Harry Potter: The Chronicles of Black.

The team made it down to the kitchens easy enough, the younger ones being awed that Harry knew where the kitchens were in the first place, let alone how to get into them, but when Dobby broke away and all but fell on him, that was when their mouths dropped open.

"What can Dobby be doing for Master Harry Potter, Sir?" He squeaked excitedly.

"We won our Quidditch match, Dobby." Harry said with a grin. "We were just hoping that we could have some snacks and butterbeer to celebrate with." The house elves were beside themselves as they pushed several large baskets of food at them filled with cakes, pastries, biscuits, bottles of butterbeer and pumpkin juice.

"Thank you so much!" He said empathetically, knowing that they'd enjoy hearing his praises as several of them sobbed in happiness. "Oh, there was one other thing I needed, if I could ask."

"Of course Master Harry Potter, Sir! Anything!" Dobby replied tearily.

"One of our team, Demelza. Well, she's in the hospital wing. Could you maybe sneak her a few cakes and a butterbeer? So she can celebrate with us even though she won't be at the party."

Harry had gotten several more wails over that and more nods and promises to deliver the cakes to Demelza as soon as the hospital wing was clear. They left with their arms laden with baskets of food and drink, all talking and laughing happily as they made their way up to the Tower to celebrate their win, exclaiming happily what they were going to eat first once they got there.

That idea fell through though when they ran into Lucius and Draco just past McGonagall's office on their way to the Gryffindor common room with their arms laden with food.

"So, this is where you've been." Lucius said, his mouth a thin line, but his eyes were gleaming with hidden amusement.

Harry smiled. "We went to see Demelza in the hospital wing first. She's fine, no thanks to that brute of a Beater of yours."

"I'm not the Captain, Urquhart is and I'd like to remind you that you were the Captain and I almost had my head taken off by one of your snot-nosed Beaters." Draco said, eyeing the thirteen-year-old Jimmy and Ritchie. "There is no mercy in Quidditch!" Harry said passionately. "You're the Seeker, you needed to be taken out. Not that you could have beaten me anyway."

Draco huffed and rolled his eyes and Harry handed his basket of food to the others and sent them on their way to the common room, telling them that he'd be along a little later.

Harry led Lucius and Draco back down to his rooms and called on Narcissa's ingrained etiquette lessons and offered them both seats and tea before he sat down himself.

"How are you?" Lucius asked.

"Exhilarated." Harry said with a wide grin. "A little chilly still, but nothing a good night's sleep and a couple cups of tea won't cure. I already took a Pepper-up potion."

Lucius nodded and settled down more after hearing that he was alright and that warmed Harry in a way that had nothing to do with temperature as he sat in his cosy living room and chatted happily with two people who he had hated not that long ago, but were very rapidly becoming very important to him.

"Everything is prepared for you to come home." Lucius told them. "Your mother will be waiting for you at home, but I will be waiting for you both at King's Cross. I'm sure that Dumbledore will be trying to keep you here for the holidays, Harry. He might even try to force you to go somewhere that you don't want to be, but the fool doesn't have a leg to stand on, you are entitled to come home for the holidays. If he tries anything, anything at all, get in contact with me and I'll come and pick you and Draco up directly from the school at the end of the term. The Lestranges will be arriving as our seasonal guests the day before you come home, to ensure that they are settled into our home before you bring all of your noise and commotions back to the house." Harry grinned and he couldn't help but get excited, only a few more weeks and he'd be able to speak to Rabastan again face-to-face after four months apart. He was really looking forward to it and he'd missed his betrothed. He wondered, and not for the first time either, how much Rabastan had changed in the four months that he had been in school, how much had he improved, had he gained any weight? Did he look a bit healthier?

Naturally, he knew that the process of healing was going to be very long and arduous, he wasn't expecting miracles. He was intelligent enough to know that when he went home for the holidays that there was going to be minimal change and he knew that if he showed any hint of disappointment or upset over the minimal change then it would ruin any progress that Rabastan had actually made and would more than likely thoroughly dishearten his husband-to-be. That said though, he did want to see some improvements, perhaps with Rabastan's confidence, or his speech, little things that would show that the slow, gradual process of healing was actually having some sort of effect.

It wasn't fair. He wanted to be there for Rabastan, he wanted to help him so much, but it was very difficult to do so when he was hundreds of miles away and unable to see or speak to him on a daily basis. He had the overwhelming need to just protect Rabastan from everything, the effects of Azkaban, the struggle that would be ahead of them because of those effects, the Ministry for obvious reasons and from the wizarding public too and then there was Rhadamanthus…oh, how Harry was not looking forward to spending Christmas with that man.

"Now, I'll leave you to your little party." Lucius told him as he finished his tea and stood to smoothen down his robes. "Do try to conduct yourself in a proper manner and remember that your homework is more important than celebrating a Quidditch win with your little friends."

"I know. I was only planning on staying for a few hours, I'm not going to stay there tonight, I'll be coming back here. I've got most of my homework already done and what little needs to be done now, I'll sort it out tomorrow. How is Rabastan?" He couldn't help asking.

"He is doing rather well. He and Rodolphus both. Rabastan is speaking more and though the twitches make things difficult, he is a little more coordinated than he was before. I don't believe that he would crush your hand again, at any rate."

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