The Lambs

4. Birthday Surprise

July 31st 1998

The years had passed quickly. It seemed as if they had only blinked a handful of times before their Prince was a man and no longer a boy. At eighteen years old, Harry Potter was still as ignorant of the existence of werewolves as ever. Draco Malfoy knew a little more than he did as a child, but he knew enough to swear silence on the matter. He would not tell Harry until the prince reached his 21st year.

"Hurry up," someone whispered.

Any other time, on any other day, it may have been cause for suspicion. But Sirius watched the teenagers from the door of Godric's Hollow and smirked slightly. Every year was the same. The moment all of the guards went to sleep or changed shifts, Draco and Harry would attempt to sneak out of Hogwarts. For most of Harry's birthdays, the two never got farther than the second wall that had been built around Hogwarts' main wall.

Sirius rolled his eyes and headed back inside. Someone would stop the boys this year, just like they had done last year and the year before that. Last year, Lucius had been waiting at the door in the second wall. The year before that Peter and one of the guards had caught hold of the boys trying to climb over the wall. Someone would catch them this year, he thought, as he fell asleep.

At the door in the second wall, a woman cloaked all in black waited impatiently, a scroll gripped in her pale fist. When Harry opened the door, he took the scroll and threw it back over the first wall, along with the ring of keys he had 'borrowed' from his father.

"Freedom!" Draco grinned, pulling his hood down. "Thanks, mother!" He hugged the woman. Narcissa merely smiled and tugged her son's best friend into the hug.

"Let's hurry before someone wakes." They all climbed into the waiting carriage, and the driver stirred the horses. They reached Hogsmeade in no time at all, well, it was actually several hours later. Now it was the middle of the night, seconds away from the 1st of August. "Have a good time, dear," Narcissa told them as they climbed from the carriage.

She sped away, to the town two hours away, and the boys waved. "Good thing your mum agreed to let us sleep at her place." Harry grinned.

Narcissa, while being Draco's mother, had never married Lucius. She wasn't magical, and she was unable to care for her magical son, so Lucius took Draco. Narcissa lived in a house she inherited from the Black family, her family, in Grimmauld Place. Grimmauld Place was a town two hours further away from Hogwarts than Hogsmeade was. It was only 30 minutes by car though, which is why the boys had booked a cab to take them to Draco's mothers. A carriage had to be used if passing Hogwarts as car engines tended to give out when surrounded by magic. That left you vulnerable to the werewolves living in Hogwarts' forest.

Hogsmeade had a few decent shops and about three different nightclubs. The night was the only time Hogsmeade was that busy - on account of the nightclubs - which was strange. People thought the town too dangerous to shop in during the day when werewolves were human, but they were happy enough to party the night away in the dark?

"Let's go in!" Draco grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him towards the front of the queue outside Hogs Head. It used to be a pub, but it turned into a nightclub when the two newer clubs opened up. It was, by far, Draco's favourite of the three. Mainly because his ex-girlfriend, turned casual sex buddy, worked there.

They got inside seconds later and immediately headed for the bar. They ordered two Bud Lights, downed them, and asked for two straight vodkas. They shared a grin before downing those two. "To my birthday!" Harry grinned and the people around him cheered and raised their glasses.

"One year closer," Draco murmured. Harry didn't quite hear him.

"What?"

"I said 'one year older'." He blushed lightly and Harry glared at him.