Disclaimer: everything belongs to J. .
A/N: Alright guys, here's the second chapter! I hope you like it
No warnings.
Chapter 2
Harry was not looking forward to his detention with Snape. It was only the beginning of the year, and he already had detention. Harry made his way to the dungeons, and stood for a whole minute before he dared to open the door. But when he came in, he was met with Professor Dumbledore.
"Harry" the old wizard whispered gently "Professor Snape won't be giving you any detention. However he does have a few words to say" and as soon as he finished his sentence, Snape came in from the next room – a tiny room filled with shelves and potions.
"Mr. Potter, I do hope you take your lessons seriously" he began, looking at Harry with an intense glare "especially Potions" he continued "you may go"
Harry stood gaping for almost a minute before he willed himself to close his mouth. He stared at his Professor, trying to decipher the intentions that may be hidden behind such an outrageous behavior.
Snape may have changed, yes, but Harry was nonetheless more surprised than ever before.
He made his way to his dorms, and explained to his friends what had occurred. Most of them didn't believe him the first time. It was just too surreal.
Harry chatted with his friends before they decided to go to bed. Tomorrow they would have to wake up early, and have their first lesson in Arithmancy, which was difficult enough, so they had to be focused.
Neville picked advanced Herbology, so he didn't have to wake up early like the rest of them. Their schedule this year wasn't very difficult, it was the exams that Harry was afraid of. Dean was perhaps the only Gryffindor in Ancient Runes, since most of them had picked Arithmancy, because it was the most bearable of the three.
Tuesday, September 3rd
Ron woke up late, scrambled off his bed in a hurry, and almost fell down on his face twice. He heard snickers coming from the corner of the room, and when he turned to see who it was, Harry stood there, hands on his mouth, with Seamus next to him trying to hold in their laughter.
"What are you two laughing about? And why aren't you dressed yet? Bloody hell, it's almost time for class! I might not make it to breakfast!" he looked horror stricken, but both his friends kept snickering, which was annoying him to say the least.
"We messed up your alarm" Seamus smiled at him mischievously. Ron cast a Tempus charm, and it showed the time to be almost six thirty. Ron looked at them again with narrowed eyes, before he sped to where they were and jumped on both of them, knocking them to the ground. They wrestled and had fun, showered, got dressed, and made their way to breakfast.
As they were eating, a hand grabbed Ron's shoulder gently. Ron and Harry looked up to see none other than Zabini.
Ron stared at him with a mouthful. Zabini just smiled "there's a chess game this afternoon in our common room, would you like to join? I've heard you're not bad" the dark-skinned boy said with a wicked grin.
"Not bad?!" Ron bellowed, after swallowing his food, as if that's the only thing that mattered, and not the fact that Zabini was inviting him to the Slytherin common room to play chess "I'll show you not bad!" Ron said, and Zabini smiled wider, not that it was possible to do so. He shrugged, told Ron to be there at seven, and went back to his seat. Harry looked over to Hermione, who didn't seem surprised at all, then back to Ron, who was finishing his meal. Harry must have been dreaming, there was no way on earth that this just happened, and that was the reaction he was getting. He looked over to the Slytherin table, and the only thing that he noticed was Malfoy sitting there, with Nott almost licking his ear.
Harry was not jealous, of course he wasn't. He just wanted students to respect the school, and obviously that was against every rule! Well, there weren't any rules against it. But maybe there should be! They were basically snogging in the middle of breakfast! The Professors needed to do something about this foul behavior. Malfoy backed slightly, and Harry relaxed again in his seat, but then Malfoy smiled at Nott, drew closer, and whispered something in his ear. Harry felt like a dragon, blowing fire from both ears, and mouth, and he still felt like he was burning. But before he could do anything, Malfoy and his gang of four left the room.
"Care to explain?" he looked at Hermione with a scrutinizing glare "the both of you!" he finished, and looked over to his other friend "since when do you two hang out with Parkinson and Zabini? Did I miss something?" Harry asked, aware of how desperate for answers he sounded.
"There is nothing to explain, Harry, if they want to be our friends, we're not going to make it difficult for them, they are trying to make amends, and I understand why. After all, they can be who they are now, and not what their parents expected them to be" she seemed like she was reprimanding him, but he was too shocked to really care. He'd have never imagined his friends to be easily nice to Slytherins. But, he wasn't one to disagree that this year they'd all get to be themselves, and that he should give every student another chance, except Nott that is, he was just vulgar, and Harry didn't quite like him that much.
Today's schedule was definitely not easy. Harry didn't like Arithmancy very much, and picked it only because he thought it would be easier than the rest. There were students from all four houses, and Harry prayed to the Gods that Malfoy had picked some other course to attend, which is exactly what happened. Harry looked around for the first five minutes of class just to make sure Malfoy wasn't around. Once he was satisfied, he tried to focus and listen to everything their Professor said.
Hermione was beyond busy, scribbling down every syllable, and ignoring Harry and Ron's attempts at conversation. She gave them stern looks, and shushed them a few too many times. But neither of them did. The lesson was just too long and too boring for their taste, and they basically ran out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang.
They hurried to the Great Hall, Ron sulking because he has apparition, and Harry teasing both of thembecause they still had classes to attend, while he had finished for the day. However, Hermione didn't seem to mind.
"If you must know, I didn't come here to sit and play! I came here to learn, unlike the two of you" she imitated her previous bossy voice, and then giggled "I can't believe you, Harry" she said, more friendly this time "we haven't even begun term, and you're already bored, some of us have really changed, and you stayed the same" she smiled brightly, and sipped some juice.
"Who has changed?" Harry asked intrigued "Seamus, Dean, and Neville are all the same, doubt any of the girls did" Ron nodded in agreement.
"Malfoy certainly has" she said seriously, and turned to look at the blonde. Harry tried to hide his reaction to hearing Malfoy's name, and tried harder to find out why he was getting all worked up about such a thing.
"How exactly?" he couldn't help but ask, and Hermione told him how she saw him earlier in the library studying, and how Parkinson told her that she and Malfoy were taking Alchemy and Apparition this year, both very difficult classes. Harry suddenly wanted to kill himself for not picking those two, even though he didn't understand why he wanted to be in the same class as Malfoy. Hermione had Alchemy with him, and Harry thought he might be able to take advantage of her scrutinizing eyes.
"Watch him today, will you?" he asked his friend.
"Malfoy? Why?"
"I think he's up to something" Harry said suspiciously, after edging closer to Hermione.
"Oh, Harry! Don't be silly! Come on, let's go outside for a while before I have to go to class" she said, and got up to leave, Harry, Ron and Ginny following behind.
Wednesday, September 4th
Ron was a great friend, Harry decided. No matter what Harry asked of him, he'd always do it, no questions asked.
Harry had made him promise to pay close attention to Malfoy's behavior – whether in apparition, or while playing chess in the Dungeons.
"He looked out of it, mate" Ron began "he sat next to Parkinson, didn't say a thing to her, and when she tried to talk to him, he put his index finger on his mouth and shushed, like this" Ron imitated "Apparition is bloody fantastic, mate! It's very difficult though" the grin on Ron's face faded, and was replaced with a gloomy look.
"I bet it is, so what happened when you got to their common room?" Harry inquired as he adjusted himself on the edge of his bed. It was early morning, and Harry had made as much noise as he could to wake Ron up.
"Well, when I got there, they were already in the middle of a game, Malfoy won, but didn't brag about it, which is weird because he's an obnoxious prat, but when he saw me, he nodded and left, I played a couple of games, and I didn't see him come down again" he finished "oh and Zabini said Malfoy was acting strange lately, and when I asked him why, he just changed the subject" Ron said, seemingly proud of himself for gathering so much information for his friend. Harry thanked him wholeheartedly, and pretended not to be thinking about every little detail.
They went to class after they were done eating, and Harry's stomach dropped when he saw Malfoy approaching. He started looking around as not to make eye contact with the Slytherin, but his eyes kept wandering back. Charms was going to be a disaster.
Flitwick started explaining a new charm, and they were asked to perform it afterwards. Harry noticed Hermione going over to Ron and lifting his wand, while correcting his pronunciation. He smiled at his friends, and tried to do it himself. Instead of turning his quill to stone, however, he ended up blasting the whole desk. Apparently his pronunciation of "Duro" wasn't correct. The whole class started laughing, and while Flitwick tried to repair the desk, Harry noticed Malfoy look over and snicker. Harry smiled inwardly, and was thankful for his mistake.
Transfiguration was a complete bore, since it was with the Ravenclaws, and Harry had no one to stare at. However, Ron promised to tell him all about Apparition later, and Harry couldn't wait.
When Apparition was over, Ron joined Harry and Hermione in their common room. And Ginny joined the three of them.
"Did you hear?!" Ginny began to gossip as soon as she sat down. Hermione tried to look uninterested, but she was obviously the opposite.
"What?" she asked, after shaking her head disapprovingly.
"I heard Malfoy is dating one of the Greengrass girls, but yesterday Nott asked him out, and Padma told me they were going to come to dinner as a couple tonight! I really don't believe it! I mean Nott? Malfoy I might believe, though, he cares about his attire and his hair way too much to be straight" she giggled "but they would be cute together" she looked at Hermione who agreed with her immediately.
Harry, on the other hand, had mixed feelings about this. First off, Malfoy was NOT gay. Last year he had went out with at least two girls, then the war started and that was that. Also, Malfoy had went to the Yule Ball with a girl, and if he were gay, he wouldn't have. But what seemed to bother Harry the most is that Malfoy, if he were to be gay, would NEVER go out with Nott of all people, and they certainly don't look cute together. So, Harry tried to block out what his two friends were saying, and think about anything that isn't Malfoy-related.
That, however, was more difficult than Harry thought. And his mind kept throwing images of Malfoy and Nott in an empty alcove, Nott pressed to a wall, while Malfoy kissed up and down his neck. Harry felt rage boil inside him. He had no idea why he felt so angry. He definitely wasn't jealous, and he figured it must be his hatred for Malfoy, yes he was content with such an excuse. He refocused on his friends, hoping that they changed the subject.
"…Potions tomorrow" Ron was saying, and Harry relaxed a little. Ginny had left the group, and Hermione was sitting between both of Ron's legs, looking up at him with a book in her hand.
"Yes, we still have to write the essay for the DADA class, we should go to the library before dinner" Hermione said, and got up from her place, put the book in her bag, and looked ready to leave. Ron stood as well, and both of them looked at Harry, who decided that he should go with them instead of staying here, wallowing in self-pity.
