Please note: This story starts after the end of their sixth year, and as if re-writing their seventh year. Instead of hunting Voldemort, Harry, Ron and Hermione decide to finish their last year at Hogwarts. The story begins at Hogwarts.


Scarlet Avens

by hotfalse


The sky burned red.

Harry and Draco linked their hands together firmly before stepping outside.

"Are you ready?"

"Hell yeah."


36 weeks earlier

In another life, Harry would have liked to be an ordinary wizard. Nothing too special – at least not special enough to get your entire school invaded by Death Eaters, who were ultimately holding them all captive until Voldemort decided to arrive. Nope, that was definitely too "special" for his liking. He used to love staring out of his bedroom window at night. He loved watching the Thestral's fly elegantly over the tree tops, or how the moon would shine streams of light onto the ripples of the lake. He used to listen to the faint hooting of the owls perched high in the tree-tops of the forbidden forest. But now as Harry stared gloomily out of his bedroom window, all he could see was the forbidden forest blazing under the magical fire the Carrow's had created - a fire which never went out, and was supposed to act as a barrier for anyone who tried to escape the grounds. He heard Hagrid's howl of pain as he called out for his forest friends; for the spiders, for the centaurs, and all the creatures he could never save. He watched his massive form desperately try to heave buckets of water onto the trees in a vain attempt to ease the fiery blaze. It was a futile attempt but one he desperately did all the same. He watched the Dementors that guarded the school grounds – not letting anybody in nor out. They cast giant, icy shadows over the school grounds, so dark that not even the moon light remained visible anymore. He felt himself give a small shiver.

Yes Hogwarts was at war right now. And in more ways than one. Not only was the Second Wizarding War currently in full swing but the school houses were at war too. In one way or another, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had somehow teamed up. And who were they fighting? The Slytherin's and the Carrows. And it had become quite brutal, really. It was Slytherin and Gryffindor in particular who always seemed to be out to get each other, seizing any opportunity they had to seek revenge.

Harry thought painfully back to the earlier events of the day. The Slytherins had launched yet another attack on the Gryffindor house. This time it involved setting fire to their dining table as they were eating dinner. Kids were screaming and yelling, running around trying to put themselves out before Hermione thankfully cast a great jet of water over them, distinguishing the flames. None of the teacher's dared to do anything about it as the Carrow's both whistled and laughed as if it were an entertaining show. It was a wonder nobody had died.

The Slytherin's had teamed up with the Death Eaters and now their attacks had become more vicious and dangerous than ever before. But Gryffindor was brave and proud and would in no way back down. Yes, it had turned into a major rivalry, and whenever those two sides crossed people always ended up getting hurt. And somehow without Harry's actual consent, the Gryffindor's had inevitably picked him as their group leader. Harry had told them many times that they could do whatever they wanted and that they didn't need to consult him every time they wanted to launch another attack. But they were always looking up to him, always looking to him for advice, and always asking him about "his" next plan of attack as if this were all his idea. The thought made him ball up his fists angrily. As if he had wanted any of this! The Gryffindors were constantly on edge, always jumpy because they never knew when the other side would attack. The Slytherins of course used this nervousness to their advantage – always taunting, always finding the opportunity to scare especially the younger Gryffindors. And Harry wanted nothing to do with it. He thought back to earlier that day when he had overheard an excited group of Gryffindors whispering eagerly with each other about their next plan of attack on the Slytherins. He remembered how determined the look on their faces had been. And he knew he couldn't stop them. This was their only way of fighting back against the war, even if the impact in the grand scheme of things was only small. Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily, trying to push the thoughts out of his mind. And like he had done for almost every night this year, he fell asleep leaning against the cool glass of his bedroom window.


Harry made his way wearily through his common room, his joints and back aching and stiff from the night before. Lying against the cold window was always uncomfortable but he hadn't been able to sleep in his own bed for a long time. In fact he couldn't even remember the last time he had slept in a proper bed. For a while at the beginning of the year he had tried to, but whenever he would lie down he found himself being unable to push away unwanted thoughts which occupied his head daily. Thoughts of Voldemort, thoughts of Death Eaters, thoughts of Sirius, thoughts of Cedric, of Dumbledore. And he would stare up at the blank ceiling for hours on end, wide awake and unable to close his eyes properly – silently begging for some kind of a distraction. So as a result, looking through his bedroom window at night became his new pastime to distract him from the thoughts that would nag relentlessly at the back of his mind.

Hermione greeted him from across the common room with a cheery wave. She always seemed wide awake, determined and sure of herself. Harry wondered how she did it. He waved feebly back as Ron joined his side with almost an equally morning-drained face.

"Rough night, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, you could say that," he replied. He did however feel slightly more cheerful, knowing his friend cared.

Across the room Seamus called out to him, "Don't forget about our plan today, Harry! This one's gonna be good." Harry nodded back in response, as if to assure Seamus he knew what he was talking about. Actually he didn't, he just couldn't be bothered to join in their plans all of the time.

"Yep!" Ron called back, covering Harry's lack of response. "We are going to kick some arse!"

The Gryffindors tended to leave the common room together as a pack these days – it was simply safer that way. Especially for the kids in the younger years, who simply didn't stand chance if a seventh year Slytherin decided to attack. Harry routinely waited for the rest of the Gryffindors to catch up before clambering his way out of the portrait hole. He looked left and right, scanning the area. His eyes were still groggy with sleep but the hallway looked pretty empty anyway. "The coast is clear," he called back lazily and led the pack out of the common room.

Harry and his fellow Gryffindors made it to about twenty meters down the hall before it happened. The Slytherins sprung down from the ceiling and were firing stinging jinxes in every direction in great flashes of white light. Among them was Draco Malfoy, who cruelly fired jinx after jinx aimed directly at people's faces. The hallway was now filled with shrieks and yells of terror, as people began flying backwards through the hallway and crumpling to the floor, rendering them completely defenceless. A stinging jinx hit Harry squarely on the nose and violently blasted him backwards into the air and he landed a few meters back on the cold hard tiles. Out of the corner he could see Draco Malfoy laughing mercilessly, his wand still pointed at Harry. Harry looked away and grimaced. As he lay on the cold hard floor his face began to swell and burn red from the looked sideways again and saw some people frantically trying to block the heavy stream of curses, while the younger years turned around and ran frantically back to the safety of the Common Room. Most of them however, were hit with stinging jinxes before they could make it back to safety and they too, collapsed to the floor. Harry quickly tried to sit up, his body however searing in immense pain. Fucking shit. So they had all been hiding from us, waiting to pounce. What else do you expect from snakes? He knew he had definitely let the Gryffindors down this time. He was supposed to have made sure the coast was clear before leading them out. He had let them out into this mess. It his fault. Hot tears sprang to the corners of his eyes out of anger. Anger at their attackers, and at himself. Distracted by self-pity, the stinging jinxes continued to fly repeatedly at his fellow Gryffindors before another landed on Harry's side. He reared up in pain again as the curse stung deep into his flesh. It began swelling up profusely, the same continuing for his face. To his left he heard Ron yelp out in pain as one hit him in the face as well. Neville lay curled up in a corner and was stung so badly he looked like a large, red swelling mass rather than a human. The Slytherins screeched with laughter, enjoying their game. They fired some final shots before turning around and sprinting off together as a pack, howling and whistling at their victory.

Harry looked around him. Everyone lay collapsed on the floor, moaning as they clutched painfully at their wounds. Bodies lay covered with red scorch marks and large swellings and their faces contorted in all kinds of horrid ways. Ron looked up at him disturbed, his face so puffy his eyes had turned into slits.

"Fucking pricks," Ron muttered, gritting his teeth as he tried to hide his pain.

Harry said nothing, wanting to hide his head in shame. The coast is clear, he had said. The coast was fucking clear, was it?! He wasn't sure what hurt more. The guilt he felt for letting everyone down or the intense pain swirling around in his head.

"I'm such an idiot!" he growled, slamming his fist into ground angrily. Yet another regret in his life.

"Harry stop, of course we don't blame you," Luna called out kindly.

Why insinuate the blame could be on me, then? It was you, a little voice in his head told him.

Luna was lifting herself up off the ground, her face too, barely recognisable. "None of us saw them coming. There was nothing you could have done." Then she walked calmly over to where Neville lay huddled and burring his face in his knees, and bent down to comfort him.

Harry heard people's groans and grunts as they hurriedly lifted themselves up off the floor, offering a hand to anyone who needed help. Harry quickly ran over to Hermione who had been stung even worse than Ron, her face so squashed up it was a wonder if she could still even breathe. He held out a shaky hand and pulled her up off the floor.

"Thanks Harry," Hermione managed to mumble through her swollen mouth, wincing as she did so.

"We'll get them back. We'll definitely make them pay," he heard Ron say behind him, through gritted teeth. "Definitely… pay them back." Harry winced. This was not going to be pretty.


And guess what the first lesson of the day was? Double Potions. With the Slytherins. (Oh, it was just too good. Not.)

The Gryffindors were still quite swollen as the effects of the curse had not yet begun to wear off. They groaned silently as their sore legs pressed into their seats but they would not let the Slytherins know how much it had hurt. Slughorn had, perhaps wisefully, chosen not to question their appearances, simply talking away about a particular brew of potion as if nothing about his own students had changed. However he didn't exactly seem comfortable looking at them either. Harry was sitting in-between Ron and Hermione in front of the Slytherins trying to focus on what Slughorn was saying but found it was no good. For behind him, he could hear the Slytherins laughing cruelly amongst themselves, mimicking the Gryffindors reactions this morning. One of them mimicked Neville, who had been curled up in a corner and whimpering and crying. They all laughed again, not caring that Slughorn was trying to teach. They knew they could get away with anything simply because the Carrow's favoured their house. If they hadn't crossed a line before they sure as hell had now. Harry whirled around in anger, ready to spit out the first remark that came to him.

"Nice face, Potter" Malfoy snarled, before Harry could even utter a sound. And he scrunched up his pale face in a mock imitation of Harry's.

"Thanks," Potter replied turned his head back to the front. He did not want to let himself be provoked by Malfoy, not in front of one of his favourite teachers.

Pansy decided to join in. "Hey Granger," she hissed. "Oi, mudblood!"

Hermione too, swung her swollen head around in anger to glare at the girl.

Why did she take the bait? I thought she was more level headed than me…

"What's up with your face, Granger?" Pansy taunted, feigning surprise. "It looks like you got trampled on by a hippogriff right before taking a beating from a troll."

"Oi lay off her!" Ron hissed quietly.

Pansy turned her wicked smile to Ron. "Oh dear, still lusting after the dirty mudblood, are you? Tut, tut, what a shame. But what ever happened to that Lavender girl? Oh that's right, she got scared off after seeing just how ugly your face –"

It was at that moment Seamus decided to butt in. "Oh just shut up Parkinson, you dumb slut. Everybody knows you've been gawking at Malfoy since third year, yet you've slept with at least half the Slytherin's, haven't you?" he spat, folding his arms smugly. From behind Pansy, Goyle let out a cruel laugh without bothering to hide it.

Pansy's face instantly turned beet-red. "That's not true! That's is so not –"

Seamus rolled his eyes, non-believing and quickly shot a Leg-Locker Curse at her. Pansy's legs instantly fused shut, causing her to topple over and land on the floor beside her desk.

"There. Now you can finally keep your legs closed," Seamus jeered, earning a fair share of laughs from the Gryffindors. Harry however felt a bit sick. Since when did his friends play dirty Slytherin tricks? He would have to talk to them later...

Quite a few of the Slytherin students snickered too, though they tried to hide it. Goyle's laugh was however loud and his eyes lowered to Pansy's skirt. Malfoy's eyes were amused but he said nothing. Crabbe was too slow to catch on. Normally the Slytherins would have reacted to any attack against their fellow Slytherins, however Pansy had not been in their good books lately.

"Students if we could please just focus in today's class," Slughorn sighed desperately and rubbing his temples, clearly frustrated to no end. His eyes flickered to the back of the class. "Miss Parkinson, what are you doing on the floor?"


Harry had never liked Parkinson, but he found himself feeling sorry for her. Nobody deserved to be treated like that. He pushed the thought out of his mind and decided to follow Malfoy and his two henchmen. (Pansy had run off somewhere in tears the moment class ended). He threw on his invisibility cloak and followed them down the corridor as they headed outside. He trailed them closely, his mind already made up. He was going to jinx the heck out the Slytherins for what they had done that morning, and Malfoy was first on his list - a payback for what he had done to his face. He wondered whether he was becoming more like those dirty Slytherins as well but he immediately brushed the thought off. Keeping close as they walked, Harry silently tapped his wand on Crabbe's shoulder from behind. The large boy sunk to the floor, unconscious. For some reason the other two didn't notice. Amused, Harry followed them a few more steps before tapping Goyle's shoulder. He too, sunk to the floor unconscious. Now for Malfoy's turn. Harry knew Malfoy wasn't as dim-witted as the other two, but for some reason he still hadn't noticed his sidekicks disappear from behind him. He was still talking arrogantly, boasting about the Slytherin's next plan of attack as if his friends were still there. Harry hadn't been paying much attention to what Malfoy was saying before but then quickly decided to tune in, still cautious to remain completely hidden underneath the cloak.

"– I mean, making their entire common room green for Merlin's sake, well it was all Pansy's idea of course, she's really good with stuff like that. Just imagine the look on their stupid little faces when they wake up tomorrow," he laughed gleefully and ran his hand arrogantly through his white-blond hair. Confused as to why there was no reply, Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks. This accidentally caused Harry to abruptly walk into him, almost toppling over as he did so. Harry barely had time to swear in frustration before Malfoy spun around and reached his arms to grab the air. His hands hit where Harry stood and he threw off the cloak angrily.

"So you've become a sneak, have you?" he hissed angrily.

Harry's face went red, feeling embarrassed.

"I'm not a sneak," Harry replied heatedly. "That's a Slytherin's job".

"Tell me, how much of our conversation did you just hear?" Malfoy demanded, his eyes drilling holes into Harry's.

"Do you mean the part where you talked about how great you were? Or is it the part where you guys invade the Gryffindor common room and turn it green? Yeah, thanks for the info. Now at least we can be prepared."

Malfoy paled slightly, realising what he had done. He had accidentally let their plan slip without making sure who was listening.

"You – just shut up Potter," he hissed. "Where are Crabbe and Goyle?"

"Ah yes, your little sidekicks? I took them out ages ago and you didn't even realise. You were talking like some idiot all by yourself." Harry laughed at him, thinking how could anyone be so arrogant that he would just talk and expect his friends to follow? Well, they kind of had in a way. Before you took them out, that is.

"Thanks Malfoy!" he called, feigning gratitude. And he skipped away cheerily, just to piss Malfoy off that little bit further.


It was lunch time and most of the students were eating in the Great Hall. And this time it was the Slytherins who were in shock. Seamus, Ron and a bunch of other Gryffindor's had quickly found seven unsuspecting Slytherins, and cast Full Body-Binding Curses on them. They then had tied them up with ropes and hung them up high, dangling from the ceiling in the Great Hall, just above the Gryffindor table. They dangled helplessly with their arms in the air as if they had been hung – except they were conscious. Among them were Crabbe, Millicent Bulstrode and Blaise Zabini, who had a large sign hung across their bodies that read: "Death Eaters Not Welcome". Underneath them the Gryffindors ate their breakfast enthusiastically, feeling victorious. Even Hermione, despite her good nature and high value of rules, couldn't help but look somewhat pleased beneath her still puffy face.

Again, Harry questioned whether things had been taken a bit too far. But then he remembered this morning's incident and his feelings of pity quickly turned back into resentment.

The captured Slytherins tried calling down to their fellow Slytherins for help, and every now and again a Slytherin tried to shoot a releasing charm at one of the victims but were always instantly blocked by the Gryffindors who guarded their prey thoroughly. The Slytherin table looked utterly humiliated and were whispering angrily amongst each other, casting furtive glances at the gleeful Gryffindors. From where Harry sat he could see Malfoy, who was eating his lunch as if nothing had happened at all. He wasn't even looking at the captives, let alone talking about it with his friends. Did this incident not affect him at all?

Harry sighed heavily, feeling slightly curious (whether he would admit it to himself or not). Maybe Malfoy just couldn't be bothered with all this fighting much either…


It was midnight, the hanged ones had been let down, and the Slytherins were ready to pounce yet again for revenge. They had gathered outside the Fat Lady and were waiting for the Slytherins at the front of the group to successfully break into the portrait hole. They had captured a hostage – Cho Chang no less – and were torturing her until she gave up the password. Draco grimaced. Potter would have surely warned the whole Gryffindor house by now, and they would be waiting for them on the other side. He intentionally lingered at the back of the crowd, not wanting to be the first one hit. So, maybe he should have cancelled the plan. Okay yes he should have. But he just couldn't bring himself to tell the Slytherins of his mistake. He had slipped up information to Potter, and he would surely use it to his advantage. If the Slytherins knew he had leaked information to Potter – accident or not – he would surely be looked down on. So he kept his mouth shut.

"It's open!" someone called from the front. And sure enough, the portrait hole swung open to reveal a dark cave of red.

This is it then.

Eagerly the Slytherins clambered through the Gryffindor portrait hole, ignoring the muffled protests of the Fat Lady. They spread themselves out in the common room, casting disgusted looks at the redness of it all. Draco climbed in as well, but was shocked to find it empty. Nobody was there. The lights were off, and in fact the only source of light came from a small crackling logfire which cast peculiar shadows that danced across the red walls.

Where was everyone? Could they be hiding? It's very un-Gryffindor like to hide though. They usually prefer to attack things head-on. Then again, not even they had been acting like themselves lately.

He let himself sink down into one of the squashy sofas, not bothering to participate.

"Everyone ready then?" Pansy called out confidently. The Slytherins all nodded in agreement, and Draco could practically feel their emotions flaring up with excitement.

Why was this fun again? Oh yeah, Slytherin pride.

The Slytherins raised their wands and began transforming Gryffindor banners into Slytherin ones, and painting the walls into green and silver colours. Pansy walked over to the large red rug and transformed it into a long, stuffed serpent. Goyle began changing the colours of the cushions into green and silver. They were basically marking their territory, saying that they 'ruled'. Draco remained still on the sofa, arms folded, scanning the room nervously. Where were they?

From across the room he thought he saw something move and he immediately squinted into the darkness.

And then he saw him. Potter. He was standing in the corner of the room, hidden by the shadows that the fire had cast. Draco raised a curious eyebrow. That… seemed almost Slytherin like? Draco quickly shook his head. Potter could never be like a Slytherin. But a small voice inside his head reminded him of the incident earlier that day where Potter had followed stealthily behind him, even taking out Draco's friends without him noticing! Draco tried to shake away the memory. Anyway, what was Potter doing by himself? And in the shadows no less? Nobody else had noticed Potter standing there, only Draco. Was Potter really arrogant enough to believe he could take them all by himself? But the boy didn't seem scared at all, if anything he looked excited. He had his wand raised and seemed to be muttering things, casting some sort of incantations at the walls and furniture. Draco raised an eyebrow, wondering what on earth he could be doing. He glanced over to the Slytherins, wondering if anyone had noticed something.

And then the realisation dawned of him. Potter wasn't attacking directly at them, he had taken it a step further. Impressive. Wait, what? Not impressive, no.

As the Slytherins changed things into green and silver with their wands, Draco noticed their clothes and skin beginning to turn red. Their spells were reacting with the jinxes Potter had cast around the room. The red colours that the Slytherins were removing with their wands, was being transferred onto their bodies, clothes and hair, instead of vanishing into thin air.

Suddenly the Slytherins began to notice what was happening to them, and confusion and infuriation quickly broke out.

"It's jinxed!" one of them yelled out.

But some of them still hadn't noticed, and were still transfiguring the furniture into greens and silvers, adding Slytherin logos as they went.

"We're – we're turning red!" another one shouted out. And Draco could see it all; the red crept up through their skin and travelled down their arms and legs, even seeping into their nails and teeth.

"They've put up some sort of anti-jinx barrier!" Pansy shrieked.

People began to shriek unhappily, trying to rid the red off them, but it was no use. The fiery red spread across everyone's bodies from head to toe, leaving nothing uncovered. Draco watched as Goyle jabbed himself frustratedly with his wand, trying all sorts of counter-jinxes to remove the red. Pansy ran over to the mirror, and shrieked as she saw her new hair colour, trying to somehow wipe it off with her hands. People were panicking, frantically trying to undo what had been done. But nothing seemed to work.

Draco glanced over to Potter again, who had seemed to be finished in casting jinxes, and was watching the scene unfold before him with his arms crossed and a satisfied smirk. The boy then turned to face Draco, giving him a wink.

He raised an eyebrow at the smug Potter, but otherwise made no move. Why did it annoy him so much that the boy had actually done something clever? Why did it bug him to no end, that Potter had taken a completely non-violent approach to their attack, but had still gotten them back just as good as anything else could have?

Draco felt it would do him no good to be the only one left uncovered with red, so he tapped his wand at the rug underneath him and let the red magic seep over his body, all without breaking eye-contact with the boy.


The next morning Draco sat in the Great Hall with a very red Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle, playing a game of exploding snap. The red still hadn't worn off – much to Slytherins disgust and Gryffindor's amusement. Draco heard the great door swing open, and smirked as he saw Potter enter by himself. His smirk slowly changed into confusion however, when he saw Potter shiftily idle towards where they all sat. He eventually stopped in front of Draco, seeming slightly unsure of what he should say. Without really looking him in the eye, he spoke.

"Hey… Malfoy. Can I talk to you for a second?" Harry asked quietly. He wondered whether he still had time to run. But Gryffindors don't run.

The Slytherins looked up in surprise and looked irritated but slightly intrigued all the same.

Draco raised an eyebrow and leaned back lazily in his chair, resting his hands behind his head as if he didn't care what he had to say. "Whatever you want to say, you can just say it here," he drawled.

Potter cocked his head to one side arrogantly in response. "You sure? It's about that thing you accidentally told me yesterday. You know, when you let down your gu–"

Draco leaped out of his chair, grabbed Potter by the arm tightly and forcefully dragged him outside. Potter smirked, knowing he had won that one.


"So what is it, then?"

They both stood awkwardly and somewhat suspiciously under the bell tower, eyeing each other and their surroundings tensely. The coast was clear but Harry wasn't sure what his friends would think if they saw him having a chat with the son of a death eater in the middle of a war against them.

He looked around once more nervously, and fumbled anxiously with his cloak. He hadn't been sure whether he should do this or not, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed it was only right. He was after all, a proud and fair Gryffindor.

"Well… I don't want to be in your debt. With you letting slip your plan and all. So this is payment for you warning me about the attack on our common room."

Draco raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"So uh, about my hint," Harry continued. "You've just got to figure it out, okay?"

"Spit it out Potter".

"Uh yeah, okay".

Malfoy eyed him distrustfully. But Harry took a deep breath and continued. "What grows when it eats, but dies when it drinks? It's your common room next."

So this was kind of warning? To pay back his debt? Because he had accidentally let something slip, which had ultimately helped Potter? So now he's giving me a clue in return. That idiot.

Draco repeated back Harry's words slowly.

"So yeah, that's it I guess," Potter said quickly. "We're even now."

Draco smirked. Idiot Potter and his Gryffindor pride. "Don't you realise you're just plain helping me? What would the Gryffin-dorks say if they knew?"

"Like I said, I owed you one. I don't even want to imagine how they would have reacted if they had woken up to the room full of green."

"Did you tell them, though?"

"I told them what I had done to counter it. But I didn't mention that it was because of you that I knew to be prepared."

Draco nodded. "Good. Keep it that way."

"I will." He paused. "It feels weird bargaining with a Death Eater."

"And it feels weird talking to a Gryffindor normally for more than two minutes. Get out of my sight."

"Agreed." And he turned around and half-walked, half-ran back inside the castle, not looking back.


Draco spent the rest of that day repeating Potter's words over and over again in his head.

What grows when it eats, but dies when it drinks? Potter should have given him a harder riddle than that.

Draco chuckled, causing Pansy to eye him suspiciously. Well, he could play this game.


End ch 1

How did you like it? Please please write a review I would love to know your thoughts! Thanks :) - hotfalse