'I don't have mine.' Toby thought of the black robes Harry had bought him; they were currently tucked away in the trunk that sat in the luggage compartment. He sighed and munched patiently on his cauldron cakes until the train began to slow as it emerged onto Hogsmeade Station.

'Come on!' Harry hissed to Toby. 'No matter what happens, promise you'll stay just behind me and don't make a sound?'

'I promise, Harry.' Toby nodded. He hurriedly pocketed the last of his sweets and re-adjusted the invisibility cloak that still concealed him from sight.

As the Gryffindor trio and Toby left the compartment, it became nearly impossible to move with the first years that rushed around and the seventh years that shoved aside anyone who got in their way.

'Go ahead, I'll catch up.' Harry urged his friends as they were becoming separated from each other anyway.

'Stay close.' He whispered, feeling relieved when Toby stood directly beside him and a little to the back. Even if the boy hadn't been wearing that magical cloak, Harry doubted that anyone would have noticed Toby's presence any more than then.

Once the train began to empty, Harry moved forward and stepped out onto the platform. He heard Toby jump down from the train, and quickly glanced backwards to make sure the boy was still hidden.

Turning back around, Harry was met with the cold gaze of Draco Malfoy.

'Lost something, Potter?' The Slytherin sneered. 'I must say, I'm surprised you've left your guards behind like this. It leaves you vulnerable to attack.'

Although Harry was sorely tempted to question Malfoy about the absence of Crabbe and Goyle, he instead forced himself to appear as bored as possible even though the blonde boy already irked him with his mere presence.

'Sod off, Malfoy.' Harry frowned and tried to move past him.

Draco stepped across his path and Harry tried desperately not to demonstrate any reaction to the fact that Toby had just bumped straight into him from behind; having had no warning of Draco's maneuver.

'I suppose it's for the best.' Draco continued. 'People keep dropping dead around you, don't they?'

Angered and yet fighting every urge to punch the Slytherin right in his sneering face, Harry shoved past Draco and purposefully bumped the other boy's shoulder with his own.

Toby hurried along after him and for once, Harry barely noticed the younger boy.

Harry was glad that Draco had simply let him leave without further intrusion (although it was rather odd), because Harry doubted that he could have restrained himself for a moment longer. Harry had Toby to consider now. What would happen if he fought with Draco? Toby might be scared by the exchanging of fists, but if magic was used? Harry couldn't risk a wayward spell hitting the little boy and therefore had to force himself away from the temptation of hexing the deserving, Slytherin bully.

A soft grunt of struggle brought Harry's mind back to the current situation. He paused as it was clear that Toby was having trouble keeping up with his anger-fueled strides.

'Sorry.' Harry felt bad for the boy who remained obediently quiet. He looked around at the blackened surroundings and thought upon the fact that they had to walk to the castle rather than taking a carriage. No one else appeared to be around, so Harry scooped Toby into his arms (once he had found the invisible boy, of course), to carry him the rest of the way.

Toby said nothing, although his relief was evident in the way his tired body relaxed in Harry's arms and his head rested against his chest.

'Hello, Harry.' A voice caused both boys to tense. 'Are you carrying someone?'

'Hi, Luna.' Harry glanced at the Ravenclaw girl. From the way his arms were positioned, there was no way in which he could deny that he was indeed holding an invisible child; instead of confessing this fact, however, Harry merely attempted to re-directed the conversation.

'Did you miss the carriage too?' He asked her.

'Yes.' Luna replied as they continued to walk along the lengthly path towards the main Hogwarts entrance.

'I saw you and Draco Malfoy talking so I thought that you might like some company. Almost like a friend.' Luna explained. 'But you already have company, don't you, Harry?' She glanced at his arms again.

Harry exhaled with dread as he knew it was particularly unavoidable not to tell her if he wanted to keep his and Toby's secret exactly that.

'Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the mysterious child you're carrying in your arms all the way to Hogwarts.' Luna smiled. 'I found that I am rather good at keeping secrets.'

'Oh, thanks.' Harry nodded gratefully. Even so, he always found it weird how much Luna knew about some things others didn't even suspect; she certainly wasn't in Ravenclaw for nothing.

'Although, you might want to be a bit more careful.'Luna advised with not an ounce of concern in her light tone. 'Perhaps a hovering charm would be more secretive than carrying the child in your own arms?'

'Yeah, good idea' Harry agreed and made a mental note to ask Hermione for some suggestions later. He placed Toby onto the ground in standing position as they had finally reached the gates.

The small boy felt vulnerable as he was cold and the darkness around them scared him tremendously. Despite the sandwich and sweets he'd consumed that day, Toby was getting rather hungry as well.

The plan was to hide Toby in the “Room of Requirement”, until after the feast; the boy now regretted not asking for more details about that arrangement.

'It's locked!' Harry realized when made a move to push open the gates; as if the chains and padlock hadn't been enough of an indicator. He felt Toby inch closer to his side and the teenager desperately wondered what to do.

'Wotcher, Harry!' Tonks emerged from behind the small group with her wand already lit by the lumos charm. 'Dumbledore bewitched those himself.' She nodded towards the gates as though stating such a fact was beneficial to them in some way.

'One moment. Expecto Patronum!'' A large werewolf patronus burst from her wand and streaked through the gates and towards the castle.

Harry mentally slapped his forehead for not even thinking of using a patronus; not that it mattered much, though as he still wasn't sure how to sent a message with one.

'How is Remus Lupin? Luna wondered.

'Stubborn. But...dealing.' Tonks glanced at Harry, who knew right away that she was referring to the loss of Sirius.

Harry remembered Ron and Hermione telling him on the train about Bill and Fleur's engagement, as well as the fact that Remus and Tonks had just begun to see each other; this explained why her patronus had changed. Hermione of course, had explained the reasoning behind why a patronus may change and all of her words where backed up with lengthly details of her research. And yet Harry had no idea until it had been mentioned several hours ago that a patronus could change its form if there was such an emotionally-linked modification in the witch/wizard casting it.

--

After a seemingly long period of semi-awkward silence, it became apparent that Tonks' patronus had been answered; Severus Snape approached with a lit lantern hovering in the air beside him. His wand was already drawn and in the process of permitting the student's access through the gates.

Harry glared venomously at the man as Snape stepped aside to allow himself, Luna and - unknowingly - Toby to pass by him, before the gates were shut inches from Tonk's scowling face.

 Harry glanced over his shoulder to thank Tonks for helping them but hesitated when he noticed the strangeness in the fact that neither of the two adults had said a single word since the patronus had been cast. He would have to ask Ron and Hermione about it later to see if they had overheard anything during an Order meeting that would lead to the obvious loathing the pair expressed towards the other (although, surely his friends would have told him already). Or perhaps, like Harry, Tonks deemed Snape to be partially to blame for what had happened to Sirius?

And yet, the most amount of hatred that elevated around them seemed to originate from Snape.

'You cannot deny the evidence, Severus.' Tonks finally spoke once she lost the glaring match and lowered her gaze to her lit wand that was still clutched in her hands as though she was tempted to use it.

'I hardly refer to the final ramblings of a deranged Gryffindor mutt to be considered as “evidence”, Nymphadora.' Severus scowled at her. With a swish of his cloak, he turned to lead the way back to the castle. By the time he had barked at the two students to keep up; Tonks had already disappeared.

--

The walk was, if possible, one of the most nerving no-dramatic moments of Harry's life so far. He was feeling a mixture of emotions and his head thought upon too many things at once. Above all, Harry was terribly stressed because he feared the discovery of Toby.

Hoping to warn the boy of who they were with, Harry had to address Snape and that involved talking to the Slytherin. Speaking of the man while he was right there would not end peacefully and therefore no other option could be considered. But what could Harry say? He didn't even like Snape and could never forgive the horrible man for the things he had done, said, or caused. And yet, he had to say something or else risk losing Toby – the orphaned little boy who could be Snape's son.

How did Harry get himself into these situations?

'Professor Snape?' Harry sallowed and quickly searched his mind for something to say without a speck of niceness, nor in tone that expressed his fueled rage.

'Erm...never mind.' Harry sighed as no suitable question or commented seemed to be useful enough. He could feel Toby bump into him again as the boy hurried along to keep up with their pace. It was also because the boy was now extra-cautious of their adult company.

If Snape had even heard Harry, the man never showed nor acknowledged it.

'Fifty points from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw for lateness.'Snape finally spoke. And Harry had barely heard him as he was getting worried about Toby and prayed that they were almost at the castle.

'It is rather cold tonight.' Luna's airy tone reminded them that she was still there in a way that only she could. Harry wondered if her presence contributed to the lack of torments Snape surely wanted to fire his way. This more silent version of Snape was quite unsettling.

And as they continued to walk (even though it was much further from the station to the gates, this trek seemed to last forever), Toby continued to grip the cloak cautiously while he watched the back of the dark figure that was the “foul git”, Harry had briefly told him about.

This man was a wizard and an expert in Potions, something Toby admired about him and yet he could tell there was more to a person than just their skills.

Severus Snape looked angry all the time and had an intimidatingly low, displeased tone of voice. He had black hair, dark eyes and dressed entirely in black (with small bits of white at the sleeves and neck, but that didn't count), and yet Toby wondered if he too was hiding something better just like the way wizards hid a magical train in a station where muggles could not see it.

Regardless of what Harry had told him, Toby found this wizard to be very interesting (and scary!); he also didn't hate him. The little boy thought that Snape might have had lots of bad things happen to him to make him so sad and angry.

Toby would share those thoughts with Harry later as the steps to the castle finally came into view.

Harry knew from the moment he heard the sudden sound of a shoe stubbing against rock, that Toby had just stumbled.

He quickly stood Toby upright and than faked that he had been the one to trip. By the time Snape had glanced over his shoulder with unmistakable suspicion, Luna had already begun to describe some hard-to-pronounce invisible creature that had apparently tripped Harry.

Picking himself up, Harry walked at a slower pace in case Toby had injured his hands or knees (which was likely, given the volume of the boy's stumble). He didn't care what Snape said about his decreased speed and was thankful when Luna joined his side to support that notion.

And yet, the mysterious man did not comment.

--

Due to the level of noise in the Great Hall that was a result of constant chatter and the moment of cutlery, no one heard the awe-inspired gasp that Toby could not conceal the moment he caught his first sight of the magical floating candles and enchanted ceiling.

To the little boy, it felt like a wondrous dream in which he had just entered.

Toby lowered his gaze and glanced around at the hundreds of students that stared and whispered about Harry and Luna's late arrival.

Panicked, the small boy hurried to catch up with his guardian and tried to keep the cloak over himself without causing it to drag along the floor behind him.

With a gush of relief, Harry spotted his two best friends sitting at the Gryffindor table with Neville and Ginny. He quickly joined them. Ron caught Harry's serious expression and shifted over to make room for Toby once he felt the little boy grasping at his robes for support in his task of climbing onto the seat while not losing grip of the entire cloak.

Nervously seated between Ron and Harry, Toby ogled at the grand selection of desserts that were placed on the long table in front of him. He was forbidden to eat even a single spoon of custard or a tiny serving of ice cream. His stomach groaned with longing as the six-year-old demonstrated great endurance as he fought against the torturous temptation, even when it brought tears to his eyes.

It was much worst considering that never before in his young life had Toby ever had the chance to taste any of the items that were laid out before him.

Ron and Hermione weren't sure if they should say anything and that only further sparked the curiosity amongst the other Gryffindors as well as concern from the DA members nearby.

'Where've you been, Harry?' Dean wondered.

'Is everything okay?' Hermione became anxious when Harry didn't appear to have heard Dean.

'You alright, mate?' Ron repeated.

'Later.' Was the only replay Harry granted them as he served himself a helping of pudding. He reached for his spoon but paused when a wave of guilt washed over him; Toby was sitting right there and yet couldn't have any of these treats. Harry replaced his spoon with the determination that he would give up the luxury of dessert as well.

When Harry glanced around to see if anyone was still staring at him, he noticed a very odd expression in which Nearly Headless Nick had directed his way. For a heart clenching second, Harry felt certain that the ghost had been staring directly at Toby.

Than Nick floated away and Harry only felt worst. Ghosts could become invisible; did that give them some sort of ability to see other invisibilities? If Nick had seen Toby than it could all be over.

And all because Draco couldn't leave him alone.

Turning in his seat, Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and scowled at the impossible; Draco was sitting there between Blaise and Goyle as though he had been the first one on the carriages. And the blond had lingered on the platform after Harry had stormed away from him...did Draco know a shortcut, or something?

Either way, it only added to the blame Harry placed upon the Slytherin for his own lateness.

--

As Dumbledore stood to make his speech the moment the desserts had vanished; Harry wasn't even listening as he was distracted with his own thoughts and concerns. He was beginning to wonder if it was truly possible to hide Toby at Hogwarts for a while year.

Harry only looked up from his empty plate to pay attention when the headmaster announced that because Professor Snape was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Slughorn would be resuming his old post as Potions Master.

Many were shocked/outraged and muttering (other than the cheering Slytherins), and therefore no one apart from Toby noticed Harry's vague reaction. If anyone had the most motivation to protest against the new staff arrangements, it was Harry. And yet he sat in silence; what did it matter to him who taught what when he had Toby to worry about?

Not even the cautious warnings about Voldemort had quite captured Harry's full attention. By then his friends had noticed and began to worry.

The moment students scattered about to leave the Great Hall for their separate common rooms, Harry stood and nudged Toby.

Ensuring that the little boy kept up, Harry led Toby directly to the seventh floor. He hadn't said anything to his friends and failed to notice Hagrid waiting for them as he passed right by the half-giant.

'A room for a child.' He thought over and over until the Room of Requirement appeared to fulfill his request.

'Harry, wait!' Hermione turned a corner and called out to him as she and Ron rushed to catch up. They had followed Harry from the Great Hall and were lucky to at least have a brief idea as to where he was taking the boy, if not to the Gryffindor tower.

They had made it just in time.

'What's going on?' Ron asked as they followed Harry and Toby into the large baby-blue coloured room that was filled with children toys, furniture, and decorations. Including a hippogriff-shaped bed, a ceiling light that was actually candles inside a floating see-through sun, the floor was a coloured carpet that had moving silver stars, and bubbles kept sprouting from seemingly nowhere to float around the room.

'You can take the cloak off now.' Harry told Toby without answering his friends.

The boy exclaimed with relief and threw the magical cloak off himself. He watched it fall to the floor and felt oddly satisfied by the sight of its deflated form.

'What is this place?' Tony glanced around the unfamiliar room with interest.

'Toby, your knees are bleeding!' Hermione noticed the rips in the boy's pants that had been caused by the fall earlier. The scrapes that left his flesh raw and bleeding were clearly seen through the newly torn holes.

'Hands too.' Toby lifted his reddened palms to show her.

How a six-year-old had fallen and caused such an injury to himself while still remaining entirely invisible wasn't a complete mystery, considering the largeness of the cloak in comparison to his small size. And yet since Snape had been there when the incident had occurred, Harry regarded each of them to have been immensely lucky.

It could have been much worst.

'This room is made to be equipped with anything we need, right?' Harry sought a confirmation as he walked over to a small cabinet that was positioned on a far wall toward the left end of the room, opposite the bed. They hadn't noticed it before. As he expected though, it contained various medical supplies in which he may need such as bandages, healing balms, and even a few select potions.

'Harry?' Hermione pressed as she watched her best friend gather several items from the cabinet and place them onto a section of a large, wooden table. Harry lifted Toby onto the surface of the table and began to carefully fix the boy's injuries with obvious and experienced skill.

'You can't live here all year and neither can Toby.' She glanced around the room, thinking that was Harry's intention.

'I know.' Harry rolled his eyes. 'But we don't have a plan yet and I had to check that Toby was okay.'

'What happened, mate?' Ron once again took the chance to ask in hope of actually getting an answer.

'Malfoy.' Harry scowled. 'He delayed us to the carriages and than we were locked out of the gates. Luna was there too, and Tonks.' He explained briefly.

'Snape showed up and took fifty points from each of us. After that he didn't say a single word.'

'Nothing?' Ron gasped in disbelief. 'Not even a list of insults?'

'Nothing.' Harry confirmed and moved backwards to let Hermione take over the task of fixing Toby up (she knew a few spells that would help), so that he could talk to Ron.

'Owch.' Toby winced and crosses his arms to scowl at Hermione when she began to apply a healing balm to his still-tender knees.

'What's odd is how Snape and Tonks looked like they wanted to kill each other right there.' Harry remembered. 'Did anything happen at an Order meeting?'

'Not that we heard of.' Ron frowned as he thought about it.

'Actually, Ginny and I did overhear Remus saying that Snape was being unrealistic about something.' Hermione shared as she straightened. 'But we couldn't make out the rest.'

'Thanks.' Toby told her and hopped down from the chair. He noticed that the trio were talking about something he thought to be boring and confusing, so the little boy moved to wander around the room and look at anything that caught his attention.

'I think it was about...' Harry swallowed as he still couldn't say it yet; even so, his friends knew he was referring to Sirius. 'Tonks said Snape was denying proof of something and he didn't seem to think it was anything important.'

'Maybe it wasn't.' Hermione shrugged.

'You didn't see the looks they gave each other.' Harry shook his head. He turned to glance at Toby; the the little boy was busy flipping through a picture-book with little attention and failed to notice that he was being watched.

'I dunno, mate.' Ron said. 'But right now...how are we going to hide Toby for a year without anyone finding out?'

'Harry...it might not be possible.' Hermione added softly.

'Sleeping under your bed is one thing but he needs careful attention, a bathroom to use, food - which will probably have to be nicked from the table or kitchens – toys, clothes, and...education.' She crossed her arms sympathetically.

'It's a full-time job to become a parent. And to do it in secret while we have classes?' She was clearly very skeptical about their ability to do this.

'And Quidditch.' Ron added importantly. 'Even with our free periods...Hermione's got a point, mate.'

'I can't stay?' Toby's voice was soft and rejected as he slowly approached the three teenagers. 'I could live in here!'

'It's too risky and others can use this room.' Harry muttered. He knew Hermione was right but he stubbornly refused to give up until they'd explored every single possible option.

'We'll sleep on it tonight.' Harry decided. 'If we have free time tomorrow than we'll go to the library for ideas.'

His words had an opposite impact on his friends; while Hermione looked pleased with the suggestion as she was likely to end up there anyway, Ron seemed to think of it as the last thing he wanted to do with his spare time.

Either way, both of Harry's friends agreed to his terms; each knew it was getting late and they had to leave.

'Before I forget.' Hermione paused as they approached the door and reached into the pockets of her robes. She held out two meat and salad filled rolls to each Harry and Toby.

'I noticed that neither of you had much to eat before.' She explained with a light shrug of her shoulders.

'Thanks, Hermione.' Harry accepted his roll and acted like he had every intention to eat it later.

'Thank-you, Miss Hermione.' Toby grinned and hungrily ate his own roll without a moments consideration.

Feeling content, the boy replaced the cloak over himself and followed along beside Harry as they headed for their sleeping quarters.

The door to the Room of Requirement began to fade away until it was just a regular wall once again.

--

Harry wished he'd had his Marauder's Map with him as the trio (and a cloak-concealed Toby), cautiously ventured along corridors and down staircases to reach the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Luckily, Hermione knew the password and within moments they had stepped into the 6th year boys dormitory (Harry and Ron's other roommates were catching up with friends in the common room at that moment).

After a long and tiring day, Toby was settled under Harry's bed as he readied himself for sleep. Hermione had been granted enough time to create a makeshift bed on the floor and magically expand that space in effort to avoid the occurrence of Toby ever hitting his head against the underside of the bed if he were to sit upright. She even placed a well-cast notice-me-not charm on the general area as an extra precaution. Figuring that she had done all she could for the time being, Hermione also demonstrated a fondness for the little boy as she left Toby her copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard for him to enjoy.

Once she was satisfied with her efforts, Hermione bid the boys goodnight and turned to leave their dormitory for her own.

'How old are you?' Ron asked Toby as they all got ready for bed.

'Six years and two months.' Toby recited sleepily.

'Six?' Ron repeated. 'And you can already read?' He couldn't believe his ears; he had seen the boy expertly flip through at least three books now and the child clearly knew what was written upon the pages.

'I've read lots of books.' Toby told Ron; hiding the fact that previously it had been all he was really allowed to do.

'Your birthday isn't far from mine.' Harry realized as he had been thinking about it.

'I was told my birthday is on the second day of July.' Toby said. 'When is yours, Harry?'

'The last day of July.' Harry quickly answered. The dormitory filled with momentary silence as Neville entered the room and headed for a shower. Dean and Seamus were in fits of laughter when they burst into the room a mere second later as though it was empty and the noise they made wasn't bothering anyone.

Harry drew the curtains around his bed and feigned sleep as he didn't feel like talking to anyone at that moment. Instead, he stressed about the facts involving how many times in a single day that he and Toby had almost been caught. In addition to that, three people already knew about it and the worst possible person was already suspicious...Severus Snape

Thinking back to the letter he was yet to reply to, Harry wondered if he and his friends could really pull of the impossible and truly formulate a plan so good that it would fool even Snape?

No, probably not.

Yet even without any strategy on their side, Harry and his friends were certainly going to try!