Nose to the Wind // tomarry

Chapter 8: Never Want to Come Down

Harry had no idea what excuse Lily gave James for the jewellery, but he seemed to have bought it, so they took it out that weekend and sold it all for a reasonable amount of coin. He did agree with Lily about waiting until Will started Hogwarts before he could touch any of it, despite Will's attempts to convince him otherwise.

Harry's own funds were nothing to shake a stick at, once he'd sold off his collection of gems and added it to the coin purse. He celebrated by sneaking bottles of butterbeer and a helping each of fudge to his brothers on the full moon, when only Lily was in the house, as James was with Sirius and Remus, keeping the latter from hurting himself as much as they could.

"Can we celebrate every full moon this way?" Will requested.

Harry rolled his eyes at his brother, not even bothering to look up from his book. "The last thing any of us needs is me bowing to the demands of your sweet tooth."

"My sweet tooth is far more terrifying than Voldemort," Will declared.

"Wouldn't go that far," Chris mumbled, then let out a squeal when Will threw a pillow at him.

"Please don't start another pillow war when Mum thinks we're peacefully in bed," Harry requested, turning the page of his book. "If she sees you two with those bottles and the leftover fudge, we'll all be grounded for a month."

Absolute silence fell over the room.

Harry gave it a moment, then asked, "Hey, Will? Is your sweet tooth more terrifying than Mum?"

"...no," Will decided.

Harry nodded. "I'll buy you two sweets if a full moon falls on one of our birthdays, but otherwise, consider this a one-time treat."

"When will that be?" Will asked hopefully.

Harry finally glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow upon finding Will hanging off the end of his bed upside down. Chris was trying to mimic him, but he wasn't so daring as to trust his bedposts to serve as an anchor. "I'm pretty sure I heard something somewhere about the dangers in letting all the blood rush to your head," he commented.

Will made a face at him, which really just looked ridiculous upside down. "When's the next time a full moon's on one of our birthdays?"

Harry closed his eyes to consider his mental calendar, only to come up blank for at least the next couple years. "Don't put it on your calendar any time soon," he suggested, turning back to his book.

"I don't have a calendar," Will pointed out.

"Talk to Mum and Dad," Chris suggested and Harry snorted.

Will and Chris sniped back a forth a bit more, and pillows were tossed a couple more times, with Harry always reminding them they didn't want Lily coming upstairs. Eventually, they both passed out, and Harry got up to collect and vanish their rubbish, then climbed into bed himself.

-0-

"He's waiting for you," Death offered when Harry stepped into the Realm of Death with Voldemort's present, after having spelled his brothers asleep.

"Yes, I expected that," Harry admitted, offering a smile to the apparition. "I actually would have been surprised if he'd just gone straight to bed."

Death inclined its hood and vanished to handle its duties, leaving Harry to his trek alone.

When he stepped into Voldemort's room, Harry found it empty of its resident. He raised an eyebrow at that and called, "Voldemort?"

"A moment," Voldemort called back from the attached room that Harry had always assumed was a bathroom. When there came the sound of a flushing toilet before Voldemort stepped out, Harry's assumption was proven correct, and he gave himself a mental pat on the back. "Another group of verbal stories?" the dark lord asked, nodding at the new-looking book in Harry's hands.