AN: Chapter two! Another two year old chapter, even if apparently nobody is interested :LLLLL.
Theodore sighed as he glanced around the Great Hall. There weren't many faces missing from the eighth years, but there were enough to be felt, even if they were not all dead. Crabbe, of course. Goyle had gone into hiding. One Ravenclaw boy, two girls. Two Hufflepuff boys, two more girls. No Gryffindor's. That stung a little. Their entire year group made it through alive. Ten of the most reckless, brash students in the whole school, made it to the end of the war.
He switched his attention to the Headmistress, who had moved off of the dais the professor's table was on. She gestured for the whole group to get up and follow her as she left the Hall. Theodore wondered what she wanted with them, and when he'd get to go to bed. It was draining, being back here.
"I'm sure most of you are confused, but you shall see in just a moment. Unfortunately, there are only enough dorm rooms for seven years of students. The magic that ensures a bed for each student is limited, and Hogwarts has never hosted such a large amount of students staying an extra year. So we have had to find alternate living quarters for you all. Of course, you will still be allowed access to your House common room, but you will be staying in rooms along… Here."
They were up to the fourth floor by then, and Theodore was feeling quite morose. There would be no return to the comfort of his old bed, no more staying up late in the Slytherin common room. Could his mood get any worse?
"Now, I'm afraid that there are few spaces readily available for such a large group of people to be living in, and we agreed that you lot would need to stick close together. No need to have eight different common rooms spread out across the castle when we could have five. So this," here, she pointed to a suit of armor standing in an alcove. "Is the entrance to your common room. Give him the password and he will let you in. You may let friends from the younger years in, but they are not to stay the night. Password is 'Concordia.' Inside, there are entrances to two smaller common rooms. One is for the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students, your dorm rooms are to be found inside. The other is for the Gryffindor and Slytherin students. Does everybody understand?"
Yes. His mood could indeed get worse. He would be sharing living space with them? He could take living with anybody else, but not those Merlin-be-damned Gryffindors. He would become a bitter, twisted mockery of a man if he had to face them every day, see the judgment on their faces. The righteous anger of the wronged.
"Professor, is this the only way to get into the smaller common rooms? And are there passwords for the entrances in this common room?"
"Excellent questions, Miss Granger. No, this is not the only way to enter the smaller rooms. Further down the corridor, there is a painting of two tigers. This is the alternate entrance to the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw common room. Password is 'Gratiam.' You may change it if you do not feel comfortable with the other Houses knowing. Back down that end, is a painting of two children in a forest. This, obviously, is the Slytherin/Gryffindor entrance. Password is 'Secundum.' These passwords will also be needed to go through the inner entrances. Doorway to the left is the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw common room, doorway to the right is for the Slytherin/Gryffindor common room. Now, apologies for keeping you so long from your rest. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Professor."
The eighth years all stood there awkwardly for a moment, before Granger sighed and pushed through until she reached the suit of armor. "Concordia."
The armor moved one his hands back (it looked to Theodore as though he were pressing one of the stones behind him), and a section of wall next to his alcove melted away, rather like Diagon Alley. He was impressed despite himself. It was a good place to hide living quarters, nobody would think anything was out of place. He did wonder how they would be able to get out though. Would it be like his old common room? Or would they have to repeat the password to get out?
Distractedly, he noticed the others were all following Potter, Granger and Weasley through the portal and down the few stairs into the common room. He stepped through with Tracey, leaving Draco and Pansy to collect themselves behind him. He held no envy for those two, nor sympathy. It had been their choice to continue to antagonize the Gryffindor trio over the years, and now they would have to face up to the consequences.
His train of thought was interrupted when he saw the inside of the eighth year common room. "Granger," because Theodore had a feeling she'd been in here previously. "Why are our walls purple?"
There were snickers from several boys, Potter and Weasley the loudest. Granger just looked exasperated. "The house elves didn't know what to do about color, without using our House colors. They couldn't find a way to match them all up either, so they just used different ones."
Potter and Weasley burst out laughing at this, and Granger scowled. "These two idiots helped, of course. You wouldn't believe the color schemes they came up with!" She sounded a little scandalized. Of course, knowing those two, the muggle-born girl could well be traumatized by overexposure to them and their oh-so brilliant ideas.
"Was this where you three disappeared to then, Hermione? Those last two weeks of restoration?"
That question, coming from the Bones girl, was uttered right as Draco and Pansy stepped through the entry-way. Awkward tension settled in the air. Draco had frozen just inside and was staring straight ahead, avoided everybody's gaze. Pansy was determinedly clinging to his arm, glaring at anybody who would meet her eyes. Theodore sighed, about to intervene, when – who else – the Savior stepped in.
"It's about time you two joined us in here. Shut the door, will ya?" Potter's annoyingly cheerful voice seemed to be enough for the other students to cool down. If the Golden Boy was going to act like everything was fine, then so would they. Theodore hated to admit it, but he was glad Potter was there. He wasn't so sure if the Slytherin students would have been able to protect themselves, much less each other, from the other three Houses. Even though not all of them had been Death Eaters, (only three of them had been, actually), none of them had fought during the battle either. And he knew that none of the Slytherins in his year had helped during the restoration of Hogwarts. Things were bound to be tense until the situation was settled – one way or another.
"And yes, Susan, we were in here. McGonagall pretty much let us have free reign over decoration – so I decided we needed Luna's expertise." This statement was accompanied with a cheeky grin, and effectively distracted the eighth years, if their gaping was any indication.
"Oh Harry! You let Luna loose in here?"
"Lovegood did this?!"
"What on Earth possessed you to give Luna Lovegood free reign over our common room?"
Theodore listened to the clamor that had risen up with Potter's words. The approving looks Weasley and Granger sent him, and the wink he shot back, convinced him that this was what he had intended. The young Lord was reluctantly impressed. Who knew that Harry Potter, the consummate Gryffindor, had a Slytherin streak?
A thought occurred to him then. Why was Potter shielding Malfoy? Merlin only knew how much those two loathed each other. What was his game? What could possibly be in it for Potter? His saintly image? No, Theodore knew Potter had never put much stock in his fame. Having Malfoy indebted to him? He already had that, after saving him and Narcissa from Azkaban. Maybe he was just reaffirming that fact with Malfoy. Making sure that the blond idiot knew who was in charge. Except…. That wasn't Potter. It didn't fit his whole martyr image.
That line of thinking was frustrating Theodore to no end, so he put it in the back of his head to ponder later. He tuned back in just in time for Potter to reenter the conversation. Lovely.
"Hey, come on guys! Leave Luna alone. Besides, she did a great job didn't she?"
Theodore had to admit, it was more understated than anything he'd expect from Loony Lovegood. The walls were a very light shade of purple, (he'd be damned if he ever learned the name of that shade), and covered with a pattern of some sort, painted white. He could not make heads nor tails of the pattern, with all its spirals and curves, but admittedly, the overall effect was quite soothing. The carpet beneath his feet was slate grey, thick and soft. It was a few shades darker than the furniture, which was more of a dove grey, he thought, and which also looked very comfortable. There was a huge fireplace made of white marble on the back wall, opposite the entrance. Vaguely he wondered where the marble had come from. All of the tables set out around the room, and the shelving on either side of the fireplace were made from the same dark wood as the two doors that probably lead to the smaller common rooms. All in all, Theodore thought it was quite pleasant.
Judging by the murmurs he could hear from his year mates, they obviously agreed. Some of them looked as though they had been stunned upright. He wasn't the only one surprised by Lovegood's apparent skill at interior decoration then.
Potter smirked at them. "Luna designed the entire eighth year suite, along with the elves. You can thank her tomorrow."
Granger sighed and poked him in the side, causing him to yelp. She gave him a look, and then stepped forward. "We, as in Harry and I, wanted to talk to all of you together, but I think we're all too tired to have this discussion right now. Could everybody please meet up in here at six-thirty tomorrow morning? The meeting shouldn't be longer than half an hour and then we can all go to breakfast."
There was some grumbling, but everybody gave nods of assent. Granger smiled at them, before shooing the 'Claws and the 'Puffs towards their door. "Goodnight then! Get a good sleep, we'll need you alert in the morning!"
"Merlin, she's a mother hen," Tracey muttered to Theodore as they joined the group being herded by Potter towards the other door. "I hope she's not like this all the time."
Theodore gave a low laugh in agreement. He was slightly tense, having just noticed that they Slytherins and Gryffindors were no longer separate. The two groups had merged going through to their shared common room, and he had no idea what would happen when the volatile lions had the snakes at their mercy.
His worries were unfounded, however. As soon as Potter, who was last in, closed the door behind him, he walked over to the staircase that Theodore presumed led to the boys dormitories, with a sleepy, "Night all!" tossed over his shoulder. And like ducklings, the other Gryffindor boys followed him, as the girls followed Granger.
Theodore's shoulders loosened, but only a little. They still had to go upstairs to get to their beds. There could still be a confrontation. It was looking unlikely now, but there was still a chance of the Gryffs jumping them. He could probably defend himself, as could the other two, but not against all five at once. The other Slytherin's looked like they were having similar thoughts, until Daphne tossed back her head.
"I. Am. Exhausted. I am going upstairs, and I am going to put a proximity charm around my bed, and then I am going to get in and go to sleep. They are Gryffindors. They are rash, and impulsive, and the most temperamental people on Earth, but more importantly, they are Potter's Gryffindors. That means that they are idiotically noble, and they will not attack us tonight. Or any other night, unless we give them a reason to. So I suggest you all follow my lead, and get some sleep before Granger's big meeting tomorrow morning."
And with that, she walked, quite calmly, up the stairs to the girls' dorm. Uncharacteristically sharing a few nervous looks, Pansy, Tracey and Millicent followed the blonde-haired girl up the staircase. Without a word or a look at their common room, the three boys followed their example and climbed up to their own dorm.
Theodore could not get to sleep. He lay in his four-poster bed, eyes wide and staring into the semi-dark of the dorm room, ears straining for any hint of a surprise ambush. It was difficult though, because great Merlin, could those Gryffindors snore. He supposed that he was being rather paranoid – not a good state to be in – but he was a naturally cautious person, and being surrounded by the 'enemy' was taking a toll on his nerves.
A whispering sound caught his attention, and he almost stopped breathing. He lay still, trying to catch any sound that would give him a clue as to what was going on. Hushed voices started up a minute later.
"Move yours, or enlarge mine?"
What on… Theodore could not make that sentence make any sort of sense, so he listened carefully for the answer.
"Hmm, enlarge yours, I think. Moving mine will make too much noise."
That was Potter! He would know that voice anywhere. The other was most likely Weasley then.
"Now, or should we wait?"
"I'll do it."
Theodore heard Potter whisper an enlargement charm, and then sheets rustling. Suddenly, it all clicked. They were talking about the beds. Potter and Weasley had just made one of their beds bigger, presumably to fit the both of them. Well this was unexpected. The hero and his hothead sidekick were sharing a bed, in secret, if the waiting and the whispering were anything to go by. What, however, had Weasley meant when he'd asked about waiting?
His answer came barely a minute after he'd had the thought. The dorm room door slowly opened, and a figure slipped inside before gently closing it. In the dim lighting, Theodore caught sight of a head of bushy hair and blinked in realization. Granger. Weasley was asking if they should wait for their know-it-all friend to cast the charm. He watched as the girl crawled onto the magically enlarged bed and situated herself in between the two boys. How interesting. The Golden Trio all slept together in the same bed. It had been going on for a while, judging by the ease with which the three arranged themselves around each other.
Theodore wondered if they were in a polygamous relationship. There had been rumours that the Golden Trio were in fact in love with each other, but Theodore had always disregarded those as silly. He had been a part of the group that thought Weasley and Granger would get together romantically, and Potter was just ridiculously affectionate. Now though, he wasn't so sure.
He was still pondering this as he fell asleep.