It took another week for the family to adjust to their new home.

Afterwards, it almost seemed like they had lived there for years. On Friday afternoon, as Erin was walking Harry and Jack home, the group discussed what they were going to do over the weekend because Jack would be staying over for the entire duration.

'We should all do some stuff together.' Harry suggested and looked at Jack to see if he agreed.

'Okay.' Jack nodded.

'Like what?' Erin wondered. 'I was thinking of making use of our big kitchen and baking some cakes. Maybe you boys would like to help me?'

'Yes!' Harry and Jack said in unison.

'It's settled then.' Erin smiled as she pushed open their small gate and let the boys walk ahead of her across the short distance to the front door. 'We'll have to do some shopping tomorrow morning, which I know Harry has been looking forward to.'

'What's so special about it?' Jack asked Harry.

'Well, I was thinking that with my family being whole and all, um...that we needed to do something a family does. You know, like to celebrate and make it real?' He shrugged. 'Mum said families go shopping together a lot, so we picked that. Daddy's coming too.'

'Oh.' Jack fidgeted. 'I'm not family, though...I mean, I don't want to wreck anything by being in the way.'

'You are family!' Harry insisted. 'You're my pretend brother, remember? You have to come. I'm not going if you don't.' He pouted, making his best friend smile and feel better about tagging along.

'What else can we do this weekend?' Jack wondered as he followed Harry up to his room.

There was a spare room across from Harry's, but both boys thought it would be a lot more fun if they shared Harry's room during the sleepover. Erin suspected this was because the boys wanted to stay up and talk when they should be sleeping, and though neither boy admitted it, she was correct.

'Mum wants to try gardening again.' Harry remembered. 'She wants us to help plant some new flowers in her garden. I've never done it before, and I think it would be cool to watch something grow. We also have to teach Frogabook to use a lead, otherwise dad thinks this chapter of our lives is going to be called “Frogabook's Great Escape”, cause he's loving the backyard too much. We get to put a new collar on him and everything. I reckon we can teach him, if we work together. I don't think Frogabook will like it much, though.' Harry laughed. 'Let's play a game! For this weekend, let's pretend we're twins!' Harry grinned at his idea.

'Yeah!' Jack cheered. 'That'll be lots of fun, and I won't feel bad about joining in on all the family stuff because if we're twins, then they're my family too.' He nodded.

'Exactly!' Harry agreed.

'Where's your dad?' Jack suddenly realised he hadn't seen the man when they got home.

'Oh, he's downstairs in the basement.' Harry rolled his eyes. 'Mum said he's got some special room down there where he's going to make potions. I haven't seen it yet. Daddy said not to go down there because it's a mess right now. He's still setting up stuff like cauldrons and whatever.'

'Wicked.' Jack said. 'I'd like to see it! Do you think he'll let us watch him make a potion? That would be so cool. I thought stuff like that only happened in movies.'

'Er...maybe.' Harry shrugged. 'Daddy was really serious about it, so I think we should wait until it's ready or he might get mad.'

'Okay.' Jack said with disappointment. 'Wanna go outside and play with the ball?'

'Sure.' Harry nodded and led the way back outside the house, since the only reason they'd gone straight to Harry's bedroom was to drop off their bags.

The two boys rushed past Erin and accidentally let Frogabook out of the house in the process.

Erin was basically sworn to secrecy that it was Severus who had picked and examined the house before they'd purchased it, and those fences were not as high and strong as they were just because the man liked his privacy. Frogabook hopped around the house after the boys and headed back to his favourite bush, a little displeased at his limited freedom, but was much happier than he had been at the previous place when he'd been cooped up inside all day.

With all his extra hopping, Harry was finding it easier to carry his usually-heavy frog around the house. Erin also insisted on a feeding rule with the frog to ensure it didn't overeat. Coupled with the new collar it would be wearing, the frog who had once been a seven-year-old boy's schoolbook, didn't realise how much less freedom he actually had. Which was the opposite of Harry, who had never had such a freeing routine in his entire life. He could go outside whenever he wanted to run around, climb a tree (and really high up too, if his parents weren't watching), throw around a ball, or play with his pet frog.

This meant Jack could also visit a lot more too. And though their first sleepover had been a lot of fun, the two boys were determined to make this second one the best sleepover they'd ever had, especially because Jack was staying over until they had to attend school on Monday.

--

Around mid-morning the following day, Erin and Severus were waiting outside while Harry tried to find some clean socks, and Jack searched for his favourite jacket. Erin didn't mind waiting, whereas Severus mentally listed the spells he'd put in place inside the living room to confine the over-large frog to the area - in effort to prevent mass damage or an injured creature while they were away. He cared nothing for the “beast”, but a squashed frog would (rather unfortunately, he believed), make Harry and Jack very upset.

'Got it!' Jack announced as he hurried outside, pulling on his red jacket as he joined them.

Harry was right behind him with a pair of mismatched blue/black socks inside his badly laced shoes, which he bent over to fix when Erin gave him a stern look. Severus, however, looked as though he wanted spell the boy's socks to match.

The shopping center wasn't very far and the group had decided to walk. Erin actually wanted to drive her car, but Severus insisted that walking was preferable, and the boys agreed. Within minutes, they arrived and Erin grabbed a shopping trolley, which she asked Severus to push and he declined. With the boys taking over the task, Erin consulted the shopping list she had made for their trip.

'I notice now, that the clothes you wore before weren't very...' Erin looked at Severus and tried to remember what it was called.

'Muggle.' Jack provided, who had spent a lot of the last week learning the “magical” words Harry had been taught.

'I suppose it would look strange if you walked around in a robe.' Erin said, thinking his attire which consisted of a black long-sleeved shirt and dark pants wasn't much different, really.

'I think daddy's allergic to colour.' Harry joked, which earned himself a glare from Severus.

'Yeah.' Jack cheekily agreed and Erin tried not to laugh.

Snatching the shopping list from Erin, Severus marched ahead into the food section of the store they had planned to shop in, and began gathering their items – he was clearly motivated to end the public event he had been conned into attending, as quickly as he could.

'He's so cheerful.' Erin rolled his eyes. 'Don't stray far, boys.' She added as they looked around.

'Can we help?' Harry asked. 'I used to do the shopping before I went to stay with daddy. Jack helped me once too.'

'Yeah.' Jack nodded. 'Can we, please?'

'I don't see why not.' Erin went to snatch the list back from Severus, but was unable to take it from his instantly firm grip.

Glaring at his smirk, Erin held out her hand and waited for him to pass it to her. She tore it at two sections and gave one each to the boys. They had about five items each to find and bring back.

'Don't get lost and stay close so we can see you.' Erin cautioned. 'We'll be over by the frozen food section.'

'Okay, mum.' Harry nodded as calmly as he could while he rocked eagerly on his heels.

'Yes, Miss Summers.' Jack said in a tone Severus thought was far too innocent to be honest.

And the moment they were given permission, the boys turned and hurried into the depths of the store.

'Oops, Sorry!' Harry blushed when he ran into the back of a bulgy man with no hair. The man glared down at him and Jack pulled Harry away, who had frozen to the spot at the sight and his own embarrassment.

'Did you see his face?' Jack laughed. 'He was like some sort of walrus!'

'That's not nice!' Harry tried to scold, but he ended up laughing along with his friend. As they headed for the cereal section, the boys quickly forgot their lists and instead raced each other along the isle. Finding a spare shopping trolley, Jack encouraged Harry to get in and the dark-haired boy did so very reluctantly.

'Look out!' Harry yelled as Jack steered him wildly through another idle, running fast as he pushed the trolley containing his friend.

Screeching in delight, Jack tried to pull back – his efforts failed as the trolley and boys soon collided with a shelf of cereal, sending boxes flying onto the floor. Harry sat there, gripping the sides of the trolley for dear life, as he squeezed his eyes shut on impact. Jack had skidded to a halt on the slippery floor and ended up sitting under the rain of boxes they'd shaken from the shelf ahead.

After a short moment of silence, the two seven-year-olds looked at each other and laughed.

'That was fun!' Jack declared. 'My turn!'

Harry gasped when he saw Severus and Erin nearby and jumped out of the trolley. He grabbed Jack's shirt and dragged him to a different isle. They had only just escaped being spotted with their trolley against a shelf, surrounded by boxes of cereal.

'Whew, that was close!' Jack exhaled. 'So, what now?'

'Look!' Harry pointed to a section of the store quite some distance away. It was the clothing department where piles of materials and racks of every colour were seen. 'That looks like fun.'

'Let's go!' Jack decided.

'Oh, wait...' Harry glanced back towards where his parents were. 'They said not to go too far.'

'It'll only be for a second.' Jack urged. 'Come on, it'll be fun and then we'll go get the stuff from our list. They won't even notice we went there.'

'Okay.' Harry sighed and hurried after his friend.

-- 

Twenty minutes later and Erin was still looking around for the boys.

She and Severus had finished most of their shopping and the area was far too quiet. She'd called their names, but the two children hadn't answered. Severus looked furious, and even more so when he couldn't even cast a simple locating charm in the midst of the Muggle shoppers.

'Where are they?' Erin began to stress. 'They weren't supposed to stray from our sight!'

'They are seven-year-old children.' Severus dead-panned to conceal his own worry. 'This was your brilliant idea, if I recall.'

'You should have stopped me!' Erin growled, her tone rising in her fear of the boys being well out of her sight and protection. She had already lost Harry once, and an icy fear seized her as they searched another isle of the store.

The boys were nowhere to be seen.

Severus wisely decided to remain quiet and increased his strides to look around the area. He felt useless without his wand and it had been a while since they'd seen the children. They'd kept an eye on them, but not every second.

'Where are they?' Erin was becoming quite frantic. 'You!' She snapped at a nearby cashier. 'Have you seen two boys about the same age? They're around this high.' She held up her hand to measure Harry's height, though Jack was barely an inch taller. 'One has blonde hair and the other dark.'

'Sorry, ma'am.' The man answered. 'I haven't seen them.'

Severus rolled his eyes as Erin began to argue with anyone nearby and her volume was steadily rising. Leaving her side, Severus wandered around to get a better view and decided the children were not in the food section. He walked further into the store, far beyond where the brats were supposed to stay close to, and halted when he heard the sound of childish giggling.

With a snarl, Severus reached forward and snatched two collars from inside the clothes rack and yanked out the pair of startled seven-year-olds.

'Oops.' Jack winced while Harry paled.

'Indeed.' Severus said in a dangerously low voice.

Before he could lecture or the boys could apologise, Erin came running over and scolded Severus for not telling her he'd found them. Ignoring the woman, and going to retrieve their shopping trolling, Severus left the boys at her mercy. He was surprised how effective she was at making them regretful of their actions, as she stressed how worried she had been and hugged them tearfully tight. The boys got upset and started apologising over and over until it lost all meaning to Severus.

Fifteen minutes later, and the family quietly left the shopping center with everything on their list. Severus had led them to an alley nearby to cast featherlight charms on all the bags to make them easier to carry. He decided to make the boy's bags just a bit heavier than he planned, as a little added punishment.

Once they arrived home, the boys were sent to Harry's room where they had to stay until lunch. By then Erin had forgiven them and Severus vanished into the basement to work on his Potions lab some more.

'Eat your sandwiches and then we'll bake some cakes, okay?' Erin told the children with a smile, brushing a hand over both their heads in added relief that they were okay. She knew Harry loved the affection from his mother, which he had missed out on for so many years, yet Erin pondered on the similar reaction from Jack.

'Don't you think three nights in a row is a bit long to stay at once for your second sleepover?' Erin asked Jack as the boys ate their lunch. 'Won't you miss your parents, even a little?'

'Not really.' Jack shrugged. 'I like it better here and it's more fun. I don't see mum or dad much anyway.'

'Shhh.' Harry said. 'We're pretending we're twins, remember?'

'Right.' Jack nodded and chewed the last of his sandwich. 'Done!'

'Me too!' Harry added.

'Alright, let's work out what we need first.' Erin nodded and took their plates to the sink.

She hoped, when she could get her magic back, Severus would teach her how to wash the dishes with magic, because she was used to the task and yet could never do it when it was now only done by magic.

'Can we make chocolate chip cupcakes?' Harry requested. 'With strawberry frosting?'

'Yeah, can we?' Jack added.

'We sure can.' Erin nodded and gave each boy a task to do.

As Harry waited to mix the bowl, Jack carefully measured the ingredients as the recipe said, which was what Severus noticed when he returned to the main section of the house for his own lunch. He paused at the kitchen doorway and watched the sandy-haired boy for a moment. The measurements of flour, and then milk, were so precise it caused the man to think of an entirely different skill Jack could be learning. Severus shoved those thoughts away and soon retreated back to his Potions lab, glad to escape the kitchen he predicted would soon be covered with flour.

He would rather brave potential potion fumes than a cloud of white former-wheat.

Once the cupcakes were cooking in the oven, Harry and Jack laughed at each other's appearance, which was covered in flour and bits of the uncooked mixture. Erin rolled her eyes and sent the pair upstairs to bathe. The pair had really enjoyed the task and helping out, as neither had really participated in baking before. Jack had the most fun adding the ingredients and trying to convince Harry to let him mix it as well - whereas Harry was happy just to listen to his mum talk, and then lick the spoons when they had finished using them.

-- 

When they came back downstairs, Harry was busy talking about how great it was to cook something with his mum because it was such a family thing to do, and they missed hearing Erin ask Severus to help clean the kitchen up with his magic. Because of that, the boys thought Severus was still downstairs in the basement, when they decided to go down and have a look, they honestly thought the man would be there.

'He won't mind.' Jack insisted as he opened the door to the basement and led the way down the steps.

Harry followed after him and soon the pair were looking around at the darkened, creepy-looking laboratory, which looked exactly like one. There were a few wooden benches and lots of bookcase-like shelves, all which contained jars of plants or slimy things the boys did not want to put a name to.

'Look, a real cauldron!' Jack hissed and hurried over to it, forgetting they were supposed to ask Severus how to brew a potion.

Unlike Jack, Harry did notice his father wasn't there and wanted to get out of the scary place as soon as he could.

'C'mon, Jack...let's go!' Harry shuddered and backed away.

'In a minute.' Jack said when he put his head into the large cauldron and laughed as his voice echoed a little inside it.

'Jack.' Harry gulped and looked up at a jar of deep-red eyeballs on a higher shelf.

He jumped when flies from a jar nearby suddenly started flying around inside their containment - a jolt which caused him to move back too quickly. Losing his footing, Harry didn't have time to realise what was behind him until the jars were knocked over and smashed against the floor.

Jack whacked his head inside the cauldron at the sound and spun around in shock, staring wide-eyed at the bubbling liquid beside the gooey-looking plants. He glanced worriedly at Harry and the dark-haired boy looked close to tears.

'What now?' Harry trembled. 'Daddy's gonna kill me.'

'No, he won't.' Jack frowned. 'We'll hide it.' He whispered quickly and bent to help Harry pick up the plants.

Each pulled a face of disgust as they shoved them underneath a bench and then used a nearby broom to sweep the broken glass under it as well. Placing a box of books onto the spot to cover anywhere the liquid had removed dust, the boys turned and fled from the room. Running all the way up the stairs, they were gasping for breath by the time Harry and Jack took refuge inside Harry's bedroom, each diving into the bed to hide within the sheets.

'Do you think he'll find out?' Harry whispered.

'Nah.' Jack replied uncertainly.

Frogabook hopped from a nearby corner and jumped onto the bed with the boys, which startled them into thinking they'd been caught. The result was a united pair of screams and the two boys ripping off the sheet. A frightened frog falling off the bed was all they saw before Erin burst into the room to see what was going on.

'Sorry, it's nothing!' Harry said quickly.

'Not nothing.' Jack uttered in shock.

He had noticed his hands, which were rather rapidly turning a yellowish colour. Harry's yelp confirmed a similar occurrence was altering his hands as well. They were frantic and Erin looked just as concerned. Slowly, she realised what was going on and directed both children downstairs. Jack and Harry, had they not been so worried about their now-swelling hands, would have been terrified as Erin went to get Severus from the basement. 

And only when he was informed of the situation, did the boys realise they had plenty to be frightened of.

Within minutes, they were both reduced to tears as Severus countered their skin reactions with a stinging potion. He barely said a word, and once they were otherwise healed, it quickly changed to the point that his lecturing caused their ears to ache.

'No, please don't send me home!' Jack pleaded. 'We just wanted to see the lab, promise! We thought you were still there!'

'Please, please!' Harry dove at his father's ankles and wrapped his arms tightly around them, begging with all his strength not to have his friend sent home early because of what happened. 'We'll clean it up! We don't go in there again unless you say we can, I promise!'

'Severus.' Erin said firmly when the man looked ready to start shouting and hand out a hundred punishments.

Instead he used his wand to zap Harry off his legs (which didn't hurt at all, and was aimed only to startle the boy into releasing his grip), and whirled around to return to the basement. Severus would remain there until was in a more merciful mood to deal with the pair.

'He hates me!' Harry wailed and sprawled out on the floor in misery.

'Your father isn't capable of hating you.' Erin sighed. 'Come on, the cakes are nearly ready.' She used the distraction of their baking to lead the boys into the kitchen where they sat in sulking silence.

-- 

The aftermath of the incident in the basement had not worn off by late afternoon, when Severus emerged and the boys were seated in the living room so he could lecture them once again. This time it was much more serious, and the boys were nearly reduced to streaming tears once again.

'Your actions were foolish and reckless!' Severus growled. 'I did not ward the room against unwanted intrusion because I believed each of you to have enough common sense to understand the dangers within. You were both incredibly lucky you touched the ingredients you did – other alternatives could have led to long-term poisoning or even instant death!' He said.

Erin finished the last batch of the cakes and listened to what was going on, while the boys sniffled in pure remorse towards their actions.

'Should either of you enter that room again without permission or supervision, you will each find yourselves far more regretful than you are now.' Severus warned. 'Do you understand?'

'Yes, sir.' The boys mumbled.

'I think they are properly punished now, Severus.' Erin interrupted as he went to say something else, and placed a pink-frosted cupcake in front of him.

Severus glared once more at the children for good measure, and ignored the cupcake as he left the room once again. Erin looked down at the two boys and felt a bit sympathetic as they hadn't been properly warned of the dangers (which she hadn't been extensively aware of either), but they would hopefully never forget this moment and would use it to prevent something like this from happening again.

'I hope you both learned an important lesson today.' Erin said sternly. 'Now go up to your room and I will call you down when it's time for dinner.'

Harry and Jack nodded as they turned and headed for the stairs.

Just out of Erin's earshot, Jack muttered that the most important lesson he'd learned was to always carry rubber gloves with him or at least be better at hiding stuff. Harry, however, after making his parents angry at him, was barely able to say a word until during dinner.

It took many reassurances to convince the boy his parents didn't hate him, and in the end it was Erin hanging something on his wall that decreased his fears. It was the family tree he'd had to draw for school - showing himself, Erin, Severus, Jack, and Frogabook. It sat importantly inside a dark wooden frame and hung on Harry's wall for everyone to see if they were ever to enter his room.

The boys went to bed content that night and each dreamed of being attacked by jars of gooey substances or being eaten by an angry cauldron. One thing was for certain after the eventful day they'd had: neither Harry nor Jack had any intention to ever set foot inside the basement again.

Sunday afternoon arrived much faster than the boys preferred.

While Severus was once again locked inside the basement, the rest of those staying inside the house were outside in the fading afternoon sun. Jack had his heels dug into the ground as he tried to pull the suddenly strong frog who had a shiny, smooth blue collar around his neck, which was what attached him to Jack as the sandy-haired boy pulled on the lead. Harry stood nearby and laughed, while Erin called over for her son to go into the kitchen and retrieve the flowers seats she had left on the counter.

'Okay!' Harry nodded and hurried inside the house.

He pulled open the front door and walked into the kitchen. The boy grabbed the seed packet, but paused, as he slowly peered into the hallway between the kitchen and the living room, where he saw the door to the basement. Checking over his shoulder in case his mother was watching, Harry crept towards the door and stared at it for a moment. Exhaling, he reached for the handle and grasped it to see if his father really had locked it as he had threatened to.

With a jolt of stinging pain, Harry jerked his hand away and glared at the doorknob. 

His father had done more than just lock it, the almost-eight-year-old was thoroughly displeased to notice.

With a huff, Harry turned and marched back outside to rejoin his mother. Leaving Jack to stubbornly try to make the frog obey the simple command of walking on the lead, Harry handed his mother the seats and knelt beside her to watch what she was doing with fascination.

'How long will they take to grow?' Harry wondered. 'I bet they'll be really pretty.'

He was proud of the garden because he had spent some of the morning digging it up and helped Jack pull out those pesky weeds. The soil was damp and fresh-looking, which smelled healthy and moistened.

'That depends on a number of factors.' Erin answered as she handed the packet back to Harry and indicated where and when he should drop in a seed.

'Like what?' Harry asked, realising he had a lot of curiosity and fondness for growing plants already and they had only just started their garden today.

'The weather, for one.' Erin smiled at her son. 'And the ground itself can impact the outcome. Some flowers grow faster than others, and some grow better at certain times of the year.'

'Guess they don't like the cold or heat much either, huh?' Harry chuckled.

'Guess not.' Erin brushed some hair from Harry's face and made a mental note to get his hair cut soon because it was getting rather long. 'That's it, Cody.' She praised his work. 'You're an excellent gardener already!'

'Thanks, mum.' Harry blushed and ignored Jack's complaints in the background. 'I really like gardening. Will you let me help more, and maybe teach me about the different flowers and plants as well as why they take longer and all that? I'd really like to know.'

'Of course, sweetheart.' Erin nodded. 'My knowledge is limited to the regular kind, though. I'm sure you can ask your father for more details of the magical ones.'

'Oh, yeah! Do you think we'll be able to grow magical ones here?' Harry was enthusiastic by the idea.

'Well, we can only try.' Erin chuckled. 'How about we talk to your father about it later?'

'Okay.' Harry agreed and glanced over at Jack. 'Need help?' He teased.

'No.' Jack grumbled as he lay with stomach pressed to the grass several feet away from the frog, who stood as firm as a greenish rock. Jack was waving a piece of lettuce to try and temp the creature to move while being on the lead, yet with no result other than to further annoy the youngster.

'Face it, Jack.' Harry rolled his eyes. 'He's not going to move.'

'He'll move.' Jack said as his eyes were slits of irritation towards the frog. 'One way or another.'

'No throwing Frogabook.' Harry scolded and joined his frog, sitting on the ground with him to pull the animal onto his lap and hug it. He watched and waited until Jack exhaled, then with a fast action the other boy had almost missed, Harry snatched the lettuce and fed it to his pleased frog.

'Hey!' Jack exclaimed.

'My frog is not going to move for a piece of lettuce.' Harry rolled his eyes again. 'You have to tempt him with something he's not supposed to have. He's got lettuce in his food bowl and he can catch as many bugs as he likes out here.'

'So, what do we give him?' Jack pouted.

'Cheese.' Harry lifted some from his pocket once he had put Frogabook back down and stood a short distance away. Jack joined him, or as far as he could go without releasing the lead. 'He's not supposed to have it, but he hasn't had any this week so it should be okay.' He shrugged.

As Jack gave the lead a tug and Harry crouched to let Frogabook see and smell the cheese but not reach it...the miracle finally happened. One shameful and hesitant hop at a time, the frog made its way to the waiting and cheering boys all for that delicious-looking slice of cheese.

'And so – I win!' The boy announced.

'You cheated.' Jack grumbled.

'You tried the wrong food, but mine worked. Either we both cheated or I simply outsmarted you.' Harry winked. 'Anyway, now we've done that...' He turned to his mother. 'Mum, do you mind if Jack and I go for a walk?

'Where to?' Erin asked, looking worried at the idea of them leaving the yard and neither of the boys had ever made such a request before.

'I wanted to visit the park Jack and I first played in.' Harry answered while Jack looked thoughtfully at him. 'There's something I wanted to show him. It's between where he lives and where we used to live. I promise we won't be long, please?'

Erin debated and really did not like the idea at all, but she knew the area and Mrs Connelly was working on her garden just near that place so she'd have a good view of the boys. Erin was glad she had befriended the older lady on the walks from school now, and not just for all the excellent gardening tips the woman seemed to burst with.

'Five minutes.' Erin exhaled. 'Be quick.'

'Thanks!' Harry grinned and grabbed Jack's wrist. 'C'mon, there's something you've got to see.'

Jack bent down to release Frogabook from the lead and hurried after his best friend, wondering what was going on and what Harry wanted to show him that was so important. It took a little while to find and reach the park, and the boys were delayed by Mrs Connelly waving to them and asking how they were.

As the pair climbed through a hole in the fence with much difficulty than they would have the first time they had done it, Harry could not help feeling a bit anxious. He looked towards Spinner's End and felt a shudder at the memory of Simon.

'It's over here.' Harry said and climbed up his favourite tree.

Waiting for Jack to join him, he shifted along the branch they sat on, which was strong enough to hold them both, and pointed to the section where he had cleared some moss so many months ago. The scarred scrapings were still there to read, showing the words “Sev and Lily. Friends forever”, though the “forever” was still crossed out with fresher markings than the original. Harry saw his small print further below, which he had carved himself moments after discovering what he had pointed out to Jack.

He saw his own “Harry was here”, but decided not to share it with Jack.

'Who were Sev and Lily?' Jack wondered.

'I have no idea.' Harry shrugged. 'I think maybe my daddy was Sev, but I didn't want to ask him. I mean, if it's true then it might be sad for him because I don't think they're friends anymore. I don't know a Lily, anyway.' He sighed. 'I thought, maybe the poor tree could handle one more carve?'

'What do you mean?' Jack wondered, but caught on when he noticed the pocket knife Harry had in his hand, which Jack had given him after the dark-haired boy gave him a replacement gift for the chessboard that had once been ruined by the rain when they'd had to run from some bullies.

'Promise we'll always be friends, okay?' Harry asked Jack.

'Uhm, but...' Jack looked away, feeling sad and doubtful. 'We don't talk about it, but you're gonna go away one day. You're going to go to magic school, and I'm not.'

'I loved my mum, even when she wasn't here. She was still my mum even if we weren't together.' Harry said. 'You'll always be my best friend, Jack, no matter where we are. Promise?'

'Okay.' Jack nodded and cheered up a little. 'No matter what, we'll always be best friends forever.'

'No, not forever.' Harry smiled as he traced Lily's name with his finger, wondering why the carving felt so important to him. 'Forever doesn't last. We'll be friends for all time.'

'Er, okay.' Jack shrugged and began carving his name, leaving the rest for Harry.

Once they were done, the boys thought they'd stayed long enough and hurried back to the fence. After Jack slid back through the wire, Harry turned to look around the park once more and sighed heavily. He didn't know why he wanted to add his mark to the tree, but in a way he knew it would be something either he or Jack could look back on any time they wanted. Maybe it would offer comfort to the one left behind.

Time would go on, and never seemed to run out, Harry believed...it changed and brought new things, but some bonds could withstand the strain of time and distance.

He had once been a lonely boy who felt he wasn't loved and had been cursed to always be miserable and without true happiness in his life. With time and courage, he had overcome those darker moments in his life when Severus Snape saved him. Harry had a best friend, a lovely home with his family, and the best parents he thought any kid could ever ask for.

It was more than that, he now realised as Harry stood by the hole in the fence and stared at the tree one last time. He had gained an entirely new life, and all he had ahead of him now instead of fears and ignorance was an entire future waiting to happen.

Many adventures were heading his way, and some would lead him down dark paths where he would fight against the injustice and strive to be the son Erin and Severus could always be proud of.

'Are you coming, Cody?'

'Yeah.' Harry whispered as a smile graced his features.

In a few years he would be going to Hogwarts where a whole new chapter of his life will begin.

And for the first time in his life...Harry did not think of the future with dread and fear, but rather confidence and excitement to become a part of it all. Great things lay ahead, as well as unfathomably challenges, but as long as Cody Harry Summers had his family to support and love him, the boy believed he would be fine.

As Jack and Harry walked back to the house, the emerald-eyed boy was still smiling because he felt braver and happier than he had in a long time. He had everything he wanted, really, and the change in his name was even more perfect to him. It was as though he had been reborn.

Harry wasn't invisible anymore, and he was ready to show the world what he could do.

Jack and Cody. Best friends for all time.