The great hall was loud and festive, not unusual for the beginning of the school year. After Albus gave his speech, emphasizing the importance of bravery and friendship in these difficult times, the students talked and laughed under the glow of the many enchanted candles floating under the starry sky.

This year however there was a slight tension underneath it all, there were some faces missing in the crowd and smaller numbers in first years than ever before. Minerva McGonagall surveyed the great hall with a look of simple authority, a look she had mastered long ago. But when her eyes rested on the Gryffindor table she couldn't help but sigh.

Harry Potter looked bone tired, an air that she would never be able to fully comprehend. The three most unnerving, aggravating and remarkable students she had ever encountered we trying desperately to put on a brave face, Mr. Weasley succeeding the most, eating with no regard to what exactly was on his fork, Miss Granger coming in at a close second talking lightly with Miss Patil and young Miss Weasley. But Harry had a grim air to him that chilled Minerva to the core. He looked so incredibly lost.

"Harry, Jesus. You gonna stare at your pudding all night? Bloody hell you look like someone petrified your cat."

"I don't have a cat, Ron." Harry grumbled dejectedly, breaking out of his trance.

"Exactly, then stop looking like you did, and then it got hexed." Ron grinned triumphantly though he was desperate to get his friend to crack a smile.

It worked, Harry smiled, and though it was small Ron counted it as a great victory. Hermione noticed too, and smiled at Harry her eyes twinkling with understanding and at that moment Harry had never been more thankful for his two best friends.

"Well look at that, when did Kingsley get hot?" Dean whispered to Seamus, eyeing the dark haired Ravenclaw across the way.

"Sod off, Thomas I liked her last year therefore I got dibbs." The smaller boy quipped giving the girl a once over.

"You can't carry over dibs you moron. This is a whole new year, last year doesn't count." Dean scoffed watching as Carmen Kingsley laughed at something Cho Chang was saying.

"Who are they talking about?" Harry asked Ron, leaning to the side to see between Hermione and Ginny.

"CorffmnKmmngshly." Ron grunted, his mouth full of food. Hermione shook her head in disgust.

"We're talking about Carmen Kingsley!" Seamus said rather loudly.

"Shut up you blockhead! She'll hear us."

The Gryffindors all peer over to the Ravenclaw table to see if this was true and sure enough Carmen was giving them a peculiar look.

"Great, now she thinks we're morons." Dean groaned his head on the table.

"I don't think you needed any help on that front, boys." Ginny scoffed, sipping her drink. Lavender giggled, watching Ron with interest.

Neville had been surprisingly quiet throughout the whole conversation and Harry was surprised to see him hunched over his plate, red as a tomato.

"Hey isn't she the seeker for Ravenclaw, Harry?" Ron elbowed him in the ribs startling him out of the curious looks he was giving Neville.

"Huh? Oh yeah, her hair's longer this year but she replaced Cho when she quit the team." He gave the girl another look, thinking about how predictable Cho's plays were last season. "I wonder if she's any good?"

"I've heard she kicked Malfoy's ass in a scrimmage with Slytherin last year." Exclaimed Ginny, excitedly. "We might have some competition from Ravenclaw this year Harry."

"What do you think Neville?" Harry asked suddenly, making Neville jump slightly from his dessert.

"Well… I.. She… Ummm-"

"Hey Nev!" A bright voice chimed.

The Gryffindors all looked up as a tall figure joined their group, Seamus blushed as Carmen Kingsley herself smiled down at them all. All eyes shifted to Neville, who looked incredibly uncomfortable shifting in his seat.

"Didn't see you on the train but mum and dad wanted me to give you this before classes start tomorrow." She smiled brightly ignoring the looks of shock and curiosity on the others faces as she handed him a brown package.

"Mum knows how hectic yours gets at the end of summer."

"Thanks, Car." Neville mumbled, not meeting the strange gazes from all of his friends. "I'll send her an owl tomorrow. Are you taking Advanced Herbology this year?"

"Yeah, though I'm not happy about it. You know dad's just gonna expect me to match your marks, so I'll probably need a lot of help from you."

Carmen smiled again growing uncomfortable with the looks she was getting.

"Righ then," she coughed tucking some hair behind her ear. "I best be going. Later Nev. Guys."

And with that she turned and walked back to the Ravenclaw table.

"What. Was. That?" Dean whispered, throwing a roll at Neville's plate. Everyone looked at Neville, curious as to what just happened.

"Car- That is Carmen, is my cousin. On my mum's side." Neville sighed, poking at his abandoned pudding dejectedly. "Her mum looks out for me when my Gran forgets things. Like school supplies…" he said gesturing to the brown package on the table.

"How could you sit there this whole time and not tell me you were related to her?" Dean cried, happy to have found an in with the girl.

"How could you and her be related?" Seamus wondered aloud, earning a swift kick to the shins from Ginny. "Ow…" he muttered, pouting at the redhead.

The Gryffindors looked at each other and burst out laughing. Neville let out a breath happy to be out of the spotlight, and that made everyone laugh harder. Harry and Hermione caught each other's gaze. Maybe this year wouldn't be completely different.

Over at the Ravenclaw table Cho shot a curious look at the laughing Gryffindors and looked back to her friend.

"What was that about, Carmen? Looks like Thomas was giving you the look."

Cho quirked an eyebrow suggestively and the girls around her giggled. Dean Thomas had been known to put the moves on quite a few girls in his time at Hogwarts.

"Nothing," Carmen shrugged, taking a sip of her butterbeer. "Just giving Neville a package. Finnigan and Thomas were talking about Quiddich or something earlier."

Roger Davies grinned at her from across the table.

"Potter and Weasley wont know what hit them! We've been training all summer for this season." He nudged Michael Corner who had an arm slung over Cho's shoulder.

"We're gonna kick some serious tail, right Corner?"

"You bet your arse we are! Kingsley can out-fly Potter any day!"

Carmen and Cho rolled their eyes at the boys antics, then laughed as they caught the others gesture. Carmen had noticed Zacharias Smith looking particularly good from the Hufflepuff table as she walk over to Neville and his friends earlier. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all.

Sure, shit hit the fan last year and so many of her friend's parents refused to let their kids back to Hogwarts, hell she had to convince the Changs that she'd look out for their daughter over the summer. But at least she still had Roger and Mike (whenever Cho decides to let him breathe long enough to hang out with her) and Zabini had been kind of cool over the summer, even though he's usually a dick during the school year.

She had her friends, she had her family and Smith was definitely looking over here more than he ought to. This year had potential, definite potential.