Chapter 2 – Roommates

Harry felt free and exhilarated, as he always did after a practice with the guys. It was the only time he felt that way. Not even flying gave him the freedom and relief from the realities of life that his music did.
He was grateful he had discovered music when he had. It had given him the break he needed to keep sane, and had been what brought him and Pansy together. He would be forever grateful to whatever God had brought Pansy to him. She was his best friend and confidante, a rock he could lean on when he needed, and he was her rock.
When he had found her that night in the Astronomy Tower, that first night of their new roomateship, he had been tempted to turn around and leave before the Slytherin saw him, but something made him stay. Something made him walk closer, and allowed him to see the tears on her cheeks and the anguish in her eyes.

He had sat down next to her and remained silent. She had stiffened, but had not moved away. "What do you want, Potter? I suppose you're going to run back to your little fans and tell them how Slytherin bitch Parkinson is up here bawling her eyes out like a Hufflepuff, eh?" she said bitterly.

Harry looked at her. "No,actually. Contary to popular Slytherin belief, I don't spend my time thinking up ways to humiliate you. I wouldn't tell anyone anything. Besides, who would believe me?"

She had snorted, but said nothing more, and he didn't try to make her talk. They just sat there together for a while longer, in a somewhat comfortable silence. Harry had known something was bothering the Slytherin girl, but he had no right to ask.

Harry grinned, and pulled himself from the memory of his and Pansy's first non-hostile encounter. He was hungry, and knew that there would still be people eating in the Great Hall, and so made his way there instead of the kitchens, his growling stomach propelling him forward at a quicker speed. All thoughts of food were pushed out of his mind, however, when he stepped into the Hall and it went deathly quiet. He frowned and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. 'What is it now?' he wondered, as angry, and even some hateful, glares were directed at him.
"Now what's your problem?" he asked with a roll of his eyes, his voice echoing in the Hall.

A Ravenclaw stood up. "You are evil, you woman beater!" he yelled.

Harry was flabbergasted. "Excuse me?" He didn't even know how this rumor could have possibly been started. "I don't know what the bloody hell you're talking about. I have never in my life hit a woman."

"There's a first for everything! Going to 'beat that bitch and teach her no one fucks with you and gets away with it', are ya?" a Gryffindor sneered at him, his brow raised.

Harry frowned. That sounded somewhat familiar to him, but he didn't know why.

"And then let your friends take a turn at her?" a Hufflepuff asked.

Harry's eyes widened. He turned to the Slytherin table and saw Pansy try to slink away from the table and hide in the shadows. "PANSY! WHAT did you DO?" he demanded loudly, knowing that she must've been eavesdropping on his practice.

She slowly made her way over to him. "I'm sorry Harry. I just wanted everyone to hear how good you were, because you would've never done it yourself. I didn't know you would start talking about the game like that! And I couldn't remember the proper pronunciation for the counter spell!" she explained and finished with a wince, expecting him to start yelling. Instead, he started laughing.

"You are an idiot, Pans. I can't believe you would do this! You know I didn't want anyone to know about my music. And now they all think I beat up girls. Paaansy....I swear...." His voice had gone from laughing to angry to exasperation.

She blushed. "I really am sorry. I didn't intend for any of this to hurt you. I really wanted to help. I thought if you saw how much everyone loved your music, you would have some self confidence and would want to ...I don't know, accept the position of entertainer for the dances and balls." Harry sighed. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," she pouted.

"I know, I know. Sheesh, why can't I ever stay angry at you? No wonder you're so damned spoiled." He smirked, and she returned it. He looked around the Great Hall, its occupants still staring at him.
"I assure you, I have never hit a woman, and never intend to. If you don't want to take my word for it, which you never do, then go ahead and believe I'm a woman beater. I don't care." He turned and started toward the doors, stopping next to the Slytherin table, and snatching a buttered roll off Malfoy's plate. He grinned, took a bite from it, and continued on his way.

Pansy laughed. "That, ladies and gentlemen, was Harry Potter! Lead singer of his unnamed band!" She started clapping and walked out of the hall, still clapping, and ignoring the stares she was receiving.

Severus Snape, Potions Master extraordinaire, spy against Voldemort, most feared wizard of the century, terror of Gryffindor, head of Slytherin House, and Mr. in-Control was shocked. The voice singing belonged to Harry Potter, bane of his existence, Mr. I-Refuse-to-Die-and-You-Can't-Make-Me Potter?

Needless to say, he was surprised. 'Potter actually has some talent in something, after all. Who knew?' Severus watched the exchange between Potter and Parkinson with interest. It still boggled his mind how the two could possibly be friends. It blew him away each time that Parkinson meant so much to Potter that he would chose her over his two Gryffindor sidekicks.

Snape had thought in the very beginning it was a mistake to put a Slytherin and a Gryffindor in the same living space and expect them to survive it. But he had been amazed when they came out of it as best friends. By Harry's seventeenth birthday, he was ready to abandon his friends for her. Of course, it had been Weasley and Granger who had abandoned Harry, claiming him to be a traitor, but that didn't matter. When they had given him the choice between them and Pansy, Harry had replied without hesitation, Pansy. 'That'll be one birthday he'll never forget,' Severus thought idly, watching Harry and Pansy leave the hall.

Pansy walked next to Harry. "I'm glad you forgive me. I thought you would be angry for much longer," she said, letting him see how relieved she was. However, that feeling turned into extreme nervousness when Harry looked at her with a mischievous smirk and a glint in his eyes. "Whhhhhhat?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I forgive you, but you're not off the hook yet, my Lady. My revenge will be sweet, and when you least expect it."

She gulped. "What are you planning? Come on, you wouldn't do anything too bad, right?" He just laughed, somewhat maniacally, not calming her fears in the least bit.

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PAST(Three months earlier)

Cradling his broken arm, and limping on his broken ankle, a bloody and bruised, naked Harry Potter made his way into the bathroom across from his prison bedroom and locked the door. Although it was summer, Dumbledore was waiting downstairs, and his uncle was both livid and terrified. He had sent his wife up to get Harry cleaned up and presentable looking, however nearly impossible that would be, considering he had been more brutal than usual to his nephew last night.
Petunia had left some clothes on the counter, along with a towel. He slowly fiddled with the water nozzles and then turned the shower on. He removed his glasses, and set them on top of his clothes. He moved slowly, each movement causing him immeasurable amounts of pain.

As soon as the hot water hit his skin, he fought to keep himself from screaming as the heated pressure pounded down on his bruised and sensitive skin. He lathered himself up as thoroughly as he could with the soap, taking this rare opportunity to try and cleanse his body of the filth his uncle had left. It was fruitless. No matter how much he scrubbed, he still felt as dirty as before. The only difference was he hurt more. Shampooing his hair was pure hell, as his right arm was broken, and his left shoulder was dislocated. He could hardly raise his arms to do the job. He washed the blood and dirt and grime from his hair, watching through blurred vision as the filth flowed down his body and mixed with the water at his feet, turning it a revolting shade of brown and red. He rinsed his hair, wincing as the water and shampoo stung the open wound on his head. After that, he was done. He wanted to stand under the hot spray and just enjoy it for a few minutes, but he knew he couldn't keep Dumbledore or his uncle waiting, or things would be worse for him later that night.

He dried off, and painfully pulled on the clothes. The itchy material of the hand-me-downs irritated his raw flesh and he felt like he was on fire. He pushed his glasses on and winced when he looked in the mirror. The entire right side of his face was swollen and bruised an ugly shade of purple and blue. He tried to use his hair to cover some of it, but there was no way he could keep it secret from the sharp and observant Dumbledore.

As he opened the door and made his way slowly down the hall and then down the stairs, he tried to come up with a cover story. When he finally made his way into the living room, Vernon was pale-faced and glaring hatefully at a seemingly oblivious Dumbledore, who was chatting away at a mute Petunia about the wonders of lemon drops.
"Sorry I took so long, Headmaster," Harry said softly.

Dumbledore stopped and looked at Harry, his blue eyes twinkling merrily and smiled. "Not at all, my boy. Your aunt is quite the conversationalist! We were just discussing lemon drops." His smile dimmed though, when he noticed the swollen and discolored side of Harry's face. "My boy! What on earth happened to you?" he asked, standing up and stepping towards him.

Harry smiled as much as his face would allow and attempted to reassure his Headmaster. "I'm fine, Headmaster. I got into a fight with some guys down the street and I took a few hits. Nothing to worry about," he said.

Dumbledore nodded and 'hmm'd' but smiled. "Oh, well, alright then. Though, you really shouldn't be getting into fights," he said, but continued on before Harry could argue. "I've come, Harry, because I decided you might like to enjoy spending the rest of your summer at Hogwarts, with the staff. I know it might be a little boring without your friends, but you're a creative boy. I'm sure you could find something to do to occupy yourself."

Harry stared at him incredulously. Inside he was churning, in a state of disbelief. 'You've got to be kidding me. You're lying, Dumbledore. You've never allowed me to stay at school before. You said I could only be safe here, at the Dursleys. Either you were lying then, or you're lying now. If you are lying now, that means I'm no longer safe here. . .from Voldemort, I'm not safe here anymore, not a minute in this house.' However confused Harry was, he was not about to pass up a chance to get away from the Dursleys. This was supposed to be his last summer with the Dursleys, which meant he would've never had to return after the coming school year. Now he wouldn't have to spend the remainder of this summer being raped and tortured by his Uncle. "You're right, Headmaster. I would love to spend the summer break at Hogwarts. I, also, am sure I could find something to occupy my time."

Dumbledore smiled brightly. "Excellent, excellent. Well then, we shall leave immediately. Why don't you go to your room and pack your things. I'll wait here."

Harry nodded and walked as quickly as was possible for him up the stairs and to the room that would never again be his prison. His uncle had left his school trunk in the room, but had left it locked with multiple padlocks. Fortunately, Harry found, the locks had been removed. 'Petunia,' he thought, unable to call her 'Aunt,' even in his head. Since his trunk was all he had, as he'd left Hedwig and her cage at school, he was ready in two minutes. Thankfully, he'd charmed the trunk to be featherlight whenever he touched it before he'd left school a few weeks ago, and so he was able to leave quickly and easily.

Once he was downstairs, he stood a few feet in front of Dumbledore, waiting. Dumbledore smiled and reached into his robe. He pulled out a bag of lemon drops and held one out to Harry. Harry started to reach for it, his arm still radiating pain, until Dumbledore told him it was a portkey. Suddenly, Harry dropped his arm, and looked at the smiling, twinkling, crazy old man standing in front of him.

"How do I know you're really Dumbledore? After all, he's never asked me to stay at Hogwarts before. You could be a Death Eater trying to trick me into taking the portkey. For all I know I'll end up in a dungeon somewhere, with Voldemort pointing a wand at me, ready to kill."

Dumbledore laughed. "Very good, Harry. I see I have misunderestimated you. Very wise of you to ask questions. Let's see, would you like to question me under veritaserum?" he asked, his eyes twinkling. Harry shook his head. "No. I'm sure you could beat it." Dumbledore laughed.

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A short time, and a game of twenty questions later, they arrived in Hogsmeade. Dumbledore took the opportunity to cast several healing spells on Harry, to try to undo some of the damage which had been done by Dursley on the boy's body. They made their way up to the castle in a companionable silence. Once they had reached the Castle doors, Dumbledore started talking. "I've decided that Gryffindor tower would be too large and lonely for you to stay by yourself this summer, so I've arranged for a suite of rooms to be prepared for you to stay in. They'll be yours for this summer, and whenever you want them. Even after you graduate."

Harry smiled, a sense of happiness and relief filling his heart. He'd been so afraid he wouldn't be able to come back after he graduated, but now he knew he could.

As they reached the gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office, the old wizard spoke again.
"There's just one thing. . .you will not be alone in these rooms. I have another student staying, and I thought it best if you two were roommates." His eyes were twinkling madly.

Harry frowned. "Who is it?" he asked as they rode the revolving staircase up to the office.
Dumbledore smiled, spoke that week's password, "Everlasting Gobstoppers", and opened the door. He motioned for Harry to go in first, following after, then closing the door. Harry gasped. There, sitting in a chair looking forlorn, was Pansy Parkinson. Dumbledore took his seat behind his desk and smiled.
"Harry, I'd like you to meet your roommate. I believe you know Pansy Parkinson?"

TBC

AN: haha! anyone know where I got the word "misunderestimated'?