"See you Mate," Ron smiled, "the Quidditch World Cup is this summer, maybe you can come to stay with us this summer."
"Yeah," Harry smiled, "that would be fun." He turned to Hermione.
"Bye, Harry," she wrapped her arms around his neck, "make sure to write!"
"I will, Hermione," Harry laughed, "I'll see you soon."
"Harry, dear!" Mrs. Weasley came rushing over, she gave him a bone-crushing hug.
"Hi, Mrs. Weasley," he chuckled, she let him go and moved to embrace Hermione.
"How was school?" She asked the two, "I saw your names in the Prophet!"
"Ah, yeah," Harry rubbed his neck awkwardly, "school was... eventful."
"Mhm," Mrs. Weasley mused, trying to flatten his hair, "well you two are welcome at the Burrow any time, I think Arthur is trying to get tickets to the World Cup this summer."
Harry smiled, "thank you, Mrs. Weasley."
She gave him a fond smile and patted his cheek, "bye, dear."
Harry waved as the Weasley family left Platform 9 3/4.
"You ready to go?" Draco came up behind the raven-headed boy.
"Yeah," Harry sighed, "let's go home."
They loaded their trunks onto a trolley and pushed it through the barrier.
"How exactly do we get onto the Knight Bus?" Harry asked when the got outside King's Cross Station.
"I've never been on it but you have to stick your wand arm out into the street," Draco said.
"Ok, you do it then," Harry gestured towards the street.
"Why not you?" Draco huffed but took a step closer to the street. He grabbed his wand from his pocket and extended his arm into the road. "Is that it? Why's nothing happening?"
"I'm not sure..."
A large, purple, a triple-decker bus came to a screeching halt in front of the two boys.
"Bloody hell," Harry mumbled, "that bus came out of nowhere."
The doors opened and a teenager with a horrible case of acne poked his head outside.
"Ah," he smiled when he spotted the boys, "going home for break, aye, boys?"
Harry pursed his lips and nodded.
"I'm Stan, Ernie's over there, welcome onto the Knight Bus," Stan helped heave the two trunks onto the bus, "where are you two heading?"
"Spinner's End, Cokeworth," Harry said.
"Coming right up, 6 sickles each," Stan held out his hand.
Draco and Harry dug through their pockets, handed Stan the money, and found two seats in the back of the bus.
They were barely seated when the bus lurched forward. The boys watched as the bus zipped through the English traffic.
"We are never taking this bus again," Draco muttered, his face was tinted green and his knuckles were white around the overhead bar.
Harry laughed, "how do you not get sick flying."
Draco groaned, "shove it, Potter."
The familiar streets of Cokesworth blurred by and it wasn't long until the bus came to a stop.
"Cokesworth!" Stan yelled from the front.
Draco and Harry unloaded their trunks and took off down Spinner's End. They hauled their trunks down the block and into their home.
"Home, sweet home," Harry sighed in content, he put his trunk and Hedwig's cage down by the stairs before taking a seat at the dining room table. Draco dropped his trunk as soon as he passed through the door. He took off towards the kitchen and pored a huge bowl of Cocoa Puffs.
"Seriously?" Harry laughed, getting up to grab a bottled water from the fridge.
"I was having withdrawal, Harry, why doesn't Hogwarts have cereal!"
"I don't know, mate," Harry laughed, "I'm going to bring my stuff upstairs and check the Prophet for any news on Sirius."
"Alright," Draco nodded with a mouthful of chocolate, "let me know if there's anything."
Harry smiled at the sight of the calm green of his bedroom. He sat on his bed and opened his trunk, digging through it for the pictures and letters from his mother. His fingers traced the familiar loopy handwriting that once belonged to his mother.
Dear Sev,
How're you? The three of us are going good, we're adjusting to life in hiding. Sirius stopped by today, he's great with little Harry. With influences like the boys, he really needs people like us to keep him from mischief. Trouble always has a way of finding my Harry, I worry for him sometimes. Remus is thinking of teaching at Hogwarts, who knows, maybe you'll be working with him next year! That'll be a sight if I do say so. I wish you could've met Harry, James says it's too dangerous nowadays. Maybe one day...
Much love,
Lily
Harry smiled as he gently folded the letter and tucked it into his nightstand. He kicked off his shoes and laid back, looking up at the glow in the dark stars he and Draco had put up last summer.
He rolled over to face his nightstand and grabbed the remote.
'Breaking news...'
Harry groaned, he went to flip the channel when a headline caught his ear.
"Fugitive Sirius Black has been proven innocent, he is to be freed after a 12 year imprisonment. All charges against him have been dropped and he walks as a free man..."
Harry kicked his legs over the side of his bed and stumbled downstairs.
"Draco! Draco! He's free! We did it!"
"What?" Draco Malfoy looked up from his cereal.
"Sirius! He's freed!" Harry jumped up and down with glee.
"We did it?" Draco's eyes grew wide, "he's really free?"
"He's really free," Harry said with a smile.
"That's brilliant, Harry," Draco said with a smile.
"When does Snape get home?" Harry asked, "do I have time to run to the store?"
"Yeah," Draco shrugged, "he won't be back for a few more hours, why do you want to go to the store?"
"I want to pick some stuff up," Harry said, rushing over to the closet to grab a spare pair of shoes.
"Alright," Draco said, "grab a few boxes of Cocoa Puffs while you're there."
Harry just shook his head as he stuck some muggle money into his pockets, "I'll be back in an hour or two."
>•<
"Stupid cereal," Draco mumbled, he had ran out of Cocoa Puffs. He put his bowl in the sink and wiped off his hands.
It had been awhile since he was by himself, since he had the chance to draw.
He grabbed his trunk and lugged it up the stairs, dropping it at the foot of his bed. The television was still on, there was no chance of rain for the upcoming week.
Hedwig was hooting from her cage.
"Did Harry forget to let you out?" Draco chuckled.
Hedwig snapped her beak in irritation.
"Alright," Draco laughed, he unlatched the lock to her cage and let her out the window, "you can go stretch your wings."
The blond flipped to a cartoon channel and settled down at his desk.
He had started a drawing over winter holidays but never got around to completing it. It was a portrait of his mother, how he remembered his mother before she was hospitalized. With a sigh he picked up his pencil and continued drawing.