Unwelcome Feelings

Chapter 1: First Day Back

It was Harry's 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and he couldn't be happier to be back. After a summer spent in fear of his life, Harry finally felt safe. Hogwarts was the only place Lord Voldemort, the darkest wizard for many generations, would not show up. The one man Voldemort would not stand up to was the very same man who most looked up to, Professor Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts and, some say, one of the greatest wizards to ever have lived. At the end of Harry's last year, Voldemort returned after 13 years. Harry was there to witness it all and almost died in the process. Cedric Digory wasn't so lucky. When trying to help Harry, Voldemort had unleashed the killing curse upon Cedric, and there was nothing that could be done to save him.

Harry was sat with his two closest friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, in the Great Hall as the Sorting Ceremony of the first years took place. Ron was a tall, skinny boy with bright red hair and freckles, just like the rest of his family. There was no mistaking a Weasley. Hermione was bucktoothed with a brown, mane of hair. She had the potential to be quite pretty, but her homework and extra reading kept her far too busy to groom herself. She was a bookworm and the cleverest in the year. Harry and Ron always counted on Hermione when they needed an answer to a question, no matter how random, or when they were running a little late with their homework. They would never copy, just borrow.

The Sorting Hat went about sorting all the first years into the correct houses but Harry wasn't listening. Someone had caught his eye. Someone Harry loathed. Draco Malfoy. They had been enemies pretty much since the start of first year, but this year, for a reason Harry couldn't explain, it was different. He found himself gazing at Malfoy absent-mindedly from across the room. There was something about Malfoy that Harry couldn't stop looking at. Perhaps it was how much Malfoy had matured over the summer. Perhaps it was the way his pale, ivory skin contrasted with the deep black, green and silver of his Hogwarts cloak.

"Erm... Hi, Harry"

"Oh. Er... Ginny, hi." Harry was awoken from his trance.

Ginny Weasley was a pretty girl. She carried the usual Weasley traits. Red hair and freckles. If she wasn't Ron's little sister, Harry would probably have asked her out on a date already. But as the rule generally goes, siblings are out of bounds.

"I was doing some thinking over the summer," Ginny said, "about what happened last year. It can't be easy for you. So, I wanted you to know that I'm always here to help. With anything. Homework, girl trouble. Even fighting You Know Who."

"Thanks, Ginny. That's really nice of you."

"I know there are loads more people who feel the same aswell"

Harry pictured all his closest friends stood in front of Voldemort, as he picked them off one by one. Even the thought made him feel empty inside.

Before Harry had the chance to reply, Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the whole room, "Let the feast begin." And by the time Harry had turned back around to face Ginny, she had gone back to her friends from her own year.

As Ron dolloped some mash potato onto his plate, he managed to say between salivating, "What did she have to say?"

"Just that I'm not alone."

Suddenly Hermione piped up. "Harry, after all these years, if you still feel alone you need to take a reality check."

"No, Hermione. I don't feel alone. It's just nice to have it backed up once in a while. Especially after last year."

Hermione turned to her steak and said nothing more on the subject.

Ron was too busy filling his face to even notice he'd spilt his drink onto a second year sat next to him.

And Harry found his mind wandering. If the situation arose, could Harry really fight Voldemort alone. In the back of his mind, he knew he would need all the help he could get, but he didn't want the deaths of his closest friends to be on his shoulders.

Harry glanced at Malfoy over on the Slytherin table. Even while eating, there was something new about Malfoy that Harry couldn't quite put his finger on. Harry bit into a bread roll. He just couldn't keep his eyes off Malfoy. When Malfoy looked up, Harry tried to look as if he was casually looking around the room. It didn't work. Draco had seen. With a smirk that said a thousand words, he tucked into the rest of the delicious feast.