Walking down the hall, Harry expected the castle to be a bit more...festive. It was Easter after all. He expected little exploding eggs (provided by the Weasley twins) or pastel rabbits as far as the eye could see. They certainly went overboard at Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day. They even had a little celebration of Thanksgiving for the American kids that had transferred.

He passed the One-Eyed Witch statue on his way to the Great Hall. Still no decorations. He guessed Hogwarts wasn't going to celebrate this year. Again. Harry felt a bit saddened by this. Easter had always been his favorite holiday. He had always been the one to set out the plastic eggs for the egg hunt when he was smaller because he could fit in places that adults couldn't and hide them better, and sometimes when Aunt Petunia wasn't looking, he would quickly sneak some candy out of an egg, closing it just as quickly as he opened it. If the other kids felt the slight difference in weight, they didn't notice or care, too busy turning their attention to finding the next candy-filled egg.

He had always been skeptical of the myth of the Easter Bunny, despite his love for the holiday. He hardly thought that a rabbit could get that big, and manage to go around the world that quickly in one night, and it definitely didn't help that it was him that laid out the eggs, but nevertheless, every time he saw a rabbit, he couldn't help but wonder if it was the Easter Bunny in disguise and nodded his head in thanks.

   Pink and yellow streamers began appearing as he got closer to the Great Hall. Harry smiled. Finally. Some respect.

The streamers turned into giant dotted eggs leaning against the wall as he walked, and Harry carefully avoided those, too scared of what might happen if he got too close. Forget the Weasley twins, it was a known fact that Dumbledore could out-prank the twins any day, and there was no telling what the eggs could do.

The streamers and eggs were nothing compared to the Great Hall. When he opened the large doors, colorful petals fell from the ceiling and confetti covered each table in a pastel mass. Bright pink streamers covered the walls and a horrifying cartoon rabbit cutout was at the end of the Hufflepuff table. The poor kids that sat at the end looked terrified and was nearly on their friend's laps trying not to sit too close to the cardboard stand. The Slytherins looked murderous. Someone had jinxed their table and every time someone sat down or got up, confetti spewed from the seat, covering everyone and their food in the little paper.

It was obvious the Slytherin's table wasn't the only thing tampered with. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws seemed slightly less murderous, but still obviously peeved. The Gryffindor's banner was now a light pink and blue instead of red and gold, a giant bunny taking the place of the lion, and the Ravenclaw's robes were now changing colors, ranging from red to a disgusting shade of purple. The only people that seemed to be enjoying the new look for Gryffindor were Fred and George, who were hopping around like rabbits, annoying everyone more, exclaiming "Look! We're the Gryffindor Bunnies!".

Baskets full of eggs that exploded colorful dust when you cracked them were in the middle of the tables, and Harry saw little rabbits hopping around on the floor, swiping lettuce and carrots from the student's' plates and whatever fell on the ground.

Dumbledore had gone all out with his costume. White bunny ears protruded from his head and he had a little pink bunny nose, whiskers and all. Harry wouldn't be surprised if he had a fluffy tail. McGonagall and Snape were seated on either side of him. McGonagall's right eye twitched rapidly and Snape looked disgusted, his sneer showing his absolute hate. Harry had to silently agree. As much as he adored the holiday, the decorations were a bit much.

He avoided stepping on the rabbits as he made his way to the Gryffindor table. Hermione was giving Fred and George glares as they hopped by and Ron was stuffing his face, more interested in food than his brothers' antics.

"I was looking forward to Easter, but not like this!" Harry said as he swiped confetti from his seat.

"I moph mide!" said Ron, syrup from his waffles dripping down his face. Hermione looked horrified at Ron's table manners.

"Ron! Swallow your food before you speak!" She hit him on the head with a book. Ron swallowed his large mouthful.

"OW! Hermione, one of these days you are going to give me brain damage." Ron rubbed his head where Hermione had hit him.

"Wouldn't change you all that much, now would it?" Hermione huffed and stuck her nose in her book. Harry gaped at her. He didn't think she could insult someone like that.

Breakfast went surprisingly well, considering all that was happening. The only thing that seemed to go wrong was the Slytherin table spewing a large mound of confetti into the air when the entire table got up. Snape looked like he was going to have a heart attack when he got up and his chair spat out confetti as well.

Giggling, Harry walked back to his common room with Ron and Hermione. Everyone stopped when the portrait hole was opened. Easter baskets were laid out, one for everybody when they walked in. Ron instantly snatched his up and began rifling through the eggs until he pulled out a bright blue one. He grinned madly and threw the egg on the ground. Candy flew through the air and rained down on them. One rather large piece hit Seamus on the head, who looked mad but ate the piece of candy anyway.

There were no classes that day since it was a holiday, so everyone in the common room either went back to bed or munched on their candy. The only person that actually looked at their homework was Hermione, who as soon as she stepped through the door, went straight to her book bag and pulled out multiple class books and began working on her Transfiguration essay, ignoring her goody basket all together. "Classes start again tomorrow, so we better get started now!" was the only thing she said.

Ron rolled his eyes and set up a game of chess with Neville, who was surprisingly good at the game. Harry carefully avoided Fred and George as they walked towards him, a suspicious looking treacle tart in Fred's hands.

He munched on the candy in his Easter basket, savoring the sweet marshmallows and hard caramels. He made a game out of the Bertie Botts Beans with Dean, taking two that looked alike and each taking one to see which got the better bean. When Harry got vomit and Dean got green apple, Harry quit the game. He contemplated doing his homework, but he didn't see the point in working on a holiday.

Bored now, he left the common room and began walking down the corridor. The bunnies from the Great Hall were loose on the castle grounds, and they hopped around Harry's feet as he went outside. He bent down and managed to picked one up before it scampered away, a black one with a white tuft on it's nose, and began scratching behind it's ear. It wiggled slightly but didn't try and get away from him, for which Harry was grateful. He didn't want a arm covered in scratches.

He walked towards the Black Lake and sat underneath a large tree. The bunny hopped from his arms and towards the moist grass next to the lake. Harry watched it munch on the small blades of grass. Other students were walking on the field now and picking up the other rabbits, who snuggled closer or hopped away at the speed of light. A Hufflepuff had some lettuce and fed his, who looked very pleased.  

Harry's rabbit came back over near his foot, and Harry reached out with his leg and nudged it. The black bunny jumped and flipped midair to face Harry. Harry could have sworn he saw it sneer, but that was ridiculous. Rabbits couldn't sneer.

He picked up the rabbit again, and this time it did struggle.

"Just hold still! I'm not going to hurt you, you silly rabbit," Harry cooed, stroking its soft fur. The rabbit gave up after a while, Harry's grip around it's middle not loosening one bit.

"There. See? I just want to hold you," Harry said as he snuggled it closer to his chest. They laid like that for a while until it was only Harry and his rabbit left. The other students had taken their rabbits inside, presumably to their common room or to give them back to the Headmaster.

"You know, I have never actually held an animal like this," Harry murmured to the sleeping ball of fluff on his chest. "I can't exactly do that with Hedwig, my owl, and Aunt Marge's dogs are mean. Plus I think Aunt Marge would beat me to Antarctica if I touched her precious Ripper." The rabbit opened an eye and looked at Harry before closing it again.

"You probably don't care. You probably aren't even listening to me right now. That's fine." Harry went back to stroking the black fur. "It's nice though, having nothing to do." Harry sounded wistful. The rabbit's ear twitched as if in agreement.

"You don't have to worry about doing anything. You're a rabbit. All you have to worry about is where to find your next meal. Or not get eaten," Harry added as an afterthought.

"You need a name," Harry said suddenly. The rabbit turned its full attention to him. "I mean, I don't know how long you can stay here, but I want to call you something besides Rabbit. I don't know what gender you are, and I honestly don't want to check, so I'll just call you by a gender neutral name. Um, how about Audrey?" The rabbit didn't move.

"Sky?" A glare.

"Boo? Because you're black?" The rabbit gave him a death stare. "Yeah, you're right. Plus it's Easter. Boo is more for a Halloween rabbit. You're a Easter bunny!" Harry laughed at his own joke.

"Ash?" A pause then a twitch of a nose.

"Ash? You like that name? Okay, Ash it is then." Harry settled back down, playing with Ash's velvety ears. "You look like a Ash."

A piece of pink confetti floated past his face, and Harry let out a small snort, then burst into giggles, the image of the Slytherin's faces coming to mind. Ash looked at him with slight concern written all over his bunny face.

Harry wiped a tear from his eye, calming down a little. "Sorry. I just remembered earlier this morning. You were there, right? In the Great Hall? Anyway, there was these streamers everywhere! And there were these eggs in the hallway. I don't know if they could explode or what, so I just avoided them. Did you see the Slytherin table? Every time someone got up or sat down, confetti flew everywhere! It's no wonder they looked so peeved. And Snape!"  Ash's ears perked up a bit.

"Snape's chair exploded in confetti, too! He looked like he was going to have a heart attack! Granted, I probably would too if my chair suddenly went kaboom. I don't blame them for looking mad. It did seem like the Slytherins got the short end of the stick, didn't it? It was a bit much, compared to the other tables. And the Hufflepuffs didn't even have anything wrong at their table! Unless you count that giant creepy rabbit at the end. I like Easter, but even I think those decoration were a bit much, you know?" Ash's tail wiggled a bit, as if he was agreeing.

"And the Headmaster! He looked ridiculous! I would bet every Galleon in my vault that he had a fluffy rabbit tail, too!" Harry laughed again, harder this time, holding his stomach.

It was then that Harry realized he was talking to a rabbit, an animal that couldn't even respond or even understand what Harry was saying, but he didn't care one bit. It felt good. It felt good to just talk. Ron and Hermione were good listeners, but they got distracted easily, and it often made Harry feel a bit left out, despite it being him that started the conversation. With Ash, he could talk as much as he wanted without being interrupted, and it even seemed like Ash was responding.

"You're a good listener, you know that? Ron and Hermione, they seem like they care, but they get distracted and usually leave me hanging. I know they can't always pay attention to me, they have other things to worry about, but I have never had that much attention given to me, I was always that one weird kid that no one wanted to be around, and it's nice when someone takes time to actually talk or to listen."

Ash gave him a 'oh really?' look and Malfoy chose that moment to hop behind the tree in front of Harry, a malicious grin on his face.

"Talking to a rabbit, Potter? You must really be desperate for attention if you're talking to a bloody animal instead of your friends. What's the matter? Are the photographers too much? Or are you just finally going crazy?"

Harry jumped to his feet, forgetting that Ash was on his stomach and the poor rabbit fell rather ungracefully to the ground.

"Shut up, Malfoy! You don't know anything!" Harry yelled.

"Why don't you make me?" Malfoy shoved Harry, and Harry nearly stepped on Ash.

Harry shoved back and a fight issued between the two. They fought with their fists, forgetting their wands. Harry punched Malfoy in the jaw, and Malfoy countered with cracking Harry's glasses. Ash hopped around the two, avoiding getting stepped on. Harry kicked out with his foot and knocked Malfoy down on his backside. The blonde sneered and grabbed Harry by the leg and yanked, dragging him down. He and Malfoy got back on their feet and resumed their fight.

Harry thought he saw Ash grow a bit out of the corner of his eye, but the rabbit was the same when he managed to look at it full on. Malfoy noticed where Harry was looking and snatched Ash up by the ears. The rabbit squirmed in the other boy's tight grip.

"Let Ash go!" Harry grabbed for his wand, but Malfoy beat him to it. When Harry pulled out his wand, Malfoy was already out and pointed at Harry's face.

"Ash? Is that what this miserable creature's name is? You really need to find more friends, Potter." Malfoy sneered. "I heard your conversation with Ash. Why don't you just find a fan? I'm sure that Creevey kid will do anything you say. I'm sure he'll even get down on his knees to-"

"SHUT. UP!" Harry's magic lashed out, and a pale yellow light hit Malfoy square in the chest. Malfoy dropped Ash, and the rabbit hopped to safety behind the tree. Harry waited with baited breath for something to happen. When nothing did, Malfoy grinned, an evil sort of glint in his eyes.

"You really are pathetic, Potter. You're magic didn't even do anything! You're just-" Malfoy stopped, his eyes going wide. He clutched his head, and white rabbit ears protruded from between his fingers. His nose shrank into a little pink bunny nose and whiskers popped out. When Malfoy turned around, a little white tail was poking from his cloak.

Harry let out a little bark of laughter. "Ha!" When he let out the laugh, Malfoy's hands turned into white paws.

Malfoy looked like he was about to cry. "Ah! I'm going to tell the Headmaster and Snape! You'll be expelled for sure!"

"Bet I won't!" Harry taunted. Malfoy half hopped, half ran to the castle, his features changing with each step.

Harry sat back down under the tree's shade. Ash reluctantly hopped back over, but not close enough to where Harry could reach out and pick him up.

Harry leaned his head back against the trunk, and breathed deeply. "I hate it when people say I want everyone's attention," he grumbled. "Like Snape and Malfoy. They don't know anything. They just think I'm the attention-seeking Brat-Who-Lived. I mean, I want attention, but just from my friends, because I know they care about me, if only just a little. The fans and photographers don't care about me. They just want to see the Boy-Who-Lived. It's annoying and sometimes scary, especially if it's in a crowd. I hate crowds." Harry shuddered.

"I just...I want attention, but not the bad kind. I want loving attention, not fan crazed attention. Does that make any sense? Probably not." Harry sighed. "My family never really paid attention to me. To them, I was just a burden that was dropped on their doorstep. I was that freak that could do magic. I was nothing to them. I was stuffed in a cupboard the first ten years of my life, for Merlin's sake! The only attention I got was when they were smacking me around for stupid things. Did you know they gave me a week of no food and Uncle beat me with his belt because I got better grades than Dudley? How stupid is that?"

Harry giggled a bit, but it wasn't a happy giggle. It sounded pained, almost crazy, and Ash nudged Harry's hand. Harry rubbed a long ear, his eyes cloudy. "I grew up afraid of magic, because they told me only freaks had it and they called me a freak, and things happened for no reason around me. I thought I was going to Hell. And when Hagrid came and told me I was a wizard, I was terrified. I didn't want to believe him. But then I saw Diagon Alley and all those people with weird clothes and pointy hats and I suddenly felt like I fit in. I belonged somewhere." Harry smiled. "I saw Hogwarts for the first time, and I finally had a place to call my home."

Harry rambled on about his years at Hogwarts, about his first year when he fought off Voldemort and got back the stone, how Ron and his brothers had to get him out of his room with the bars and fighting the Basilisk, and about Lupin and Buckbeak and Sirius.

Harry licked his lips and looked down at Ash. "I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear this. I'm just rambling about things you don't care about." Harry got up and brushed off the dust on his pants.

"You can go hop away now." He made a shooing motion with his hands. "I'm sure there's a family you have to get back to." He turned away and quickly walked back to the castle. He walked down the corridors, his eyes blurry from the sudden onslaught of tears. He wiped them away, but they kept on coming.

Harry huffed, mad at himself. Why did he have to get so emotional? And over a conversation with a bloody rabbit?

Well this started out as a good Easter, Harry thought. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye and hid behind a suit of armor, peeking over the shoulder, curiosity taking over.

Ash came hopping down the corridor, and Harry's curiosity peaked. What was Ash doing there?

Ash stopped and looked around. His beady black eyes stopped on the suit of armor that Harry was hiding behind, as if he could see right through it and see Harry.

Harry's eyes widened to a very painful size when the black rabbit began to grow bigger and bigger until a human took it's place. Harry let out a little shriek that he would later deny as Snape grabbed his arm and pulled him from behind the suit of armor.

"What are you doing?" Harry tried to get out of Snape's grip. He couldn't believe that Snape was Ash, the rabbit he trusted and began to think of as a little friend. How could he have been so stupid to talk about all the things he did? Harry paled. He told Ash about the Polyjuice Potion. Snape was definitely going to go ballistic over that.

And Malfoy! Snape was going to take points for the fight. Harry thought of all the different ways he could tell his friends goodbye. "Sorry, 'Mione, Ron, but I turned Malfoy into a giant rabbit and now I'm expelled." It definitely wasn't the worst way to go.

"I'm taking you to the Headmaster, Potter,"  he said as if it was painfully obvious. Snape stomped down the hallway, pushing fallen streamers and eggs out of the way.

"What for? Was it the Polyjuice Potion? Because we had a good reason!" Harry said, trying once again to get out of the older man's grip.

Snape spun around, looking exasperated. "I don't give a damn about the Polyjuice Potion!" he yelled. Harry shrank back. "I'm taking you to him because of your family!" Harry blinked. Why did Snape care?

"It's no use! I go to him every year at the end of the semester and he does nothing! He sends me back every time, spewing some bullshit about Blood Wards and protection," Harry said, not caring about his vulgar language.

Snape let go of Harry's arm. There was a fire behind the black eyes, and Harry gulped.

"That man has no right. He knows that Blood Wards do not work if the child doesn't consider the house his home. He should have listened to me and sent you to your grandparents," Snape growled. Harry gaped, his jaw falling somewhere near his ankles.

"My grandparents are alive? Nobody told me that!" Harry shrieked, paying no mind to the fact that Snape knew his grandparents. Snape nodded once, sharply.

"Do you think I could ask him to send me there instead?"  Harry asked, his voice filled with hope. "They'll love me there, right?"

Snape gave Harry a look he couldn't place. "Yes, I'm positive they would. But if you have gone to him every year and he still hasn't, I highly doubt he'll change his mind now. He is stubborn in his annoying ways."

Harry motioned wildly with his hands. "Well then, we'll make him! You can change his mind, right? You can intimidate him! You're scary enough to do it!"  He realized what he said a moment later. "Uh...I-I mean-"

Snape smirked. "There is a reason the Dark Lord fears him, Potter. I would be just a speck of dust on the intimidation chart compared to him. But thank you for the compliment."

Harry blushed. "Uh, sure. You're welcome. So, you can help me though, right?"

Snape though for a moment. "I'll see what I can do."

Moments later, Harry knocked on the door to the Headmaster's office, Ash in hand. Snape had told Harry the password then transformed into Ash. Harry felt odd holding the black rabbit Animagus, knowing that he was holding his hated Potions Professor instead of a normal rabbit.

"Come in, come in!" came the old Grandfatherly voice of Dumbledore. Harry reluctantly pushed open the door, fearing what he would see. Did the old man still have his Easter bunny costume on?

"Harry! Take a seat, my boy." His old blue eyes twinkled behind his glasses. Thankfully, the Headmaster had transformed himself back to normal, although his nose was still a bit pink.

Harry took a seat in one of the chairs that sat in front of the large desk. Dumbledore peered at Ash in his hands.

"Ah! I see you've found one of the rabbits! They're transfigured napkins, but you can keep it if you want. I hear rabbits make excellent pets. Lemon Drop?" Harry declined when Dumbledore pushed a tin tray over. The Headmaster shrugged and popped one of the yellow sweets in his mouth, humming in delight.

"I do so love Muggle sweets. Now, what seems to be the problem, Harry?" Dumbledore put his hands together under his chin, peering at him over his half-moon glasses. Ash moved around on Harry's lap, moving from the view of Fawkes, who was staring at Ash with a hungry look.

"Well, sir," Harry began, covering Ash with his cloak. "I was wondering if I could stay here over the summer. I know I come to you every year, but you see-"

"And every year I tell you that there is nothing to worry about. The Blood Wards there will keep you safe."

Harry bit the inside of his cheek. The headmaster was doing just what Harry thought he would. He was skirting the topic, and it was making Harry mad. "It's not the Blood Wards I'm worried about, Professor. It's-"

Dumbledore cut him off again with a wave of his hand. "I have Arabella Figg watching the house. If there is anything wrong, she will let me know."

Well, she hasn't been doing a very good job of it, has she? Harry thought disdainfully. Ash seemed to share his thoughts because he glared at the Headmaster, which looked funny coming from a rabbit.

"But what about my grandparents, sir? Aren't they alive? They could take me in. The Blood Wards could work there, right?" Harry asked, trying a new angle.

Dumbledore sadly tsked. "Your grandparents are not alive, I'm afraid, Harry. They died shortly before your parent's death."

Harry looked down at Ash in confusion. He had said that his grandparents were alive! Ash was hopping around on Harry's lap now, clearly agitated.

"But sir-"

"I'm sorry, Harry, but you need to go back to your aunt and uncle. You are safest-"

"ENOUGH!" Ash had hopped from Harry's lap and transformed into Snape. Snape stood towering over the Headmaster, who stared at the Potions Professor with wide eyes.

"You know how his life is there, Albus, yet you send him back?" he yelled, spittle flying onto Dumbledore's face.

"I'm sure it's not that bad-" Dumbledore began to weakly protest.

"Not bad enough to want Harry to stay every year instead of going back to his relatives?" Snape countered. Dumbledore opened his mouth to say something in return, but Snape beat him to it.

"And you dare lie and say that his grandparents are dead? I know them! You know this! They are not dead, and they would have gladly taken in Harry! Why do you lie? Do you want the savior of the wizard world to be beaten to a bloody pulp every summer? One of these days, he won't come back from that house, and it will be all. Your. Fault!" Snape was breathing heavily, his fists clenched tightly beside him. His black eyes glittered dangerously. Harry looked at his stern professor, never hearing the man sound so emotional.

Dumbledore swallowed, his eyes darting quickly across his desk. "Severus-"

"No. If you're not going to do anything, then I will. I know what goes on behind those closed doors at the Dursley's, but it's apparent you refuse to see. Harry will not be going back, mark my words." It was only after Snape had grabbed Harry by the arm and began to drag him out of the room did he realise that Snape had called him by his first name.

"Sir?" he asked as he was led down the dungeons. "What are you going to do?"

Snape said nothing at first, but paused in front of a blank wall. He tapped it twice with his wand and a door appeared. He ushered Harry inside, closing the door behind him.

Harry could tell Snape was angry, if the constant clenching and unclenching of his hands said anything.  Harry waited until Snape sat down and the vein that was popping out of his head disappeared before asking again. "Sir?"

"I'm going to write to your grandparents. We need to get this process started," he said the last part under his breath as he dug around in his desk for something.  

"Process?"

Snape's head shot up. He was holding a stack of parchment. "We're going to get you out of the Dursley's custody, and for that, we need to write a report. After, we will contact your grandparents and get the steps required for you to live with them started."

Harry leaned forward, intrigued. His green eyes glittered behind his glasses.
"Okay, sir. Let's begin."

It took way shorter than Harry thought to get him out of the Dursley's custody. Because it was the case file of the infamous Boy-Who-Lived, it was pushed up further and was investigated almost as soon as the complaint was filed. The Dursley's were found guilty of child abuse by both the Muggle law and by the Aurors. They were sentenced to Azkaban for life, Dementors on guard twenty-four seven. Dudley was sent to live with Marge, and Harry was finally free of their torment.

Nearly as soon as they sent the complaint to the Ministry, they wrote to Harry's grandparents. They had been ecstatic, and wrote back to Harry immediately. They continued to talk via letters, and Harry smiled each time Hedwig would come back with a letter, a warm feeling in his chest, knowing he was finally wanted and had a family who loved him.

Surprisingly, Snape and Harry had grown closer during the whole ordeal. Snape had admitted to Harry that he had been friends with his mum and told stories of their childhood growing up together and during their years at Hogwarts. It was a nice change of pace from being told of only his father. He found out things about Snape that he never would have thought about the man. Not only was his childhood as bad as Harry's - if not worse - but during his fourth year, after both of his parents had died in a car accident caused by his drunken father, he had been adopted by the Evans', and was now technically Harry's uncle. At Harry's question of why hadn't he taken Harry in, he explained his spying position for Dumbledore, which started right after school at Dumbledore's request, and therefore couldn't with the watchful eyes of the Death Eaters. He couldn't take any chances being seen with his adoptive parents for their own safety, no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn't write, or go over for a visit. The most he could do was watch from afar.

 That was also the reason he had been so mean to him. With Malfoy in class, he couldn't dare show any kindness to his nephew, for he knew he would run to his father at the first chance he could. He would have loved to had adopted Harry as a baby, but the circumstances prevented that. But he had reassured Harry that if he had known of his treatment by the Dursley's, spy or not, he would have taken Harry as far away from them as he could. He regretted that it was only now that he could have done something.

Snape became a great help during the Tournament as well. Whenever Harry was stumped, he would always go to the man for advice. Together, not only did they figure out how the egg worked, but along the way the found out something about Moody. Harry had been showing Snape his map, which he had sheepishly admitted to being the same one from the previous year, when they stumbled across a name that had long believed to be dead. They found Crouch Jr., and the man was investigated. He admitted his entire story, from how he escaped Azkaban to how he had rigged the Tournament. The cup was found to be a Portkey to Voldemort, thanks to Crouch, and the Tournament was called off. Harry had never heard of something like that happening before, but then again the circumstances were a lot different than the others.

Aurors swarmed the Riddle mansion when Crouch gave the hideout, killing the little shriveled body that Voldemort currently possessed and took every Death Eater that was present. Wormtail was caught, finally proven to being alive, and Sirius was now a free man. He wrote to Harry, excited not only for him, but for Harry's new announcement as well. He was happy Harry was finally getting a family, although he didn't take his and Snape's newfound friendship well. He got over it soon enough, and said if Harry ever got tired of hanging around the old bat or ever wanted to see him, then Harry was free to come over at any time. He was a free man now, and as such, anyone could visit without the secrecy.

Now that Snape's position as a spy was no longer necessary, he could take the measurements needed to make sure he found a good home with his grandparents. He still couldn't adopt him, for the threats of the Death Eaters hung over him, and the Ministry would never allow it, but he could now at least see him with his grandparents. He even made arrangements to move out of his parent's house in Spinner's End, and was now moving into the vacant house right across the street from his adoptive parents.  

The end of the year finally came, and Harry bounced with excitement at finally meeting his grandparents. He quickly packed, then rushed down to the dungeons.

"Uncle Severus, I'm ready to go!" he said, knocking rapidly on the brick wall. After a moment, the door materialized and Harry wasted no time in grabbing the door handle and swinging it open.

"Uncle Severus!" Harry called again.

"Hold your horses, child, I'm coming." Severus turned the corner to the living room, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "It is still very early. The train doesn't leave for another two hours."

"But I want to meet them now," Harry practically whined.

Severus plopped down in his winged-back chair. "You'll meet them soon enough. I promise. For now, why don't you have breakfast?"

Harry was sure he couldn't eat with him being so excited, but called down a House-Elf anyway. Dobby popped into existence beside him and took his order. Soon they were surrounded by delicious smelling food.

Harry was dead wrong about being too excited to eat. He was starving. All excitement vanished from his mind as he gulped down multiple servings of waffles and cinnamon rolls. He washed his food down with a large glass of pumpkin juice, then slammed the cup down on the table when he was done.

"Can we leave now?"

Severus stopped cutting into his pancake and rolled his eyes. "We will leave when the train does. Be patient."

Harry tried his hardest to stay still and wait, but his leg kept bouncing up and down and he was sure Severus was getting annoyed. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it was time for them to leave.

Usually, Severus would walk the students down to the train, but today he would accompany Harry and his friends under the disguise of Ash. Harry drug his trunk behind him and held his uncle in the other hand. Hermione and Ron were waiting for him as he walked down the trail towards the tracks.

"Ready to go, mate?" Ron asked, grabbing an end of Harry's trunk and helping him throw it on board.

"Ready as ever," Harry replied, and stepped onto the train.

"I can't believe you're finally going to meet your grandparents!" Hermione squealed. Harry chose an empty compartment and sat down.

"I know!" he said. "I wonder what they'll be like."

Thanks to Severus and the many stories he told about them, Harry had a fairly good idea what they looked like and what to expect from them. Apparently his father wasn't the only one with wild hair. His Grandfather Joe had hair that stuck up in every direction, and that combined with his now white hair made him look like a mad scientist. His Grandmother Rose was apparently the sweetest woman ever, and every Sunday she would make cinnamon rolls with orange frosting for breakfast. His grandmother had the same red hair as Lily, and his grandfather had her eyes.

Harry continued to chat with his friends while the train chugged along the tracks. The trolley lady came by and Harry bought nearly everything there, Ash giving him a disappointed look. He saved some chocolate frogs for his uncle, knowing the man wouldn't be nearly as mad if he had chocolate.

"Hey, Harry," Ron said, his mouth full of sweets. "Why do you still have the rabbit?" He jerked his chin towards Ash. Most of the students that had kept the rabbits from the Great Hall had sent them home to their families or had released them back to the grounds. Hagrid seriously enjoyed that, and had a whole backyard full of the fuzzy animals.

Harry glanced at his sleeping uncle-turned-rabbit, and shrugged. "I think maybe my grandparents would like him," he simply said.

Ron just shrugged and went back to eating.

Hours later, Harry roused Ash from his sleep. Ron and Hermione had screamed loudly when he transformed into Severus in the compartment. Harry had rolled with laughter.

He quickly hopped from the train, Severus behind him carrying Harry's trunk. He scanned the crowd for his grandparents, and his face fell when he didn't spot them.

"They're over there," his uncle said, pointing past his shoulder. And there they were. Rose was standing beside Joe, hands holding his arm as they scanned the crowd for Harry and Severus. They looked just like Harry had imagined them, except a little more grey.

"Grandma Rose! Grandpa Joe!" he said, quickly running towards them. Severus was right behind him, slowed down by the heavy trunk.

They swiveled their heads when they saw Harry and Severus. Wide grins broke out on both of their wrinkled faces, and Rose held her arms open wide. Harry tumbled into them, hugging his grandmother tightly. Joe ruffled his hair, his green eyes sparkling behind his frames.

"Harry," Rose said lovingly, pulling him back to face her. "It's so good to see you finally. I've missed you so much."

Harry felt like crying, and he smiled broadly.

"Are you ready to go home, Harry?" Severus asked. Harry nodded.

Together with his family, they walked through the brick wall, and Harry held their hands tightly. He threw a smile to his uncle, who without, he never would have had this.