Author's Note
Ok, this is a Harry/Draco pairing. If that kind of thing offends you then this probably is not the story for you.
I have not written any stories in years so please be patient and kind with me as I write this.
No hate mail please! I am not J.K. Rowling. I know my writing has faults so I'm welcome to any thoughts, ideas, concerns, or suggestions but please no rudeness.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! It all belongs to the queen of writing herself J.K. Rowling.
As Harry entered the Great Hall, he was overcome with a wave of emotions. He looked towards where Mcgonagall was standing. It was that very spot where Dumbledore once stood in all his glory. At the staff table, he looked desperately hoping to see Snape's piercing gaze only to be let down further when he remembered that Snape too, did not survive the war. With a sigh of relief he saw that all of his old teachers were still there. Flitwick was sitting next to professor Vector. Slughorn was talking enthusiastically to a women he had not seen before. Her hair was a dark blonde and wrapped in a messy bun. She had soft but strong looking facial features and reminded Harry of a fox. She was wearing teal colored robes.
"Harry we're blocking the entrance" Ron muttered under his breath, pulling Harry over to the Gryffindor table.
As Harry stumbled under Ron's tight grip to the Gryffindor table he looked around for more familiar faces. Every now and then he would see someone and they would wave at him and he would wave back, forcing a smile to his lips. He, Ron and Hermione finally sat down with Neville, Ginny and Seamus sitting around them.
Harry couldn't seem to get rid of the feeling of guilt that was slowly seeping through his body and freezing his heart. He knew it was not his fault but everytime he recognized that someone he knew was not sitting at those 4 tables he cursed himself even more. He looked around at his friends sitting with him. Seamus looked older and stronger now. 'The war had changed everyone' Harry thought. He looked at Ginny with a face of confusion. They had broken up over the summer. Harry's feelings towards her had dissipated and he couldn't understand why. She was just as beautiful as she had always been, still the same sweet girl who had said 'good luck' to him on Kings Cross station years ago. It ended on a good note. They promised each other they would remain best friends and be there for each other and Harry was thankful for that. Ginny still wanted one thing from him though, and he was willing to do all the soul searching possible until he got it for her…a reason why. He looked over at Ron and Hermione who were sitting directly across the table from him. He did not have to look under the table to know that they were holding hands. He was happy for them, really he was, but ever since they stared dating he felt…out of place.
"Aww look at all the first years" Ginny swooned. She was staring at them as if they were puppies. Harry almost felt the urge to laugh at her.
"Bloody hell! It's like they're getting smaller every year" Ron gaped.
"Oh shush! They are not. You were once just as small as they were" Hermione huffed, annoyed. Harry looked up and noticed a small string of first years being led up to the front of the great hall. 'They were indeed quite small…maybe this year Ron might not call them midgets so often' Harry thought humorously.
A stool stood at their destination with a tattered old hat sitting on top.
"Dang…that hat has definitely seen better days eh" Seamus whispered to everyone.
"What do you expect mate? That hats been through a entire war." Ron replied grinning.
"Mathilda Crowley" Mcgonagall called out to the small group. A timid looking, dark haired girl rose out of the crowd and walked over to sit on the stool. As soon as the hat made contact with her head it yelled Slytherin. The girl jumped out of the seat and happily joined the Slytherin table.
"Adrian Caldwell"
A light-blonde haired boy appeared and was sorted into Hufflepuff
"Miriam Bridgestead"
Another dark-haired girl came up and was sorted in Ravenclaw.
"Roger Brighton"
A dark-haired boy with big teeth came up and was sorted in Ravenclaw. 3 more kids came up after them. 2 of them were sorted in Gryffindor and the other one was sorted into Slytherin.
"That had to have been one of the shortest sortings I've ever sat through" Neville whispered, sounding incredibly bored.
"I heard a lot of parents didn't want their kids coming to Hogwarts this year" Seamus told them.
"Why not?" Harry asked even though he already had a pretty big idea.
"Because of the war." Seamus replied looking down.
"But the war is over! What's the big deal now?" Ron exclaimed heatedly.
"Ugh! Thing about it Ron! For years, centuries even, Hogwarts was deemed one of the safest places around besides Gringotts. First Gringotts gets broken into TWICE, then death itself comes literally knocking on Hogwarts doors declaring a war that left half of Hogwarts in ruins." Hermione blurted out in a rush. Ron, who had been sitting with his mouth gaped open, was about to make a retort when Mcgonagall began to make her speech.
"Be quiet!" She barked to the remaining students who were still talking amongst themselves.
" Now I have a few things that need to be said and then you can all tuck into dinner. First, some of you may notice that quite a few students who should have graduated, are still here. This is because these students could not attend their last year at Hogwarts for whatever reasons. We can excuse some exams but we cannot excuse a whole year of absence. These past few years have been a rough time for every single one of us, in one form or another. Now is the time I think best to work on house unity…"
At the mention of this some students groaned audibly causing Mcgonagall to scowl at them.
"Now shut up! All of you!" She screamed shrilly. The room went deafly quiet.
"It's because of those stupid childish beliefs that so many innocent people lost their lives. By continuing these beliefs we are disgracing everyone who lost their lives for this cause. It's time to let bigons be bigons, as they say, and move on towards a new and better beginning. Our blood and where we came from is not of importance. What is important is who we choose to be, what we choose to be, and how we choose to be it. Therefore, throughout this second year you will find yourselves working closely with classmates from other houses. This has been agreed with by all staff in every class. With that being said, tuck in"
Suddenly the tables filled with all assortments of food and the sounds of forks and spoons were ravenous. Mcgonagall herself sat down and began filling her plate.
"Well it's about time they really started pushing for some house unity again." Hermione chirped, sounding pleased with the speech.
"I'm telling you, It's never going to happen." Ron muttered incoherently while stuffing food in his open mouth.
"Well with an attitude like that of course not" Hermione snapped back at him. Her face told Harry alone that she was not very impressed with Ron's table manners.
"Come on Hermione, do you really see yourself becoming besties with blondie over there" Ron gargled as he jabbed a thumb in the direction of the Slytherin table.
Harry looked up and in the direction of Ron pointed and found himself staring directly at Malfoy. Even to the untrained eye he could tell something was wrong. Malfoy had bags under his eyes and his usually slicked back hair was untidy and in his face. 'looks softer' he thought. Harry stopped himself in his tracks. 'softer? Why the hell do I care about how soft his hair is or how he looks' he berated himself in his head. He looked down at his plate, silently cursing himself for looking in the first place. 'but my god does he have beautiful eyes' he begrudgingly agreed with his conscience.
"You all right Harry?" Hermione asked. Her voice dripping with worry and concern etched onto her face. Harry looked around and noticed that everyone was starting to get up.
He smiled "yeah mione just lost in thought. Is it time to go already?"
"Unfourtanetly. Get up, get a move on." Hermione teased. He could tell she wanted to question him more but decided against it, at least for now. He couldn't have been more grateful.
As they reached their dorms they said their goodnights and split ways. Harry and Ron entered the boys dorm to see the familiar faces of Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Lee. They got into their beds, said their goodnights and pulled their curtains closed. As Harry waited for sleep to take over he stared up at the dark ceiling and his thoughts drifted to the soft grey color of Malfoy's eyes. Harry's eyes fluttered shut and he dozed of peacefully.
