The PGW Chronicles: A Stolen Innocence

The PGW Chronicles: A Stolen Innocence

Chapter One- An Introduction to Characters

Hermione Granger looked up from her book (Healers and Hallucinogens), and wondered briefly what was so important in this book that Harry had required a full report on it? Surely it held nothing of importance for him? Their line of work didn't involve plants, magical or Muggle. So why the report? Especially when she had much more important things to do.

Harry, who was not only Britain's representative for the International Association of Witches and Warlocks for magical/Muggle relations, but was also a retired professional Quidditch Seeker for the Wimbourne Wasps and a Governor of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry's most important achievement, however, was his business. Harry's company was his baby, and the most successful and innovative store in the world; for Harry's stores catered to both magics and Muggles. It was PGW, for Potter, Granger, and Weasley; as always, they were partners in everything. PGW was something of a transportation store, divided into two sections- magical and Muggle. The magical entrance was hidden from the Muggles, as was the second half of the store, but as the Muggle half had been magically expanded they never suspected that magic was literally lurking behind every corner. Their store sold Quidditch supplies, Wizarding wear (caring mostly name brands- Galdrags, W.G., and so on), brooms, and the newly reinstated flying carpets. Also it sold maintenance gear and accessories for carpets and brooms. There was a snack shop at the front, and a small pet shop (a branch of The Magical Menagerie) in the back. To the Muggles, it was purely an automotive shop. It sold cars on the lot next to the store and sold cleaning supplies, accessories, and tires inside. It was the most elaborate store ever constructed, and it had cost Harry his entire fortune to start it. She could remember Harry, Ron, and herself sitting in the small flat they shared eating toast and rice and drinking water, still laughing and smiling as if they were the luckiest people in the world. She valued all the hard work they had put into it, the long tedious hours of planning and supervising. She could remember the vast amount of sleepless nights she spent researching how to put Muggle banishing charms on only half of the stores, how to keep the Muggles from noticing the witches and wizards that entered at the other half of the store. The nights she and Harry had poured over the financial status, working and reworking every problem until they had it just where they wanted it to be, so that they always stayed above, instead of sinking too far below. They were an excellent team.

Although, they were partners in the business, it was Harry's baby. It had been Harry's idea and he had mainly just invited she and Ron along for the ride. She remembered it as if it were yesterday. It had all started when they were in their seventh year. The Weasley Wizard Wheeze's had gone off with a bang! And business was better then could be expected, they had not only designed a highly successful brand of tricks, but had also opened a successful store in Wizarding London. It also seemed that Fred and George, in repayance for the thousand galleons start-up Harry had given them, had made Harry a primary share-holder in the company. So as Fred and George got rich quick, so did Harry! And Harry wasn't exactly poor to begin with. At the time, however, Harry had seemed very nonplused by his new found fortune. Of course there other things to worry about at the time, with Voldemort's uprising and all. But Hermione suspected that it was then that Harry was first bitten by the 'business bug'.

Harry was President and Owner and was the store's public face. Harry dealt with Press conferences, occasional court appearances, meetings, and lectures. Ron ran stock, both Muggle and magic ( along with a few Muggle born witches and wizards for underlings to fine tune the Muggle half). Hermione herself dealt solely with everything financial and commercial. She dealt with the Advertising agencies and consumer testing; she did the books and payroll, and kept up with their stocks and shareholders. She was also the company 'bookworm', as Harry affectionately called her, because she was always doing research on how to upgrade, upkeep, and modernize the store. And although stock was Ron's side of the business, she often found herself researching new items. Often convincing Harry to give Ron's ideas the ax. She and Harry had an inside joke running, that Ron was only there to make them laugh and fire people so that they didn't have to.

She recalled the day Harry approached them with the idea to run a business. They were all twenty-two years old, and had traveled to Hogwarts for a party celebrating Dumbledore's retirement. They had been standing by the lake, she sitting neatly on the grass with her knees tucked under her lavender robes, Ron leaned against the tree trunk casually with his hands thrust deep in the pockets of his midnight robes, and Harry, who's emerald robes lay abandoned in a heap at Ron's feet, was sitting in the lowest tree branch in jeans and a t-shirt; one leg bent in front of him the other swinging down below. He had been smoking a cigarette, although Hermione had asked him not too ( "They cause cancer Harry! Put it out!" Harry laughed. "I can see the headline now: 'Cancer finally finishes off the Boy-Who-Lived-But-Was-Doomed-To-Die!'" He proceeded to light up anyway). It had been four years since their graduation and she noticed how they all had changed. Though still so young in appearance, she noticed that Harry and Ron's eyes held they same haunted look that she saw in her own each morning as she got ready for class. She figured that they dealt in the same way that she did, for all of them were clean cut and in stylish clothes. Hiding the dirtiness of the past in a clean, suave outward appearance.

Ron had just finished training and was two weeks from graduating as an Unspeakable for the Department of Mysteries. She had just graduated early, and still at the top of her class, as a psychologist, and Harry had been playing Professional Quidditch as Seeker for the Wimbourne Wasps. That morning as they made their way to Hogwarts, he had told them that he had retired. Saying that the game had lost its 'thrill'. Harry loved Quidditch and Hermione didn't buy that for a second! She supposed that it probably had to do with an injury Harry had received the year before. Harry was still unbeatable as a Seeker, and in a match against Bulgaria, the opposing Beaters had decided to take Harry out of the game the only way they could. They had snuck up on him, and sent both Bludgers at him. They made contact with Harry's skull smashing into both sides of his head. He had then fallen from his broom, a fifty foot drop. He had surgery of some sort after that and had missed half the season. Then the next season he would black out during a game and be taken in for another surgery. She and Ron still didn't know why Harry had gone under the knife twice for a single head injury. Only Sirius, Harry, and the doctor's knew- and none were telling. They all said however that it wasn't a big deal. Hermione knew Sirius wouldn't lie to them about that. He knew how much they cared for Harry.

They had all been sitting there, talking calmly except for the occasional outburst of laughing as one of the good memories were brought up when Harry threw out his cigarette and flipped down from the tree branch and proclaimed:

"I'm starting a business."

This caught both she and Ron by surprise. It had come out of nowhere.

"Alright. What kind of business?" she had asked.

Harry shrugged. "I dunno exactly, but I'll sell just about everything related to transportation! Brooms, cars, tires, broom servicing kits. Maybe even have a broom servicing shop in the store for checkups and such. And it will be for both magics and Muggles!"

Hermione looked at him seriously for a moment. "That'll be a lot of hard work Harry and will involve a great deal of planning. Are you sure you've thought it through?"

"Positive." He had said smiling, a manic glint in his eye that Hermione normally only saw before a Quidditch match. "But there's one more kink to work out."

"And what's that mate?" Ron asked, looking interested.

"I need my two best friends support..."

"Of course!" she and Ron said immediately but Harry held up his hand to indicate he wasn't finished.

"And," he continued, "their consent to be my partners and run the business with me."

She and Ron stared at him dumfounded. Give up her degree? Ron give up the opportunity to be an Unspeakable? But...why not? She had only chosen psychology out of mild interest and not knowing what else to do. She had been in a rush to move on with life, and she expected that was the same reason Ron had so willingly accepted the application to train with the Department of Mysteries. Harry had played Quidditch because he had always believed he would and that it was all he could do. Could the three of them actually run a business together? What about finance?

"I couldn't afford it." She confessed, "It's a great idea, in fact I think it would be fun to run a business together, but the money..." she trailed off and saw Ron nodding his head in agreement.

"Sod the money," Harry said, "I'm fucking rolling in money and you two pillocks know it. You know damn well know I can afford it. You don't have to give me anything but your time and effort. We're the damn 'terrible trio'!" He said this with an extreme sarcasm and highly exaggerated air quotations, "We can do prices, indexes, accounting, and research ourselves and it'll save us a bundle! We can also all share a flat in London, buy our food in bulk, live a little lower class for a while. No big deal!" Harry looked positively possessed! She hadn't seemed him so serious, nor as excited in a long time. "Come on! I need you guys to do this with me. I can't do it alone. I have everything figured out and everything is already financed. I've been working on it since I got taken out this season..." His voice trailed off and Hermione knew that not being able to play Quidditch was still a sore subject. It had kept him busy, and he needed something to keep him busy. They all did really...why not make it a business instead of psychology. She had enough problems, why did she ever think she wanted to listen to other people's problems?

"Alright," she said looking up at Harry with a smile on her face, "I'm in."

Ron smiled and gave a sharp nod of his head. "Me too."

Harry just stood there smiling until Hermione ran and embraced him in a hug....

It had been such a long time ago, really it seemed. But it had only been four years. They had morphed into completely different people. She often found herself thinking that they were completely unrecognizable as the teenagers who had once attended Hogwarts and defeated the Dark Lord. That they were recognizable only to each other. That only to each other were they merely Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Not the heroes of the last battle. She shuddered at the memory of that night. She repressed it as best she could, for whenever she remembered too much she always found herself dissolving into hysterical fits of uncontrollable crying. So many deaths... but it was in the past. Far in the past. She wasn't that same bossy little girl. She was Hermione Elizabeth Granger- the 26 year old financial genius behind PGW and Witch Weekly's most successful woman of 2005 and 2006! She was Magic People's most eligible bachelorette for 2005, though she lost a spot and fell to number two in 2006. Men lined up at the hope to go out with her.

Her bushy hair had been banished and replaced with long straight, light brown hair that fell past her shoulders with voluminous layers, The light honey brown eyes sparkled, normally laced in a brown eyeliner and mascara, and occasionally were accented with tortoise shell glasses. Gone were the frumpy robes, to be replaced with stylish designer Muggle suits. That was mainly because of Harry's rule that all his employees don Muggle clothes, as they worked so closely with Muggle society. He couldn't afford to have them get suspicious (however they still performed a memory charm on someone at least once a day. Seamus Finnigan had been hired on as Harry's personal obliviator). Hermione had finally grown into her body and she curved in all the right places. She remembered when she didn't give a flying fuck what she looked like...Thank God she had gotten over that! She was a highly successful witch, all thanks to a moment of inspiration on Harry's part. She had graduated the MMC (Magical Medical College) with a doctorate in psychology and the w.p.h.d now hung, uselessly, in her office for visitors to see and to make them worry. Knowing the way the mind works made her an excellent negotiator, and though she was revered and respected, they also feared being across the bargaining table from her. She was not at all the same person, though she was still bossy and still tutted at the boys when they were ridiculous, though she still cared for them more then anything and was still the first to figure everything out and be the most compassionate; still she was not the same. None of them were. They had been desensitized by the war. It explained why none of them had a significant other. Their business was their lovers.

Harry, though still the most highly recognized face in Britain (possibly the world) looked nothing like his teenage counterpart either. Though the hair remained as black as night and the green eyes still dazzled, the hair had been cropped short and was fixed each morning with meticulous detail; and the emerald eyes were no longer hidden by his old NHS schoolboy frames, but were replaced with contacts, sometimes rimless oval framed designer specs. It depended on how stressed he was- Harry always opted for his glasses if the day was unusually stressful or he wanted to appear older and more influential. He dressed to kill in sharply cut Armani suits that made the witches and ladies drool as to what may be hiding underneath....

In their seventh year Harry had reached about six foot, though he still remained quite skinny and pale- as though he were malnourished. However when Harry retired from Quidditch new muscles had clung to his frame and his skin had taken on a beautiful olive glow. Harry was not the statuesque of a Greek God, but he was pulling off tall, dark, and handsome very well. He had been Magic People's 'most eligible bachelor' for four years running (followed closely be a very annoyed Draco Malfoy) and was Witch Weekly's 'most beautiful eyes' and 'sexiest hair' and 'most successful male'. Draco Malfoy, held 'best dressed' and 'sexiest smile'. Harry and Malfoy were always each others seconds. It was a war that would never end, and though they still argued, she supposed that she couldn't really call them enemies; As Malfoy had been made a fourth partner in Harry's business three and a half years ago. Malfoy had a business savvy that Harry thought would be useful when Malfoy approached him after his own Quidditch days. Hermione sighed and said she'd have to agree. Ron cursed and fumed but he was out voted. He didn't speak to them about anything but business for days.

Harry was the busiest person she knew and he was always running off to some kind of meeting. Hermione worried that he was becoming too stressed out, but she understood why he did it. The same reason she was always on the runabout- because they didn't trust themselves to sit down and think. However, Harry was worse then any of them. Harry reminded her of herself as a third year who had taken too many classes and had too much responsibility. He needed to slow down before he developed ulcers and the doctors put him on Prozac; for Harry's immediate diagnosis would have been that he worked so hard in order to hide from his depression. The sad thing is that they would've been right (Hey! She was a psychologist). Because of this, Harry lost a little bit more of himself each year. For although his public face still appeared full of hope and innocence and he was the absolute epitome of a just and Christine lifestyle, he became more snide and sarcastic behind closed doors. His temper had also gotten extremely violent. Harry had always been known for his quiet resolve though when he finally did lose his temper it had always been pretty terrible. But nothing like it was now. If his temper got any worse he'd start using Unforgivable Curses on his employees. He knew how to use them too, and this bothered her a little. The only people that could control Harry were herself and Draco. Ron was now forbidden to have direct business contact with Harry himself, he also having a nastier temper.

Draco Malfoy. Now, he had changed more then any of them. He had fought with them in the last battle, though afterwards she remembered he called her a Mudblood and said that it didn't mean they were friends. Like Harry, he had gone off to play Quidditch (for Ireland) as Seeker and when he retired (she remembered the scandal: "Two best Seekers in a Century both mysteriously leave the game". It had been rumored that they only played to play against each other. So when Harry quit, Draco did also. She strongly suspected it to hold a shred of proof.), he apparently approached Harry and offered his help with his business. As it turned out, Malfoy had taken after his father, though only in a business sense. He was brilliant and they had taken him on as partner- for he wouldn't join any other way. He and Harry bickered like brothers and also joked around like brothers. He and Hermione also seemed to actually get along very well. Like he was some kind of long lost friend from their past. He was still snide and sarcastic, he still smirked and sneered at them, but as they had all adopted those aspects into their personalities as well, it was merely harmless bantering. She thought it would take a long time to get used to working side by side with Draco, but it hadn't. It was as if he had always been there. And though she didn't notice then, they were all pushing Ron out of the circle.

Now Draco, he could easily be depicted as a Greek God. Fair, flawless, porcelain skin, and the merciless gray eyes that stewed electricity just as the storm cloud they resembled. Where Harry had a slender, rounded face, Draco's was sleek and sharply cut- down to the slight point of his chin and upturn of his nose. The silky silver hair was now worn longer on top and messy instead of long and slicked back like when he was younger. And although Draco let his hair flop carelessly on his forehead, it did so with perfect grace. Draco was a brilliant example of style and fashion and was always on top of his game. Hermione liked to tease him and tell him he fussed more with his looks then a woman or say things like "Gay, are we?". He always exploded at her when she said these things, but it sometimes led to a childish game of cat and mouse throwing harmless hexes at each other, Draco soon losing his anger and laughing with her. How different they were! It still baffled her eight years later how they no longer resembled themselves.

Like Harry, Draco also dressed in designer Armani suits, however where Harry favored black and pinstripes, Draco's collection consisted mostly of varying shades of grey. However Draco was also known to come strolling into the office in a pair of faded corduroy's and a turtleneck sweater.

Ron....Ron was a little different, but mostly the same. Ron would always be Ron. Although she felt bad thinking it, Ron didn't hold enough dynamic to his personality to ever really change. And in a way, this was comforting. It was a safety net, that at one point and time they had all been naive and beautiful. It reminded her of childhood and she loved him for it. Though at the same time, she couldn't help but think: "We've outgrown him". She wondered if he noticed as well? She didn't think so, and he appeared to be happily oblivious. Ron loved his job and he worked hard. What more could they ask of him? He didn't have to be just like them. She sighed. Ron's temper and hate for Malfoy was making working conditions grow more and more tense by the minuet and something would have to be done about it soon. Harry kept telling her to drop hints off at Ron. She tried, but Ron would always say: "Good! I don't know why Harry hired that fucking moron to begin with." Then Ron would stamp away and Hermione would stand there and watch, confusion glazing her eyes. How did you tell one of your best friends that he was going to be the one fired? Draco had too much business knowledge to be let go, he was an asset. She also knew that Harry really didn't want to fire Ron. A compromise had been reached. They were going to buy Ron out. He had a week. She would try to convince him to be nicer and to watch his temper. This was not the solution she was hoping for.

Ron also looked very much the same, he still had fiery red hair, and deep crystalline blue eyes. Ron had expensive suits too, but you never saw him in the entire thing except for when he arrived at work. Ron spent most of the day running around in his slacks and his oxford, top two buttons unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up, and untucked. Harry frowned on this and had mentioned to Ron that he should try to look a little more professional. Ron had gotten angry and replied, "What? You mean look like a nancy little pretty boy like you and your little pouf Draco?"

Following this statement Ron had flown out of Harry's office with such force that he had crashed through Harry's office door and left an indention in the hallway. He had spent two days in St. Mungo's because of it. Harry gave him a raise and they acted as though it had never happened. Neither ever apologized. It was actually very funny and Draco had laughed himself blue in the face that Harry had attacked Ron over him. And although she had also gotten a good giggle out of it as well, she wondered why Harry did suddenly favor Draco more then Ron? She figured it was for the same reasoning she had. Simply because Draco was mature and professional. The sarcastic sense of humor was even better then Ron's childlike one and he just seemed to fit in better then Ron did anymore. She couldn't explain why, she just assumed that where everyone else had grown up, Ron was still trying to relive the old days. And neither she nor Harry and Draco wanted to go back. She remembered that Harry and Ron only befriended her because of their fight with the mountain troll. It had bonded them together. Draco had fought by their sides that night, and therefore had also created that kind of irrevocable bond with them. Except for with Ron. Ron still yelled at Draco and Draco still smirked and smarted him off. She didn't know why they couldn't forgive and forget like she, Harry, and Draco had done, but she wished they would. Ron's job depended on it. But Ron insisted that the only reason Harry hired Draco was because they were gay. She knew they weren't gay together like Ron thought. Though to someone outside their circle of friends they may have looked as such. No, Harry was a straight as an arrow. He didn't date, true, but Hermione believed that Harry had not finished healing over Ginny's death. Voldemort had killed her simply to provoke Harry into coming out of hiding. It had worked, but Harry still felt responsible for Ginny's death. Voldemort had been dead for eight years and Harry still felt as though he would endanger someone if he ever became involved. Hermione's heart ached for him. They were all afraid to love. It was the only terror that Voldemort still held over their lives. She shuddered and once again pushed the memories of the battle from her mind. For a psychologist, I'm not very mentally sound, she thought with a small smile, I have very big repression problems.

She looked back down at her book once she came out of her reverie. She still couldn't understand why Harry needed a report on plants. Their company didn't deal with plants at all. When she asked him about it, he had said that he was thinking of giving Neville Longbottom capital to start a pharmaceutical company. It made sense. Upon graduating Hogwarts Neville had become, Neville Longbottom m.m.d, having majored in Herbology and the Healing Arts. But still, why had Neville never mentioned it before?

She had no reason to doubt Harry of course. He had never been anything but honest with her and he had never kept secrets from her before. Well, the surgery...but that was different! He had only done that so she wouldn't worry. They knew the ins and outs of each others lives in complete detail. But Harry was different now, the anger, the sarcasm, the putdowns. She thought that a lot of this did have to do with Draco's influence. Draco encouraged Harry to expand, buying out smaller companies. Keeping some, breaking the others apart piece by piece. They now owned two hundred and six stores, in 16 countries, on two continents- Europe and North America. She didn't quite approve of their new boisterous and monstrous way of business, but it was bringing them a great deal of success. They were the largest wizarding monopoly in the world and they had only been open for four years. It was a World Record- but, Harry did always have a thing for setting records. Yes, they were all twenty-six years old and multi-galleonaires and all of their own device. It seemed to good to be true...

She began reading once more, placing her quill between her teeth, when she heard a small *pop* from behind her. She quickly turned around and saw Draco smiling at her.

"Harry said you'd be here."

"He would know," Hermione said somewhat testily, "As he's the one that requested this mundane and pointless report."

Draco peered over her shoulder, so closely that his warm breath tickled her ear. She turned her head to look up at him and saw him staring at her book with a furrowed brow.

"What does Potter need a report on plants for?" he asked

Hermione shrugged. "I dunno, really. He says he's thinking of giving Neville capital to start a Pharmaceutical or something of that nature."

Draco shook his head, "That can't be it. Neville would have told us as well. He would've wanted company money backing it instead of personal I daresay. Longbottom's the biggest idiot I know next to Weasley, but I still see him asking advice of all the partners. Not just Harry. You know how unsure and nervous he gets. He would've wanted millions of opinions."

"I agree," Hermione said, "But why would Harry lie? He never lies!"

Draco looked thoughtful for a moment, his brows contracted together in concentration his eyes taking on an icy glint.

"I have a theory but we'll talk later." He caught Hermione's worried face and laughed at her, "Don't look so worried it's nothing bad. If it were, we'd discuss it right now. Now, I've come to tell you that Harry can't come to our meeting with the Ministry tonight," Hermione winced. She knew what was coming. "So Granger you'll have to come with me."

Hermione groaned. "Make Ron....ugh!! Fine. Why can't Harry go?"

"Sick." Draco said simply, "He was retching in the bathroom all morning. I can't having him doing that at dinner. Besides we'll have fun. You can be my date. I know that excites you."

He threw her an award winning smile but Hermione scowled. "We're having this little business meeting with the Ministry because they're afraid we're becoming too large a monopoly," he paused here for effect and was pleased to see Hermione babbling under her breath about stupid and inferior people. "We have to convince them that we're not. I suggest you brush up a little bit, but I'll do most of the talking. I've been preparing weeks." He looked her up and down then said, "Wear something forest green so it'll match my robes and wear your hair up; also your nicer jewelry. Perhaps those dangling diamonds. Those are very nice."

"Are you quite done?!" she yelled. Draco smirked, he knew she hated it when he bossed her around. That's why he did it. Plus, he knew that she'd listen.

"Yes." Draco said, "I'll be at your flat at 6:30 to pick you up. Dinner's at 7:00."

"You driving?" Hermione said distractedly, wondering if she even owned forest green robes and Draco nodded. Then his words sunk in.

"Six Thirty!" she yelled looking at her watch, "That's two hours from now!"

"Sorry darling," Draco replied smoothly, blowing her a kiss to further her aggravation. Then he disappeared.

Hermione scowled and slammed her book down on the table several times loudly, cursing Draco. When she had finally calmed, she grabbed her cloak, parchment, and briefcase and apparated home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry sat on the couch rubbing his aching head. The headache was becoming so bad that his vision had started to blur, and the intense dizziness it caused had made him throw-up throughout most of the morning. Draco had, of course, told Harry to forget about that night's meeting, and that he would take Hermione. Harry suspected that Draco fancied Hermione a little bit, as he would have been fine going alone. Hermione wouldn't be able to do anything throughout the meeting but eat, look pretty, and say hello and good-bye. But perhaps Draco just wanted back-up. The meeting was with the ministry after all. Harry stared into the kitchen trying to focus his eyes and he could barely recognize a bottle of bourbon sitting on the counter. A drink would be nice, he thought. He quickly dismissed the idea however. He had learned long ago that it was incredibly stupid to drink when you were already sick.

*pop* "Harry?"

Harry looked up and saw a large outline of a man in front of him. He blinked his eyes several times to focus and saw that it was Sirius.

"Sirius, what a splendid fucking surprise." Harry mumbled. He didn't want company.

"Don't give me any lip Harry. I'm your father not one of your little underlings at that business of yours." Sirius said giving Harry a stern look. "Draco called my mobile and said that you've been sick all morning. He suggested that perhaps it was a hangover. I do hope he's wrong."

"Hangovers don't last this long." Harry mumbled, "Besides you know damn well what's wrong."

Sirius nodded. "You should tell your friends Harry. They could help."

"No." Harry said sternly glaring up at Sirius, "We've been through this. All they've done their whole lives is worry about me, I'm not going to let them do that anymore. Especially over this, when it's nothing serious."

"Nothing serious? Really? Because that's not what..."

"Drop it." Harry said with an icy undertone to the cultured voice. "I don't want to discuss this anymore."

"Fine." Sirius said matching Harry's anger and annoyance. They were exactly like father and son, but then legally they were. Sirius had been cleared and had adopted Harry when he was sixteen. When they fought, it was always: "I'm your father and I say..." "You are not Sirius so shut-up!" But when times were good, and they were doing the family bonding thing, it wasn't unusual to hear Harry say "Thanks dad". Both Harry and Sirius having decided that Harry needed a father and Sirius a son, and therefore it would be no insult to James and Lily's memories but rather what they would have wanted. Harry could remember how much they had both teared up the first time the word fell from Harry's lips- just to try it out. Dad. It had sounded right.

"Have you been taking your medication?"

"Of course." Harry lied.

Sirius stormed into the kitchen and Harry heard him rummaging through the cabinets.

"Fucking bastard," Harry muttered. Sirius was looking for his prescriptions. He was going to check and see if Harry was taking them.

"Get in here Harry!" Sirius roared from the kitchen

"Fuck off!" Harry yelled back

"NOW! AND DON'T EVER USE THAT TONE WITH ME! I DON'T CARE HOW OLD YOU ARE!"

Harry raised himself slowly from the comfort of the sleek leather sofa and began to make his way into the kitchen. Finally there, he leaned on a counter for support, though trying to look defiant. He focused his eyes on Sirius and smirked.

"Trying to make me collapse? Because I know, that you know when I get like this it's hard for me to keep steady and see."

Harry leveled his gaze to the middle-aged man that stood before him, deep green shooting painful daggers at the dark brown eyes. He was stocky and well nourished the deadened look finally having left his eyes. He dressed in jeans and a maroon sweater and the raven hair that was so similar to Harry's had been cut short and was now regularly groomed. Harry suspected that Sirius always made sure to be an excellent example for perfect grooming as he had lived in caves and prisons for sixteen years of his life. Sirius easily looked the part of Harry's father, though at the moment Harry wished he would disappear again altogether.

"It would serve you right." Sirius said calmly, "You haven't taken you medicine except for the three times I made you take it. Do you want me to move in and babysit you Harry?"

"It's none of your fucking business..." Harry started but Sirius cut him off.

"You're my son! Or at least the closest thing to a son that I'll ever have! I've felt honored to raise you as my own and what thanks do I get Harry?" He paused but Harry looked away, "You throwing your life in the damn gutter! For all your millions Harry you should buy some goddamn common sense! Think of Ron, Hermione, and Draco! Think of what you'll put them through!"

"That's why they don't know!" Harry screamed, "Now fuck off Dad! It's my goddam life and..."

"And I don't want to see it end!" Sirius finished for him. "Take your medicine Harry! At least pretend that you want to get well."

"I never said I didn't want to get well," Harry said softly, "but these stupid Muggle prescriptions aren't worth shit. I take the potion every night. I go to the doctor. What more do you want from me?"

"I want to see you quit suffering and the medicine will help. You can't possibly want to be in pain, but wait! I know what it is." Harry watched Sirius cross the kitchen, where the bottle of bourbon sat on the counter. Harry waited for the explosion to hit.

"Perhaps you would rather get drunk, then take your medicine. That must be it. You can't do both." He was walking towards Harry, his face reddening to the point of looking like an overripe tomato. "Is this the reason you don't take you prescriptions Harry? Is it?"

"Oh yes!" Harry yelled sarcastically, "I'm a flaming alcoholic! Didn't you fucking know?"

In a flash, Sirius brought the bottle of bourbon crashing into the counter. Harry closed his eyes but refused to flinch as the bottle burst into thousands of tiny shards of glass.

"That was uncalled for." Harry said in an angry whisper. "Reparo..." Harry fixed the bottle and with one more careless flick of his wand sent a dish cloth to clean up the bourbon.

"Perhaps." Sirius said walking over to Harry and grabbing him by the shoulders, "I'm scared for you and I'm worried. You're all I have Harry."

"Is this supposed to make me feel bad?" Harry asked coldly, "I'm I to have the sudden desire to live?"

"Harry..."

"No." Harry said looking in Sirius's eyes, "I'm not dying. Please quit acting like I am. My health may not be perfect right now, but I'm far from my death bed and you know it. You're overreacting..." Harry smiled to show he did appreciate Sirius' worry, "Dad."

Sirius pulled Harry into a hug, and gave a broken sigh. He was trying hard to be strong, but it was getting so hard. And even after ten years, he felt his heart hitch in his chest when Harry called him 'dad'. He had protested it at first, but Harry had said "it fits doesn't it?". Even their friends had agreed. He gladly accepted the title, but he never knew it could be difficult like this.

"Take this," he said pulling away and shoving something into Harry's hand, "It's illegal so be careful. But it'll help. Call or owl me tomorrow and tell me if your feeling better." Then with a slight cuff on the head, Sirius disapparated and Harry could still feel his hair moving from Sirius's last touch.

He looked down at the bag that Sirius had shoved in his hand. It was full of chunky green things that looked like basil. Harry knew what it was immediately.

"I'm not dying!" he yelled at the room throwing the bag. Harry slid down the wall into a seated position and felt his vision cloud up again- this time with tears. Each time Sirius visited he succeeded in making Harry scared. He wiped his eyes quickly and walked unsteadily into the kitchen to take his medicine.