Expecto Patronum (The Consulting Dementor )

The Holmes family

Sherlock woke after a few hours to being carried in Johns arms, the gentle up and down as John walked, curls bobbing on his head to every step.

"Ah your awake then?" John said cheerily, letting Sherlocks feet touch the ground and holding him whilst he regained his balance.

"You fell asleep on the way, so I thought I'd let you sleep a bit longer, I've only been walking for about half an hour. Your parents house is just round the corner" John said cheerily, taking Sherlocks hand in his and moving the suitcase to the other hand, wearing the bag on his back.

"Where's the broomstick?" Sherlock asked sleepily.

"In the bag, I enlarged it remember?" John said, shrugging the bag on his shoulders so it jostled around. Sherlock nodded and then continued looking ahead.

Soon they reached a little cottage in the middle of a field and Sherlock felt his heart beat just that tiny bit faster. John squeezed his hand in reassurance, and pulled him towards the door, knocking gently.

The door soon opened, a woman of around sixty answered and her face contorted to one of confusion and then shock that lead to her fainting onto the floor.

"Mummy!" Sherlock cried in fear, shaking her shoulders as he crouched by her side.

"Sherl she's okay don't panic, I'm a healer I can promise she's okay." John assured, laying a gentle hand on Sherlocks shoulder.

Two more men ran out of the house, one only around seven years older than Sherlock and one around the same age as the women, grey haired and tall like Sherlock. The man also seemed shocked and Sherlock looked up at him in apprehension.

"Sherlock?" The older boy asked, "is that really you?"

Sherlock nodded timidly and looked down back at his mother, she hadn't aged a day since he'd last saw her.

After a while of acceptance, they were all sat in the living room, Sherlock had received many hugs from his mother and father as well as to his surprise mycroft who didn't let him go for quite a while.

"How come you didn't age?" Sherlock asked, holding tightly to the teacup and saucer his mother had given him.

"The c-curse they put on you made it that we would never age until you returned, we've been frozen in a never ending time loop, it only broke recently, but we never thought you'd survive and come back to us" mycroft explained, he wore a tailored suit and his hair was neatly parted.

Sherlock nodded timidly again and sipped at his tea, his teeth clinking slightly against the rim as his hands shook uncontrollably.

"So who is this dear?" His mother asked kindly, her eyes lingering on John who was sat on the arm of Sherlocks chair, a hand on Sherlocks shoulder.

"Oh this is j-John Watson, he's the reason I'm here" Sherlock stuttered, Looking up at John who gave him a reassuring smile.

"You saved our boy?" Mrs Holmes exclaimed in disbelief.

"I'd rather say he saved me, I had nothing to live for but now I've got Sherlock in my life I've never had anything better." John said happily, gently brushing his thumb back and across Sherlocks collar bone.

Mrs Holmes jumped up out of her seat and pulled John into a tight hug muttering words of praise and gratitude.

Later that night the Holmes had all gone to bed, leaving Sherlock and John in the living room for a while in front of a warm crackling fire. They stayed there for a while, holding onto each other, sharing a chair and reveling in the warmth.

"We should get to bed" John said after a while, nudging Sherlock only to realize he had fallen asleep.

John chuckled quietly to himself and carefully scooped Sherlock into his arms, carrying him out of the room and into the spare bedroom which used to be Sherlocks all those years ago.

John laid him on the bed and pulled the covers over his long body, he then crawled in next to Sherlock and pulled him close under the covers. Sherlock gripped onto John and John wrapped his hands around his narrow waist.

John hooked his leg over Sherlocks to confine him in his own human cage, keeping him safe as he rested his head on top of Sherlocks and pressed a kiss to his forehead before he fell asleep himself.