The other Gryffindors and students were gone, and the tower had taken on a very peaceful atmosphere for the time leading up to Christmas Eve morning. As the sun rose into the sky and made light patterns through the window that decorated the empty common room, a loud shriek of laughter was heard from upstairs.

'I beat you!' Toby declared to Harry as he burst into the common room, fully dressed in a pair of black pants, barely-visible red shirt, and a thick, deep green sweater. The teenager he had raced down the stairs quickly joined him; there was a grin on Harry's face also as he moved a few strands of hair from his face that had almost obscured his bespectacled vision for a brief moment.

'I'll win next time.' Harry nodded as he gasped for breath; seriously, how was it possible that the little kid so fast, even at his age?! Straightening, he looked around at the common room and momentarily missed his friends, although Harry was determined not to think about it as it would only be for a sort time. Really, it was the entire Weasley family and the homeyness of the Burrow that Harry was truly missing.

'Are we ready to go?' Toby wondered and looked over at Harry, who was dressed in his usual Gryffindor uniform with the exception that he'd replaced his school jumper with a deep blue sweater.

'Almost.' Harry said as he wrapped a Gryffindor scarf around his neck and than gestured Toby to approach him. Once the boy did so, Harry pulled out a scarf he'd had Hermione knit for the boy before she'd left.

'Here, it's cold outside.' The teen handed the green and silver striped scarf to the child, who stared at it with awe.

'Isn't this a Slytherin scarf?' Toby gasped he draped it around his neck and felt its softness that wasn't present in most of the others he had ever worn.

'Yeah, Hermione made it.' Harry nodded. 'It seems fitting for you to wear it.'

'Thanks, Harry.' Toby smiled at him fondly. 'Can we go now?'

'Sure, let's go.' Harry nodded and called for Dobby.

--

Pop!

It was an idea that the boys had discussed the night before when they hadn't been tired enough to sleep. Toby had previously been granted permission to sleep in Dean's bed while the other Gryffindor's were away, even so, it had taken a little while for the boy to try it as he had become quite accustomed to sleeping so close to his unofficial guardian.

They'd talked about how they planned to spent Christmas together that year, and it had been Harry who first suggested that even though the castle would be decorated and they could eat all that great food, they should still have a little Christmas of their own, as a family. Toby had been thrilled by the idea. It was why they had enlisted Dobby to help them get outside without having to hide Toby under the cloak and walk the entire way to the edge of the forest.

'Is Master Harry Potter and young Toby needing anything else from Dobby?' The house-elf wondered as the cold, snowy Hogwarts exterior did not appear to bother him as much as the wizards in his company.

'Not right now. Thanks Dobby.' Harry said and watched the elf leave before he turned around in time to see Toby run towards the tree line of the forest. Rushing to catch up with the eager boy, Harry scanned the area for possible danger (in the form of a creature or professor). Relaxing only a little, Harry proceeded to assist the boy in their search for the best branch for their celebration tree, in which they intended to decorate.

'How about this one, Harry!' Toby called over to the teenager, who looked at the large pine tree nearby that had a branch oddly bent outwards.

'Too crooked.' Harry replied and hoped they'd find one soon as he hadn't predicted that the wind would pick up quite so quickly nor strongly as it was now.

'What do you think?' Harry gestured to a large oak branch on the ground and Toby hurried over to examine it. After a full two minutes of careful pondering, the small boy shook his head and frowned as he didn't think it had enough leaves.

Ignoring the chilling wind, the two orphaned brothers were determined to find the right branch. And despite another five rejections, they finally stumbled across the one they were looking for, literally.

'Urgh, c-cold.' Toby shivered as he wiped snow from his face. 'Oh, look, Harry!'

'What?' The teen glared at the snow that had sent shivers of cold down his neck as it dripped from his hair. He turned and saw what the boy was pointing at. It was a large, freshly green pine branch about four feet long with a lot of leaves and appeared to have only just fallen from it's tree as a result of the strong winds that now almost completely surrounded them.

'It's perfect.' Harry agreed as he walked over to it and began to figure out how to pull it out of the snow without making himself colder than he already was. The concept of magic was lost on the teenage wizard at that precise moment.

Regardless of their find, something rather troubling had caught Toby's attention as the little boy ventured away from his brother. Huddling behind a rock no taller than his hip, Toby crouched down as he thought he had heard something amongst the howling of the wind. He moved some snow aside from an oddly lumped area in the ground and gasped at what he found.

'Hello.' The little boy whispered to the dark gray kitten that lay on its side, clearly almost frozen to death.

Carefully picking up the tiny, shivering form with one hand, Toby pulled at the collar of his sweater and slipped the kitten inside so it could rest between his sweater and shirt. It made the boy cold as well, as the kitten felt to be made of soft ice, and yet he tolerated it in hope that his own warmth would be transferred to the small creature.

'Come on, let's go!' Harry called out to him. After he'd tucked his sweater into his pants like his shirt already was (this would prevent the kitten from falling out as he walked), Toby rushed to catch up with the Gryffindor. He said nothing as he didn't know if the kitten was even going to make it and the boy didn't want to get his hopes up by telling Harry.

Being only six, Toby had no idea that the kitten could be in a much worst state than merely being cold as Toby believed that by keeping it warm, it would probably be fine.

''Arry, is that yeh?' Hagrid's huge form loomed over the boys before Harry had the chance to call for Dobby to take them back to the safely warm common room.

They stopped in their tracks and stared up at their new company with an intense fear of discovery leaking into their veins. While Toby yelped at the size of the apparently scary stranger and rushed to hide behind Harry, the teenager gulped and instantly tried to explain away the presence of the boy.

'Who's that yeh got there, 'Arry?' Hagrid glanced at Toby. Once the boy peeked around his protector to poke his tongue at the half-giant, Hagrid merely laughed and nodded his head.

'Oh, so this must be 'im!' Hagrid nodded. 'Are yeh Toby?'

'Huh? How do you know my name?' Toby wondered while Harry couldn't believe his ears.

'What?' Harry frowned. 'But Hagrid, how did you know about Toby?'

'Dumbledore, o' course!' Hagrid nodded. 'What are yeh two to doin' out 'ere in the cold, eh? Come along now, I'll fetch yeh some tea!'

Glancing at each other, the two boys began to follow Hagrid to his hut as they were both shivering and longed for the warmth of the castle. Stepping inside, Toby was instantly intrigued by the small “house” and moved to sit on the nearest chair.

Harry observed the boy with a smile as a month ago Toby would never have accepted the half-giant so quickly nor would he have taken to the appearance of the hut quite as calmly as he just had. These changes were good; the little boy was still cautious and only trusted someone who was obviously a friend of Harry, yet Toby no longer fled regardless of such facts Nor did he react defensively to every word spoken or action performed until many hours after he had met them.

'Dumbledore knows?' Harry scowled deeply as he resumed their conversation. He was stunned when Hagrid suddenly burst into laughter and stared at him with a very odd look.

'What?' He frowned. 'Hagrid, what are you laughing about?'

''Arry, yeh look so much like Per'fessor Snape when yeh do that!' Hagrid chuckled as he put on a pot of tea.

With a huff, Harry ignored that comment and moved to join Toby. The small boy jumped when Hagrid's dog Fang rushed over and sniffed his stomach with intense interest.

'Get off, it's not yours!' Toby clutched to the concealed kitten and pulled himself away from Fang, which was difficult even as he managed to place a few more feet between himself and the drolling dog by lifting his feet onto the chair and curling up on it.

'It? What are you talking about?' Harry asked as he accepted the hot tea from Hagrid.

'I found it.' Toby kicked at Fang as he carefully lifted the shuddering kitten from underneath his sweater. 'I think it's cold.'

'Yeh better give it 'ere.' Hagrid said seriously as he looked down at the small animal who was only barely alive.

'Promise you won't squish it?' Toby clutched the kitten protectively to his chest as he eyed Hagrid's huge hands.

'Go on, give it to him.' Harry encouraged, now deeply concerned for the small creature's life while he also wondered why Toby felt the need to hide it from him. He was still shocked and angry over the fact that not only did Dumbledore somehow know about Toby, but he'd even gone and told Hagrid. Who else knew? Was their secret really safe or did the lack of confrontation about the matter only elude them so?

The two brothers stood anxiously around the table while Hagrid tended to the tiny kitten. After what felt like a long moment, the half-giant sighed and wrapped the creature in a large, woolen blanket.

'Is it gonna be okay?' Toby stared up at Hagrid, leaning his head backwards in order to do so.

'A bit o' warm rest 'an food, 'e should be fine.' Hagrid nodded. ''E's lucky yet saved 'im.' He added.

'I saved his life?' Toby gasped and smiled as he instantly rounded on Harry. 'Can I keep him?'

'Er, we'll see.' Harry said hurriedly. The teen turned to watch Hagrid as he and Toby sipped at their cups of tea.

'Hagrid, when did Dumbledore tell you about Toby?'

'Yeh still riled up about that, eh?' Hagrid sighed. 'I'd 'ave thought Dumbledore'd tell yeh by now, as a matter o' fact.'

'How long has he known?' Harry asked a little more forcefully.

'Dumbledore didn't say.' Hagrid replied. 'Though, I expected 'im to know for months by now.'

'Bloody...' Harry scowled while Toby stared at him, having heard the less-appropriate language that he didn't think his brother was allowed to say around him, judging by what he'd heard from Hermione when she'd lectured Seamus on the matter a few weeks prior.

'We've got loads to do.' Harry placed his cup on the table and Toby quickly copied him. 'Thanks for the tea and uh...'

'For looking after him.' Toby added as he pointed to the kitten. 'Promise you won't let him get squished, or eaten by your dog? I like him and I saved him so you better be nice to him.' The little boy crossed his hands over his chest and stared at the half-giant with a protective stance.

'I shall nurture 'im back ter full health.' Hagrid nodded and chuckled as he thought that the little boy could look quite a lot like Snape as well.

'Thank-you, Mr Hagrid.' Toby sighed with acceptance as he turned and followed Harry out of the hut, instantly wincing against the colder exterior. Hagrid waved to them from the doorway as Harry called Dobby and the two boys disappeared along with their treasured branch.

''O course, Dumbledore'd know about tha' elf as well.' Hagrid said to Fang with a small smile. 'Prob'ly a good thing I ain't be tellin' 'em tha' either.' He chuckled and returned to his hut as he had a lot of work to do if he was going to keep that tiny gray kitten alive for more than a few days. Hagrid hadn't told the boys this, but one more minute out in the snow and the baby cat would have been dead.

It was a very lucky creature, indeed.