Three days removed from the Quidditch match and the five friends were sat in the study hall, working hard on assignments and revision. At least three of them were. Hermione looked up from her Herbology text to the two boys across from her, her eyes narrowing.

"You two really should take a page out of Y/N's book. He's working really hard. You two are just playing with those silly cards"

"We're having a break" Ron replied.

"Having a br... you haven't even started yet!?!" Hermione exclaimed in stunned disbelief.

"Well we-"

Ron's petulant arguing was cut off by Harry whisper-shouting in happy shock:

"Nicholas Flamel"

Y/N looked up from his book, Hermione looked at Harry stunned. She discreetly lowered her hand under the table and tapped Y/N's thigh. He lowered his own hand, realising she needed reassurance, and she grabbed and squeezed it tightly. He entered her mind:

He's picked up Nicholas on Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog Card, I'm surprised it took this long. Just keep to the plan, you're doing great.

Hermione squeezed again and answered:

Ok. Ok. Thank you for believing in me Y/N.

She heard back:

Always as Harry spoke:

"Guys I've found Nicholas Flamel"

-~-

The five had gone to the library, Lavender and the two boys taking a seat as Hermione and Y/N walked to the Alchemy rows of the library. Y/N reached up and pulled down a thick heavy book titled Alchemists of the Middle Ages and handed it to Hermione who smiled and thanked him.

"Here we go" she said to Y/N who nodded and kissed her on the top of the head, thinking:

Welcome to the world of espionage and subterfuge. You can do it 'Mione!

Hermione quickly hugged him before they returned to the table the three were sat at. She dropped the heavy book on the desk with a thump.

"We had you looking in the wrong section. I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading"

Ron looked at the book astonished, exclaiming:

"This... is light?"

Hermione glared at him and Y/N chuckled, relieved not to be on the receiving end of Hermione's fierce stare.

She opened the book to Nicholas Flamel and Lavender looked over Hermione's shoulder, reading aloud:

"Nicholas Flamel is the only known creator of the Philosopher's Stone!"

"The what?" Harry and Ron asked at the same time. Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes at the pair, saying quite disgusted:

"Honestly don't you two read?"

Lavender chuckled and continued:

"The Philosopher's Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It can turn any metal into pure gold, and produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal-"

"Immortal?" Ron gasped in shock.

"It means you'll never die" Hermione shot back.

"I know what it means!" Ron snapped back rudely before looking at Y/N in fear.

Y/N narrowed his eyes, leant forward and slapped Ron in the side of the head. Ron cried out in pain and Y/N chuckled dismissively.

"That was a love tap Weasel. Talk to her like that again and I'll give you something Pomfrey can't heal!"

Ron gulped and nodded as Lavender shook her head and continued:

"The only known stone in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, the noted Alchemist, who recently celebrated his 665th birthday"

She looked up from her reading.

"That's got to be it. That's got to be what that giant dog you said about is guarding"

The others nodded as Hermione internally sighed in relief, as she heard Y/N in her mind:

You'd make a fantastic undercover witch 'Mione. I'm so proud of you.

-~-

Following their 'discovery' of Flamel's identity the group returned to the Great Hall for dinner before Y/N and Hermione disappeared for a walk.

Harry went back to the library alone, desperate to finish his Potions assignment, while Ron managed to convince Lavender to join him and the other boys play Exploding Snap in the common room.

Hermione and Y/N walked to the seventh floor corridor and entered their special place. A roaring fire was going on the right hand side of the room with a couch in front of it, a large desk on the other side of the room.

"So I'm guessing you want to talk?" Y/N asked Hermione with a smirk as he was pulled towards the couch by the hand. He sat down and Hermione instantly jumped into his arms. She placed her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat which as always calmed her.

"You ok?" Y/N asked concerned.

"Yeah, its just... I was so scared I was going to mess up. It was so intense... how could you stay so calm?"

Y/N squeezed Hermione tightly, causing her to nuzzle against him happily as he sought the right words. Before he could answer Hermione asked:

"You spoke of espionage, subterfuge, being under cover. This wasn't your first time was it Y/N?"

-~-

11:00pm, October 8th 1988
The Stray, Harrogate

It was a dark Autumn evening in the small Yorkshire town as a young boy wandered alone through the large nature reserve in the middle of town. It was 200 acres in size and the boy could see no signs of civilisation, save for the rickety path he was on and the occasional lamp post he passed. They were the only sources of light other than the waning moon which saved the boy from wandering in pitch blackness.

The temperature was low for this time of year, and the boy's jumper did little to warm him as he shivered, wrapping his arms around his chest.

"It's a cold night to be out laddie" he heard suddenly from behind, stopping dead in his tracks, paralysed in fear.

The source of the voice came closer, emerging from the thick brush to his right. The boy looked and saw an old woman, dressed in rags with a hood over her head. He could barely make out any of her features in the dim lighting.

"What's a poor boy like you doing wandering this late at night? All by himself"

The boy answered the old woman:

"Ran away from the orphanage ma'am. The caretaker there beats us. He don't feed us"

The boy saw a crooked smile appear on the old crone's face, as she spoke in a warm tone.

"Orphanage you say? No family? No friends you could go to?"

The boy shook his head as he shivered:

"No ma'am. I've got nowhere... no one"

Tears started to well in the boy's eyes. The old woman licked her lips as she asked:

"Would you like to come back to my place? I could fix you some food, let you warm by the fire"

The boy's face lit up as he nodded and answered quickly:

"Yes please ma'am. Yes please"

She cackled in delight at the boy's eagerness and asked him:

"What's your name boy?"

"Thomas ma'am. Thomas Richards"

"Well follow me Thomas. There'll be plenty to eat tonight, plenty to keep us warm and fill our bellies".

The old woman turned and walked through the bushes, the boy following behind her.

The pair walked for about ten minutes before the old woman walked down a slight embankment and into a hole lit by candlelight. The boy followed and looked around at his surroundings in wonder.

They were in an old tunnel system from the previous century, it was lined with bricks and cobblestone. It stank of death. The boy followed, about ten feet behind the woman as his heart rate started to increase. They finally came upon an old wooden door.

"In here Thomas. There'll be plenty to eat in here".

She held the door open for him as he walked in, noticing for the first time her horrible wart covered face, her missing teeth, the foul odour coming off of her.

The boy walked into the large candlelit room and notice immediately the piles of bones laying around the room. Human bones. Child sized human bones.

The woman quickly closed the door behind her and turned to lock it, cackling as she did:

"Yes there will be plenty of food tonight Thomas. You'll make a fine meal". She pulled her hood off and turned, an evil grin on her face that quickly evaporated.

The boy stood in front of her, holding a wand outstretched. The woman roared in anger and charged-

-only to be shot back as the boy screamed:

Flipendo

The woman careened back against a wall, landing hard as she got up again and charged, the boy quickly casting:

Petrificus Totalus

The old woman's hands and legs stiffened next to her body, she fell back stiff as a board. Clapping was heard in the room from an unseen source before a man emerged from underneath a concealment charm.

"Well you did it Y/N. This is definitely our Hag. Eight children have disappeared in Harrogate in the last month".

The man kicked the magically bound Hag in the side hard.

"Now you know what needs to be done"

The man pulled out a twelve inch serrated blade.

"How do we put down a Hag Y/N?"

The nine year old looked at his eldest brother and replied:

"Stab it in the heart Jacob. A silver blade in the heart"

Jacob nodded at his young ward before holding out the knife to him. The boy looked fearful and hesitant before Jacob snapped at him angrily:

"Don't bitch out now boy. This is what I'm training you for! This is what we do Y/N. Saving people, hunting things... the family business!"

Jacob walked over to the Hag and waited. He made sure Y/N was watching before he plunged the silver blade into the Hag's heart.

-~-

Hermione gripped Y/N tightly.

"That was the first time I had to go under cover. She had to be stopped. She was killing kids. I had to stay calm"

Hermione squeezed again before whispering:

"You were a kid. He used you as bait Y/N"

Y/N nodded, holding his best friend tight as he whispered:

"Yeah, I know"

-~-

Harry rushed through the halls and corridors of Hogwarts castle, desperate to reach his friends and the safety of the common room. He had stayed back late in the library, desperately attempting to finish his Potions assignment. Usually Y/N and Hermione would be there in the library until late as well, but they had disappeared after dinner, and Harry hadn't seen them since.

He had left the library at 9:45pm, fifteen minutes before curfew, and had been desperately attempting to make it back to the Gryffindor room on time when he stumbled upon an argument. Snape and Quirrell were in a classroom, and Snape had hold of Quirrell by the robes. Harry listened in discretely. He couldn't believe it. They were talking about the Philosopher's Stone.

-~-

Harry made it through the common room door with only moments to spare. His four friends were sat on their usual couches. He smiled out of breath, Ron and Lavender sat far apart on one couch, while Hermione and Y/N seemed closer than ever. It looked like Hermione was almost sitting on Y/N's lap. Her head and hand were on his chest. He had his arm around her and was playing with her hair.

"You alright Harry?" Y/N called out. "I was about to come looking for you"

Harry nodded as he leant on Ron and Lavender's couch, out of breath.

"Guys...I...just..." Harry tried to speak but was still breathing heavily, having ran the whole way to the room.

"Slow down Harry. Catch your breath" Y/N said concerned. Harry smiled appreciatively, Y/N was always looking out for him. Harry didn't have the heart to tell Ron, but he really thought of Y/N as his best friend, as an older brother.

"Thanks Y/N" Harry said as he composed himself. Despite being the only ones in the common room he still whispered.

"I just heard Snape and Quirrell in a classroom, they were talking about the Philosopher's Stone."

"See I told you Y/N" Ron said smugly, holding his head high with an air of superiority. Hermione instantly gripped Y/N tighter, worried he was likely to give Ron a bitch slapping. Y/N narrowed his eyes and spoke coldly:

"Ronald, I realise you don't have the sharpest intellect but to form a concrete hypothesis based off a second hand conversation that was half heard. That's just staggeringly intellectually perilous"

Ron looked blankly at Y/N while Hermione and Lavender giggled.

"Exactly. The grown ups are talking, you figure out the big words while we discuss important matters" Y/N snapped before turning his attention to Harry:

"Harry, can I look at your memory- see exactly what was said?"

Harry was slightly intimidated but nodded:

"Oh, um... ok"

Y/N released himself from Hermione's grip, with some difficulty, before standing and gently pulling Harry to his feet by his shoulders. He spoke reassuringly:

"Just focus on the memory ok Harry. I'll be as quick as I can"

Harry nodded and whispered "No problem" but was nervous. Y/N's eyes rolled back in his head as Harry felt a presence in his mind and tried to focus on the memory of the whispered conversation.

-~-

Y/N stood next to Harry in his memory, observing the two teachers from the classroom doorway. Snape had his hands on Quirrell, speaking with great intimidation:

"Have you figured out how to get past Hagrid's beast yet?" Snape hissed.

"I-I- don't know what y-y-you mean" Quirrell quivered back.

"You know perfectly well what I mean. Don't. Lie. To me. We will have another conversation when you decide where your loyalties lie"

Suddenly the scene changed, Harry's mind going to the memory of Dudley's birthday trip to the zoo. MemoryHarry screamed in pain, his uncle Vernon dragging him towards the room under the stairs by his hair. Vernon screamed at MemoryHarry there was no such thing as magic as Harry heard his friend roar in pain.

-~-

Y/N pulled back from Harry, holding his head and yelling in pain as he fell backwards to the floor, hitting the ground hard.

"Y/N!" Hermione screamed as she rushed to him, Harry shaking his head coming back to the present. He looked down, seeing Y/N leaning up on his side, massaging both temples with his fore and middle fingers in an obvious amount of pain as Lavender held his shoulder and Hermione panicked.

"I'm alright. I'm alright 'Mione. Having to break the connection like that it..."

He groaning in pain as Hermione leant down and kissed him on the top of the head, asking:

"What happened?"

"Harry's mind went to something... Harry is it always like that?" Y/N asked looking up at his friend before gingerly pulling himself up to his feet, Hermione supporting him as she still panicked.

"Oh um yeah, a lot of the time" Harry answered, unsure what to say as he was still worried about Y/N.

Y/N looked at Harry with a steely glare and said in a serious tone:

"Just give me the word Harry. I'll rip their fucking throats out."

The other three Gryffindors gasped. Harry was shocked but replied:

"Ok Y/N. Thanks."

He appreciated Y/N not giving away any indication of what he had seen. Y/N replied quickly:

"Don't thank me Harry."

Before Harry heard Y/N's voice in his head:

You're my brother.

Harry looked into Y/N's eyes, his own eyes watering as he launched himself forward, hugging Y/N in a tight embrace that was immediately returned. The two girls both teared up at the sight.

Harry felt closer to Y/N than he could express. Their three other friends had nice families and good lives. Harry knew Y/N was just like him. They were both survivors. Just as the pair separated Ron spoke loudly:

"So you see now it's Snape Y/N!"

Y/N sighed in frustration as his glare intensified on the redhead:

"What I saw, Ronald, was Snape quizzing Quirrell about how he was going getting past Fluffy. All that proves is that we know for certain Quirrell is after it!"

Ron fired back without missing a beat:

"Maybe he's trying to save it from Snape"

"Oh for the love of. What are you basing that on? Why is Snape the bad guy?"

Ron spat back venomously:

"Because he's a snake. They're all bad!"

Y/N's eyes narrowed dangerously as the two girls and Harry backed off, knowing where this was going. Y/N had held his patience as long as possible. It was quickly running out as he replied coldly:

"Both my brothers were in Slytherin, Ronald"

Hermione prayed Ron would have the good sense to keep his mouth shut, or this was gonna go bad.

He didn't.

"Yeah, and?" Ron snapped.

Y/N was on him in an instant. He had one hand round Ron's throat, lifting him off the ground. The other hand had a finger pointed at his face. The other three were speechless as Y/N spoke even colder:

"You ever...ever.... talk about my brothers Ron, and I'll make sure yours never see you again. You understand me?"

"Ye-Yes" Ron wheezed out as his air supply was quickly draining. Y/N dropped him and Ron hit the floor with a thud. Y/N stormed towards the portrait door.

"I need some fresh air. Hermione you know where I'm going. Don't follow, its past curfew. I'll see you in the morning."

"But Y/N..." Hermione started to answer before Y/N spoke again.

"Sorry 'Mione, but I cant be in the same dorm as...that... right now. I'll see you at breakfast."

Hermione nodded and Y/N left. Before she could say anything Lavender exploded:

"What is wrong with you Ron? Seriously. You need to grow up. C'mon Hermione let's go to bed."

Hermione looked really upset, obviously worried about Y/N, but she just nodded and agreed. Lavender put a her hand on her shoulder and they walked to the girl's dorms. Hermione though stopped and turned to Ron. She had tears rolling down her cheeks as she spoke:

"You need to understand, Ronald, how lucky you are. If anyone else had disrespected Y/N's family like that they would be in the hospital wing right now. The only reason you are not is because your parents are Y/N's Godparents and he wouldn't want to hurt them. But I really don't know how much longer he can hold his temper back. You need to grow up."

She turned as she and Lavender went up to the girls dorms for the night. Harry likewise turned and went to his bed without saying anything to Ron. He closed his bed curtains angry and frustrated, thinking the same- that Ron needed to grow up.