“Harry!” Ela exclaimed when Sirius, Remus, and Harry came in through the front door. She ran over to him and knelt as she took him into a big hug. No adult had ever done that for him before, to put themselves down low enough for him to hug them properly.

Harry was somehow happier as he put his arms around her to hug her back. It wasn't until she eased her hold on him and he saw her face, that he knew why. She had the same kind of look that Amelia had when she hugged him and remembered what Amelia had said about it being love.

“Hi, Ela.” Harry said, his face slightly red.

“Dear, he's fine.” Sirius said and put a hand on his shoulder. “The healer at the ministry gave him a complete once-over.”

Ela sighed in relief and her hands checked him as if they were doing it automatically. She noticed the redness and nodded. “It'll fade after a while.” She said and lightly touched his face. “I know you're fine physically; but, how are you mentally?” She asked, concern clear in her voice. “Who took you?”

“Draco Malfoy.” Harry said and she caught her breath. “I'm fine. Really.”

Remus chuckled. “Not only is he fine, he actually stopped Madam Bones from field treating his injuries, just so they could get better evidence back at the ministry with photos and everything.”

Ela looked conflicted at his words and Harry touched her face to put her attention back on him.

“I've been through worse than a cut on my arm and a bunch of stinging hexes. Draco's not that strong.” Harry said.

Sirius laughed and slid his hand across the boy's shoulders and hugged him. “That's my boy! Never let them get to you! Ha ha!”

Ela rolled her eyes. “Sirius, you can't possibly expect him to...”

“No, no. He knows what I meant.” Sirius said with a grin. “He's been doing well for himself all year and we can't expect any less from him, right?”

Ela looked at Harry and saw his happy smile. “You're really fine?”

Harry glanced up at his godfather, who nodded, so he leaned in and placed a kiss on Ela's cheek. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

Ela blushed a little at the sincerity. “Harry, it's me that should thank you. Even after everything you've been through, you're more concerned over how I'm feeling than for yourself.”

She absently rubbed her hands through his hair as if to straighten it, even though it didn't need it, and she noticed that it was the same length as it was in Madam Malkin's portrait of him in her shop. It was also the same in the smaller portrait that he had gifted to Sirius that hung in their living room, and it was the same as it had been during his Christmas visit. The times were months apart and that first portrait had been taken at the beginning of the last school year.

“What is it?” Sirius asked.

“Harry's hair.” Ela said and examined it, then she took out her wand and did several spells.

“What's wrong with it?” Harry asked, concerned.

“Nothing.” Ela said and looked at his worried face before she smiled and pat his head. “There's nothing at all wrong with it, which is such a relief.”

Harry let out a breath and felt relief, too.

“Come into the kitchen and we'll get you something for supper.” Ela said.

“He can't yet.” Sirius said. “We just stopped by to grab his wand before we head to the castle to get his trunk. He has to meet Amelia at...”

“You have my wand?!?” Harry exclaimed.

“It's in the kitch...” Ela started to say and Harry ran off to get it.

A moment later, there were several sparks that lit up the kitchen and a very happy Harry came back into the living room with his wand in his hand.

“As I was saying, he has to meet Amelia for their trip in three hours.” Sirius said.

“What? Harry can't go on a trip after what happened!” Ela said a bit loudly. “He needs time to...”

“I'm going.” Harry said, a bit sternly. “Amelia herself said it'll help me to stay with her and Susan, rather than sit at home for the next two weeks before coming here at the arranged time.”

Ela's mouth closed on her response, because she had forgotten about that. If he didn't go on the train trip, he would be sent home instead and not be able to stay with her and Sirius.

“We'll be back in half an hour and we can have a nice sit down supper before we take him to the train station.” Sirius said and waved Harry over as he saw the look on Ela's face. “My dear, I said the same thing when she suggested it, not realizing he would have to go home and couldn't come here instead.”

Ela sighed with a nod and stood up. “I just realized that, too.” She reached out and touched Harry's shoulder. “If anything happens or if you have any concerns or worries, you make sure you tell Amelia as soon as they happen, all right?”

Harry nodded and she gave him another hug. He got that feeling again as he peered up at her face and saw the pleased smile on Ela's face, so he did what he did with Amelia and tucked his head between her breasts and hugged her back. One of Ela's hands rubbed his back and they stayed like that for several moments before Ela let him go.

“I'll see you soon.” Ela whispered and watched as Sirius led Harry and Remus out of the house. As soon as the door shut, she went to write a message to Amelia and to Bertha. She saw Hedwig and smiled. “I've got a quick delivery I need you to make. I want all the info on Harry's ordeal and I need it as soon as possible.”

“Hoot!” Hedwig responded.

Ela wrote out the two notes, said who they were for, and Hedwig took off at her best speed from a low take off. Ela nodded and went into the kitchen to get supper ready. She had half an hour to make a nice home-cooked meal and she wasn't going to disappoint Harry. She chuckled because she had immediately thought of him and not her live-in boyfriend, even though she and Sirius were very close.

Her thoughts drifted slightly as she pondered if they were going to move on to formal courting soon. They had been together since he was healed and had a great relationship for half a year so far. She laughed as she pushed those thoughts aside. There was no need to rush.

They were enjoying themselves and everything was going great, even with the things that Sirius was going through and what Harry was going through, too. They both still had mental issues that had to be dealt with and like she had warned Harry, they could only be dealt with over time and with lots of care and reassurance that they would get through it.

By Merlin, she was going to give them both as much reassurance as she could. They both deserved it.

*

“This is highly unusual.” Remus said as he tapped the gates of Hogwarts with his wand and nothing happened, except for them rattling a little. “They are supposed to remain open for at least a week before shutting down for the summer and the protection and anti-detection wards go into full effect.”

Sirius tried to tap them as well and nothing happened. “Dammit.” He said waved his wand in a pattern that Harry recognized. Nothing happened, except for some wisps of white smoke. “Remus, try Professor McGonagall.”

Remus nodded and cast the Patronus charm. A white smoke covered dog-like thing appeared and ran off up to the castle.

“What was that?!?” Harry asked, surprised.

Remus and Sirius exchanged looks and didn't say anything.

“Harry, that's a bit of advanced magic that...” Remus started to say.

“I know it's a Patronus charm. I recognized the wand movement.” Harry said as the thing disappeared and went right through the wall of the castle.

Remus and Sirius looked surprised at Harry's admission.

“Harry, how do you know...” Sirius started to ask.

“I know about a bunch of creature spells.” Harry said and turned to look at them. “I want to know why you cast it and it's not against a Dementor.”

Remus seemed to slip into lecture mode as he spoke. “If you don't know it already, there's two versions of the spell officially.”

“The smoky cloud for area defense and the corporeal manifestation for attacking.” Harry said.

Remus nodded. “There's a little used variant that can carry messages of a few words. You have to be very strong with the charm in order to add your voice to it, and it's only used for warnings.”

The large doors of the castle opened and a robed figure came out. It took a minute for her to be close enough for them to make out Professor McGonagall.

“What did you tell her?” Harry asked.

“I have Harry Potter.” Remus said and tried to not smile as they watched the older woman jogging towards them with a frantic look on her face. Sirius didn't even bother trying to hide his amusement.

“H-Harry!” Minerva gasped as she tried to catch her breath and waved her wand at the large iron gates. They were covered in a blue glow for a moment and then clicked and swung open. “What happened?”

“Malfoy kidnapped him.” Sirius said and stifled his laugh at the shocked looked on her face.

“What? No, that... he wouldn't possibly... another student couldn't...” Minerva started to mumble something about dark wizards and a dastardly plan.

“If you mean his father, they were trying to plan something for my unexpected arrival.” Harry said. “He said that he hadn't planned on Draco bringing me home; but, now that they had me...”

“No!” Minera gasped and stepped close to wrap her arms around him. “Oh, Harry! I'm so sorry that happened to you.”

“You should be.” Remus said and she looked surprised.

“Release my godson, please.” Sirius said with a stern voice.

Minerva looked a bit shocked at their angry faces and did as she was asked. She let Harry go and stepped back. “What's going on?”

“You've been lax in your duties to your house, McGonagall.” Sirius said. “Imagine having someone, and a Slytherin no less, being able to sneak into the tower and kidnapping a student right under your nose.”

“Wh-what? No, I...”

“Have you spent any time at all in the tower this year?” Sirius asked. He and Amelia had exchanged several letters as they discussed Harry's school life and he knew for a fact that she barely talked to her Griffindors, let alone spent any time taking care of them.

Minerva took a breath and let it out as a sigh. “I've been busy with my duties to the school as a whole and...”

“...rather than ignore the entire school, you ignored the students in Griffindor house.” Remus shook his head.

“When you accepted the Deputy Headmistress job, you should have given up the Head of House position.” Sirius said. “You obviously don't have the time or the ability to do both jobs and teach at the same time.”

Minerva stared at the two men and wasn't sure what to say. She had never seen herself as lacking, except in one respect, and that was because Harry Potter had reminded her that she hadn't been properly briefing the muggle born students about the wizarding world. Her eyes dropped to him and knew that he had now inadvertently shown her that she was once again lacking.

As if he knew what she was thinking, Sirius spoke to distract her from blaming Harry. “We just came to pick up Harry's trunk and the gates have been warded against entry already.”

“Albus is...” Minerva stopped herself before she gave away where he had gone. “...out. He locked the gates to stop anyone from entering while he was away from the castle.”

Remus and Sirius exchanged looks and looked back at her. They both suspected they knew where the headmaster had gone to check for the missing Harry first. Privet Drive.

“We'll only be a few minutes and you can lock the gates again.” Sirius said and nodded at Remus, who remained at the gates.

Minerva started to move with them and Sirius waved her away.

“We don't need an escort. Relax and recover here. We'll be quick.” Sirius said and took Harry up to the castle at a fast walk.

Harry didn't have any trouble keeping up and they entered the castle. “This way.”

Sirius followed Harry up a different staircase and they stopped at a door. He was about to ask what was going on when Harry spoke.

“Knock knock.” Harry said as he knocked on the door.

“Who's there?” The door responded.

“Boo.” Harry said.

“Boo who?” The door responded.

“Aww, don't cry. It's just me, Harry.”

The door laughed and opened for them with a click. They stepped through and went up the next staircase to arrive on the top floor where the Griffindor tower entrance was. Sirius stared at his godson and Harry grinned at him as they approached the spot.

“Password?” The fat lady in the portrait asked.

“Is it the same as it was yesterday?” Harry asked.

“No.” The fat lady said.

“Oh! Then the password is...” Harry flicked his wrist and performed a silent stunner on the portrait.

“Harry!” Sirius gasped.

Harry grinned again as the portrait swung open. “Nicolas taught me that.” He said and they entered the Griffindor common room.

Sirius looked around the place as they passed through it to the dorm stairs. “It hasn't changed at all since I went here.”

“Filch said it's never changed and he's been here for decades.” Harry said as they went up the stairs. “He never gets tired of cleaning it, either.”

“Well, it's his job.” Sirius said. “Can you imagine having to do it all the time and not enjoying it?”

“I don't have to imagine it. Neville and Ron have complained enough about it.” Harry said with a laugh. “I think Ron was the most upset at having to polish all of the different trophies in the display case for hours. He said they were already shiny and had dirt repelling charms, what would they need polishing for?”

Sirius laughed, too. He understood that the whole point was to keep a student busy and away from the real cleaning that mattered. He had had enough of his own detentions to get the point that it was makework and a time waster to keep the trouble students occupied.

“Hi, everyone.” Harry said when he opened the dorm room door and the elves that were cleaning the dorm let out squeaks of surprise, then they saw who it was and relaxed. “I'm sorry my trunk's in the way. I came to get it as soon as I could.”

“We cleans around it.” One of them said with a high voice.

“You can make the bed now, too. I won't need it until next school year in the fall.”

She let out a happy sound. “We's will have all the beds made for the first time this year!”

The other elves let out happy sounds as well and got back to work.

Harry picked up his trunk and waved to the elves before he left the dorm with Sirius right behind him.

“I don't know how you can talk to them like that.” Sirius said.

“What? Why?” Harry asked.

“The house elf I grew up with was a real piece of work.” Sirius said. “I suppose he spent too much time listening to my nasty mother's insane orders to even consider being nice to me, someone she hated.”

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that. He had suffered through having a parent figure hating him and it was the worst feeling in the world to know that you weren't wanted by people that were supposed to be your family. He took Sirius' hand with his free one and the older man smiled sadly at him as they crossed the common room.

“We've both had it bad, haven't we?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah, and we're both still here.” Harry said and pushed the portrait open with his trunk.

“What are you going to do with the portrait?” Sirius asked.

“Wake her, of course.” Harry said and let his hand go to shut the door to the tower and then revived the fat lady. “I changed my mind. I don't need to get into the tower now. Sorry to bother you, dear lady.”

“That's... quite all right.” The fat lady said, slightly confused.

Harry led Sirius over to the stairs and went down to the trick door. “Knock knock.”

“Who's there?”

“Owls say.”

“Owls say who?”

“Yes, they do!” Harry responded and the door laughed and clicked open.

“Harry, what was that?” Sirius asked.

“It's a trick door. You need to tell it a knock knock joke or it won't open.”

“Every time?” Sirius asked and Harry nodded. “Have you run out of jokes yet?”

“A long time ago.” Harry said as they went down the stairs and came out in the Entrance Hall. “I could use the same joke all the time if I wanted to, though.”

“Why?” Sirius asked.

“It's just a door.” Harry said with a grin and Sirius laughed.

“Good point.” Sirius said and they left the castle at a fast walk. Minerva and Remus were beside the still open gates as they discussed things.

“You really were quick.” Remus said.

“I was already packed.” Harry said and stepped out through the gates with Sirius. “Bye, Professor.”

“Goodbye, Mr. Potter.” Minerva said and she watched the three of them hug and apparate away. She waved her wand at the gates and they closed and glowed blue again as she reactivated the wards. She slowly walked back up to the castle and thought over everything in her life.

She liked keeping busy and had thrown herself into her work with enthusiasm, not realizing that she was being neglectful of certain duties that were expected of her. She should have been more dedicated to the students under her personal care as the Head of House and not just the student body as a whole. She might have been able to stop certain things from happening, or at least reduced their impact on the students.

Minerva sighed as she entered the castle and went back up to her office. She had some serious thinking to do about her life and she was sure that whatever she decided, she wasn't going to be happy with it in the end.

*

Sirius, Remus, Ela, and Harry had a great supper, then they spent the remaining two hours of his free time enjoying each other's company. When the time to leave approached, Harry gave everyone hugs and thanked them for looking for him so quickly.

“We always will.” Ela promised and both Sirius and Remus nodded. “Have fun and we'll see you here right after your trip.”

Harry nodded and wasn't surprised that both Remus and Sirius came with him as they apparated to the appropriate spot on platform at nine and three quarters. They walked over to the large group of waiting parents and heard the train approach. It didn't take long for them to find Amelia in the crowd.

“There you are, Harry.” Amelia said and hugged him. “I forgot to mention to come here first.”

“I came here to show my friends that I was okay.” Harry said. “I didn't want to make them wait before I could send them a letter.”

“That's very considerate of you.” Amelia said and didn't let him go.

Harry didn't object until the train approached the stop. “You might need to step back.”

Amelia laughed softly and let him go, then moved back a little. Harry had an unobstructed view as the train slowed down and several train cars passed by where he stood and several sets of eyes stared at him through the windows. The train had barely stopped when a set of doors on one of the cars was blown open and a teary-eyed and bushy haired girl practically tackled him.

“HARRY!” Hermione cried and hugged him tightly.

Harry put his arms around her and held her as she poured out her heart about her worries, about him, about everything she had thought could have happened to him, and everything else she could think of.

It took her several minutes to wind down and by then, Neville, Ron and Susan had joined in on the comments and patted shoulders. Lavender and Parvati had briefly stopped by to tell him they were glad he was okay. Harry had also seen Daphne Greengrass give him a smile and a nod from across the platform before she left with her father and little sister.

“I'm fine now. Really.” Harry reassured them. “I came here just so you could see that. I'll send you letters the next chance I get and I'll tell you all about what happened.”

“The first stop is in two days, so any time after that.” Amelia said and had Susan in a gentle hug, as if holding her back.

“All right.” Hermione said and wiped at her eyes when she finally let Harry out of the tight hug she had him in. “I think I can wait that long to hear from Harry again.”

Sirius chuckled and Hermione gave him a stern look. “I wasn't laughing at you.” He said and held a hand out for her to shake. “I've been hoping to meet you all year, young lady.”

“You have?” Hermione asked and shook the offered hand.

“Harry's told me all about you and his other friends.” Sirius said and nodded at Neville and Ron. “You've been a reassurance for me that Harry's not facing all of the things he's gone through alone.”

“Mr. Black, we haven't really done much...” Hermione started to say.

“Please, call me Sirius. Any friend of Harry's can use my first name.” Sirius said. “And you're wrong. Harry's only told me a few things and it's clear to me that you've done a lot more than you realize. I want to thank you all for being there for him when I couldn't.”

Hermione blushed a little, Neville looked uncomfortable, and Ron had a goofy grin on his face because it wasn't often that he was praised like that. As the youngest of six brothers, he always got everyone's hand-me-downs and wasn't anything except the baby boy of the family, even after his little sister had been born.

“Now that that's out of the way, Harry's got a trip to embark on.” Sirius said. “I didn't want him to go; but, Amelia's right. He can't hide at home and hope to deal with it all by holding it in and hoping it goes away.”

“I didn't quite say it like that.” Amelia laughed. “You got the point of it, though.”

Sirius laughed as well and gave Harry a hug. “Have fun and I'll see you right after.”

“I can't wait.” Harry said and looked at Remus. “Will you be visiting, too?”

Remus let out a sigh. “Your godfather and I have a lot to discuss before we can make any definite plans like that.” He said and gave Sirius a pleading look. “I also have a lot to apologize for.”

Sirius clamped his mouth shut on his response, then let Harry go. “I'm sure something can be worked out, even if... certain things... don't go well.”

Remus looked relieved to hear that and smiled.

“I didn't promise anything!” Sirius responded.

“You might as well have.” Remus said and pat Harry's shoulder. “I'll see you after the trip.”

Harry nodded at him and looked at his friends. “I'll write, I promise.”

“You better.” Hermione said and heard a woman call her name. “Oh! That's my parents! I better go!” She said as she gave Harry a quick hug and then took off through the crowd.

“No worries, mate. See you later.” Ron said and walked over to the large group of redheads. He was quickly engulfed with them and Harry could no longer see him as the group moved off and out of sight.

“Bye, Harry.” Neville said and left to go meet with his own parents, who looked very happy to see their son. He was hugged and kissed by his mother and then he was gone from sight, too.

“Let's go.” Susan said and took Harry's hand and led him and her Aunt through the barrier to the normal train station. They carried their trunks over to the platform where their normal train waited and climbed aboard. They had the same compartment as last time and Amelia said she had a permanent reservation.

“Wow. You travel so much that you have your own compartment?” Harry asked as he put his trunk up on the rack.

Amelia laughed. “Just for the four weeks a year that we travel. I didn't want to take the chance that I might not get a nice full compartment with enough room.”

Harry nodded and helped Susan with her trunk and then sat down with her on the bench seat. He was suddenly taken into a fierce hug and Susan burst out sobbing and crying. He couldn't really do anything except let her do what she wanted, since he couldn't hug her back with his arms trapped in hers.

“Oh, Harry! I was so scared and worried!” Susan said and ducked her head into his neck and kept crying.

“It's okay.” Harry said in the most reassuring voice he could muster. “I'm okay.”

Susan's sobs were briefly interrupted as she let out a laugh at their 'okay' game and then kept crying.

It took her several minutes to calm down and then she took several deep breaths as she let him go. She wiped at her face and then looked at her fingers. They had a little make-up on them and she smiled.

“I messed up my make-up.” Susan said and went to the little bathroom to clean up.

“When did she start wearing that?” Harry asked Amelia, who shrugged. She hadn't noticed, either. Susan came back and sat down and looked normal. Harry stared at her face to see where the make-up went and she laughed.

“It's really subtle.” Susan said and saw Amelia's questioning face. “Lavender Brown taught me.”

Amelia rolled her eyes. “Of course a Griffindor girl taught you to be bolder.”

“She has great fashion sense.” Susan said in her defense. “The outfit that Harry bought for her was awesome and she looked great in it.”

Amelia waved the comment away. “Let's start our vacation on the right foot.” She said and looked at Harry. “I'm very glad to have you along again and Susan couldn't stop writing about all the things you can do differently, now that it's the middle of summer and not the middle of winter.”

“I can't wait to see what we can do.” Harry said, enthusiastically. “It was fun with all the snow around.”

“It's even better in the summer!” Susan said. “There's so much more to see with everything being officially open for visitors.”

Amelia nodded. “The beach at the third stop is definitely a hot spot.” She said. “It's why that stop is usually a bit longer than the others this time around.”

“We'll have nearly the whole day there!” Susan said, happily. “It's going to be so much fun!”

Harry looked a little embarrassed. “Um... I've... never been...”

Amelia leaned over from her bench seat and pat his knee. “It's all right, Harry. We know you don't know how to swim.”

“You do?” Harry asked, more than a little surprised.

“Harry, my mom's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.” Susan reminded him.

Harry blinked his eyes a few times. “Oh, right.”

Both Susan and Amelia laughed.

“Don't worry, Harry. We've got this.” Amelia said and sat back. “We're also going to make sure you enjoy this trip as much as possible.”

“That's how I know this is going to be so much fun.” Susan said with confidence and took Harry's hand. “We bought you swim trunks, blow up floaties for your arms, and everything.”

“You... you didn't have to.” Harry said and ducked his head a little.

“Aww.” Susan leaned close and kissed his cheek. “Of course we did. We love you.”

Harry's face flushed red as he thought about that, then he looked at her. “I... I love you, too.”

“I knew it!” Susan said loudly and gave his face several kisses all over to make him laugh.

Amelia shook her head as Harry gently pushed her enthusiastic niece away. “Relax, Susan. We have two whole weeks to spoil him before we have to hand him over to his godfather so he can spoil him.”

“We get to do it first.” Susan said with pride and Amelia laughed.

*

Three stops later, Harry stood with his bare feet half-buried in the warm sand and stared at the wide expanse of water in front of him. “Wow.”

“I know!” Susan said and was practically hopping up and down as Amelia set up their umbrella and towels. “Hurry, mom! Harry can't wait much longer!”

Amelia chuckled at her niece. “Yes, it's Harry that can't wait.” She said and handed her the two blow up safety devices. “Put them on his arm first and then blow them up.”

“Yes!” Susan said and slid one on Harry's arm and started to blow it up.

“Don't blow it up as much as you can. You want it to save his life, not cut off his arm.” Amelia warned her.

Susan laughed and a bunch of air escaped. “Oops!” She put her mouth back on the little spout and kept blowing. She finished with it and checked that it wasn't too tight before she did the other one.

“Thanks.” Harry said, grateful that she handled it, because he had no idea what to do with them. He felt a bit odd with two red balloons wrapped around his upper arms, though.

“If you're going to go under the water, wear these goggles.” Amelia said and handed Harry a pair of swimmer's goggles.

“Will they even fit?” He asked and held them up to his eyes.

“They only cover your eyes and are small enough that they won't impede your vision when wearing them.” Amelia explained. “It's better than closing your eyes and trying to swim blind.”

Harry had to agree with that reasoning.

“Are we ready? We're ready, right? We can go, can't we?” Susan asked, desperately.

Amelia made her wait for five more seconds before she nodded.

“YAY!” Susan yelled and grabbed Harry's hand as she took off running for the water. Harry struggled to keep up with her while running on such a soft surface.

“He's not a beach toy!” Amelia said loudly after her.

“Yes, he is!” Susan said with a laugh.

Amelia half-sighed and half-laughed, then walked after them. She wore a blue one piece bathing suit that covered her from neck to crotch while leaving her arms and legs bare. She had bought a similar one for Susan in yellow and she had watched Harry's eyes and his reaction to seeing them wearing such revealing clothing.

She successfully hid her relief when he hadn't stared at them or had a certain part of his anatomy react in a pointed way, which would have been easily seen in the loose shorts she had him wear. Normally, a boy of his age, almost 12, was a bit too young to have those kinds of physical reactions.

Unfortunately, Harry had a lot of things happen to him since he was little and after she had warned him about making a scene and controlling his temper, he was quite mature in his emotional reactions. She wasn't sure if he would react sexually at seeing them wearing bathing suits.

What she hadn't connected in her mind was that both she and Susan had changed clothing in front of Harry in just their underwear so many times that he had seen them a lot more than she suspected. What was a bathing suit that covered everything, when compared to seeing Susan topless and only wearing panties, dozens of times? Or Amelia in just a cloth bra and her panties?

After all of that, a bathing suit wasn't at all surprising to Harry. What was surprising was that the water was cold and both Amelia's and Susan's bodies reacted to it. They had two protrusions quickly grow on their chests and that did get Harry's attention after a few minutes. Luckily, neither Susan nor Amelia noticed his stares as they played and carried on, then they switched to swimming lessons.

They spent several hours at the beach and took a break for lunch, then relaxed under the umbrella for a while before going back into the water to keep playing and for more lessons. When suppertime rolled around, they were exhausted and had enjoyed their day at the beach. Amelia packed everything up and they went back to the train to change and get ready for supper.

After they ate, the train pulled away from the station and they went to bed very early. It had been a great day and sleep claimed them almost immediately.

About halfway through the night, Amelia woke and sat up to check on Harry. He had the light sheet only half-wrapped around him and Susan was cuddled into him like she always was and had her arms around him. She smiled, because Harry wasn't curled up in a ball like he usually was. He was on his side and only had one of his knees up close and not both, which meant Susan managed to get a little bit closer this time.

He's calming down some. Amelia thought happily as she laid back down. He's not looking as hard for comfort, because I think he's starting to realize that he already has it.

She pulled the spare sheet over her bare legs and partially over Susan's, then closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Her relief over Harry's improving condition was a balm to her heart, especially after what had happened to him at the Malfoy's.

That first night when she held him tightly between herself and Susan, Harry had told them everything that happened and about how he had felt at the time, and it made her love the boy even more. She had wished very hard in that moment that she had found him that fateful night instead of Hagrid. His life would have been very different if she had raised him as well. She saw a similar look on Susan's face and knew she wished for it, too.

*

The train pulled into the last station and came to a stop. The doors opened and three bedraggled and happy people stepped off of it with their trunks. They didn't speak as they moved off through the crowd of people and left the station. Once in a secluded area, they huddled together and disappeared.

“We're home.” Susan said, her voice sad as she put her trunk down.

“Hey, none of that.” Amelia said and kissed her niece's forehead. “We just had two of the best weeks of our lives.”

“Yeah, and now it's over.” Susan said with her lips in a pout.

“Can I come on the winter trip, too?” Harry asked and Susan took in a sharp breath.

“Harry!” Susan exclaimed and hugged him. “You really want to go again?”

“It was fun the last time.” Harry said. “I think I'd rather spend it with you than at home by myself.”

“Mom? Can he come?”

“I'll pay my share like I did this time, too.” Harry said. “You know I can afford it.”

Amelia chuckled. “I know. Who in their right mind pays three galleons a week for meals at Madam Rosmerta's?”

“Me!” Harry said with a grin and she laughed.

“As long as you check with Sirius and Ela first and confirm that they don't have anything planned, we can do the same thing we did last year and get you there for Christmas day.”

“It's a deal.” Harry said and held a hand out for her to shake.

Amelia pushed his hand aside and hugged him instead. “I think we're long past shaking hands to complete a deal, Mister Potter.” She said with a laugh.

“Okay.” Harry said and Susan giggled.

“Don't start that again.” Amelia warned and kissed the top of his head. “Are you ready to head over to your godfather's now?”

Harry nodded and Susan stepped close to hug him again.

“I'll see you again in three weeks at your surprise birthday party.” Susan said.

“Susan!” Amelia gasped and both Susan and Harry laughed.

“Mom, he's known since last Christmas that his godfather's throwing him a surprise birthday party.”

Amelia sighed and chuckled. “Can you at least pretend to be surprised when we all show up?”

“What's this? A party? For me?!?” Harry said with a high pitched voice and Susan and Amelia laughed.

“You need to work on that a lot more.” Amelia said and Harry assumed the side along apparition position before he shared his magic with her. They both hugged the trunk closely. “One, two, three.”

They appeared in the alley beside Ela's house and walked over to the porch. The little bell rang when they stepped on the first step. A moment later, the door opened to show them a happy Sirius.

“Harry, my boy!” Sirius said and hugged him. “Do you need me to turn you upside down to get all the sand out?”

Amelia chuckled and Harry grinned.

“Amelia took care of it when we stopped at the next ministry outpost.” Harry said.

“Good, good. Ela might get angry if sand miraculously shows up in the house somehow.”

“I will not!” Ela's voice said from inside the house.

Sirius laughed and looked at Amelia. “Thank you for looking out for him.”

“It was my pleasure.” Amelia said and rubbed Harry's head before she stepped back. “I enjoyed having him as company almost as much as Susan did. Almost.”

“I can imagine.” Sirius said and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. “Ela's almost got the food ready, so go ahead and put your things in your room upstairs.”

“Okay.” Harry said with a glance and smile at Amelia and went into the house.

Sirius waited until the door shut upstairs before he spoke. “How has he been handling things, Amelia?”

“Like a champion.” Amelia said, her voice soft. “He's a remarkably resilient young man.”

“There hasn't been any outbursts of accidental magic or emotions?” Sirius asked and she shook her head. “That's a relief.”

“It really is.” Amelia said. “I better go. Susan's probably wondering why I'm taking so long to drop him off.”

“Is she that scared that she might miss something going on with Harry?”

Amelia chuckled. “She made him promise to write every day.”

“She can't expect Hedwig to fly over to her every day!” Sirius exclaimed and Amelia laughed.

“No, she'll settle for a weekly letter, just as long as there's daily entries.” Amelia said.

“Ha!” Sirius barked a laugh. “All right. I'll make sure he does it.”

“Thank you. I'll let Susan know.” Amelia smiled and left.

*

The next three weeks seemed to pass by like the wind with all of the activities that Sirius and Ela had planned for them to do with Harry. They knew that Harry hadn't been out and around much, except for going to school and the train trips, so they had a lot to show him in the local area. Monuments, museums, libraries, parks, and everything else they could think of. Remus showed up for a lot of it, too.

Harry was surprised by it all and enjoyed one of the best summer vacations he had ever had. He spent five whole weeks having the time of his life with people that actually cared about him. It was a great time that he would remember, even after the great thing that was going to happen next.

His twelfth birthday party.