked in. Harry looked at his godfather noting the wand in his hand and the way he moved and came to the conclusion that there were obviously wards on the room that alerted others to the arrival of someone, which was rather unsurprising and in fact expected.

"Harry?" Siruis frowned seeing him standing there, "wha… Where's your dad?" he asked as he noted Harry's solitariness.

Harry blinked up at him and the lowered his head to look at the ground, "there were bad people attacking the Alley, Daddy sent me back but he wanted to stay and try and help," he said in a small voice, he didn't need to fake the sound of worry and fear in his voice, he had always worried and feared for those who were fighting especially if he couldn't be there to help, and his new younger self seemed to enhance his emotions, "Mystic stayed to help him though," he added on.

"Alright," Sirius said after a moment with a rather forced smile, "then I'm sure he'll be fine," he paused then crossed the room and picked him up, "Now your mum on the other hand," he grinned a bit easier, "she's going to wear a hole in the floor, she's been rather impatiently waiting for you to get home, so we should probably get you to her, yeah,"

Harry just nodded his head before laying it on Sirius' shoulder as they left the room, idly noticing its defensible position near the front entry.

… … …

Lily was nervously pacing in front of the fireplace, it had been a hours now since Harry had returned home alone and since Sirius had left to go help James, and she had yet to hear anything.

She glanced over to the couch and smiled, the Lupins and Blacks minus Sirius, had all headed home around lunch time, and the little ones had all gone off to bed a little while ago but Harry hadn't wanted to and she didn't feel like pushing the issue, instead she had used it as some time to spend with her son whose life she had missed so much of. Eathan and Leo where watching a movie in the sitting room and she had taken Harry to the living room and together they had curled up on the couch as she read him a book; it hadn't taken long for him to fall asleep and she didn't have the heart to carry him to bed, as at the moment she desperately wanted to keep him in sight, almost as much as she wanted James to come home.

Just as she felt like she couldn't take the waiting any longer, the fire flared up and the there was her husband striding out, looking more than a little ruffed up and ragged, but thankfully all in one piece; and holding a familiar cat in his arms too.

"Hey Lil's," he said with that crooked half-smile she so adored, even as Mystic leaped out of his arms and trotted over to the couch Harry was sleeping on.

Taking a deep, slightly shuddering breath, 'everything was okay her husband was here and safe and suddenly it was so much easier to breathe again', Lily quickly crossed the room and buried herself in James's chest not minding at all that the sweat and dirt that coated him was now being transferred across to her, she just needed to feel his arms around her and know he was safe. And James didn't disappoint holding her tightly to him as he buried his nose in her hair taking in her scent even as his body trembled slightly as it came down from its battle high, he was safe now, his family were safe, and he knew that before he was able to sleep tonight he would be doing a check on all his children, as he always did after every battle, a reminder that they were safe and that the battles he fought were worth it to keep them that way.

… … … … … … … … …

A/N: Another chapter done (short though it is), apologies all no excuses this time it is rather ridicules after all, and no don't expect another update anytime soon, be happy if there is one but don't get your hopes up, I've been really awful when it comes to writing at the moment, my muse is all over the place…

Anyway a HUGE thanks to those who reviewed and messaged me, this chapter is only going up because of you all, each review/message I receive is like a kick in the butt to get writing on this and they do certainly stir my muse from where its hiding, the vain little thing likes the attention and hungers for more even if it is a lazy procrastinating lay-about. Should also probably note that like chapters 5 and 6 this one isn't edited/betaed, but figured you'd want it out anyway…

I have also gotten a lot of comments about the pairing and well it's so far into the future of the fic that I honestly don't really know how it will turn out at the moment or who it really depends on how the story flows and how I'm feeling when I get closer so don't panic and feel free to leave your opinions as we go along, hell at the moment I'm feeling more like a slash pairing then Harry/Ginny but who knows really, just got to see how the characters' take to writing themselves I guess, though I very much doubt Harry will be with Hermione I just can't see me writing that, or with Draco who (small spoiler here) will be very different to other world Draco.

So thought I'd try something new here given your probably long wait for the next chapter and give you a hint of what will be coming though as it isn't yet written and my plans often go astray thanks to my impossible muse, it's just an idea no absolute promises

SPOILERS for next chapter:

Next chappie should hold a heart warming first Christmas for Harry including that special family morning, extended family brunch and ending the day with the Black family Christmas Ball, attended by many notable families, an excellent chance for Harry to meet children he may have known in his past world along with those who like his siblings never existed there.

Anyway till next time,

JessBlack