Chocolate

The last half of the summer went by much too quickly for Harry's liking. The boys - Harry, Blaise and Jason - spent the rest of their summer break at the Zabini villa and Harry was spoiled beyond what he thought was physically possible. It wasn't just from the luxury of the expansive home, but the lack of chores required of him and the freedom to just be Harry.

Harry was also rather convinced that Cari - one of the two Zabini owned house elves - was determined to fatten him up. Every time Harry turned around Cari offered snacks or treats, fruits and drinks. While breakfast and lunch were held in the family dining room, dinners were a whole other affair.

Dinners were held in the formal dining room. Each night the three teens dressed properly in trousers, button down shirts and a tie. Mrs. Zabini sat at the head of the table, poised and proper, with Blaise at her immediately left. She sat Harry to her right and Jason to Blaise's left. The evening meals served a purpose; while they were a captivating time of food, talk and laughter, they also taught the boys to be gentlemen.

Harry had forgotten just how loud Platform 9¾ could be. The noise - shouting and laughter, carts, trunks and familiars - was assaulting on his nerves from every side. New and returning students along with siblings and parents, squawking or screeching fowl, squealing rats and croaking frogs all had a voice in the cacophony orchestra.

Jason had run off to stow his trunk. Blaise sighed at his mother's fussing. The more he grew impatient, the more she fussed until she was plucking imaginary lint simply to annoy her son. His tone was blatantly filled with exasperation. "Mother…"

Mrs. Zabini chuckled softly, cupped Blaise's face and gently kissed his forehead. "You'll miss me."

"That is a given, yet your constant fussing will not be." With a sheepish grin, Blaise kissed his mother's cheek and made his way to the train, trunk in tow.

"Come on, Potter!" Jason grabbed Alia's trunk, having successfully stowed his own already. Alia left her parents' side and walked along with him. Jason grinned at Mrs. Zabini and waved, "Thanks again, Mrs. Zabini."

"You are most welcome, Mr. Vaisey." Mrs. Zabini curled her slender fingers in a small wave. She tilted her head and looked at the young man beside her. "Mr. Potter?"

Harry brushed his fingers through his hair lambasting the new haircut with a soft sigh that did not go unnoticed. Mrs. Zabini gently pulled Harry's hand away and clucked at him, but the smile softened the small reprimand. Harry blushed and scuffed his shoe, "Sorry."

"You will get accustomed to it. Give it time." Mrs. Zabini carded her fingers through his hair, straightening it. She cupped his chin in the palm of her hand, "Thank you for allowing me to have your hair cut. It is a joy to finally see your eyes. They're as lovely as your mother's."

Harry was stunned. That was the first time Mrs. Zabini mentioned either of his parents and he blinked owlishly at her. "You knew my mother?"

Mrs. Zabini hummed softly, "Hmm, as well as any Slytherin can know a Gryffindor. Your mother had a kind heart. You are very much like her."

He grinned, eyes dancing with the warmth her comment brought to him. "Thank you. For… well, everything."

"You are welcome at the villa anytime, Mr. Potter." She gave his chin a soft squeeze before releasing him. "For now I suggest boarding the train before you are left behind."

Harry's eyes widened and he looked behind him. "Right, thanks! Bye, Mrs. Zabini." He grinned at Jason's parents, "Bye Mr. and Mrs. Vaisey!"

The three adults waved at the boy as he handed Hedwig to Blaise who was waiting for him at the steps. Blaise disappeared around the corridor and Jason replaced him to grab the end of Harry's trunk. The train whistle blew a long tenor note. Jason heaved the trunk onto the train and Harry quickly scampered up the steps.

"Cutting it a bit close," Jason stacked Harry's belongings with the others and the two went to find Blaise.

"Sorry," Harry had no excuse. He loved Hogwarts yet felt hesitant to get on the train. He gave Jason a small shrug and pointed to their left at the compartment occupied by Blaise and Hermione. "There they are."

"That is one ugly-" Jason's words were cut off by his grunt of pain when Harry nudged him. From the small shake of Harry's head as the only indication he'd receive, Jason left the rest of his comment about Hermione's new cat unsaid. "Hey, Granger."

Blaise smirked behind his book, but kept his opinion to himself. Hermione frowned at Jason, hugging Crookshanks tighter for the slight. "How was your summer, Jason?"

Jason slid into the seat beside Blaise. "Great. You?"

"Mostly uneventful," Hermione smiled at Harry who slipped past to take the seat beside her. He leaned closer and scratched Crookshanks behind his ear, eliciting the loud purr. "Mum took me to Diagon Alley for a bit of shopping, bumped into Harry while we were there. Did you tell them what Fred and George said?"

Harry laid his head back and closed his eyes. "Of course I did. You spend a month with two blokes, the subject of Sirius Black is bound to come up."

Blaise looked over his book at Harry, "Mother went to school with him. Never talks much about that time of her life."

Opening his eyes, Harry pondered that statement, "Think it was that bad or just because we never asked? I mean, she mentioned knowing my mum just now. She mentioned I have her eyes."

Hermione smiled at Harry, "Well that's sweet."

Harry stared out the window, lost in his thoughts. The conversation continued between the friends. Blaise would grow quiet to read on occasion, but mostly they talked about their summer, their expectations for the upcoming school year and Crookshanks napped.

It was at least two hours into their trip that the train came to an unscheduled halt. Naturally that caused a bit of a stir along the length of the train. Blaise glanced out the window with a frown, but it was Hermione that said what was on their collective minds, "It's too early; we can't possibly be at Hogwarts already."

The lights flickered once. The teens stiffened in surprise. The lights flicked again a number of times consecutively. Hermione grabbed Harry's hand. The compartment grew colder while the window fogged over and Crookshanks stirred, nervously mewing. The cat's attention was drawn to the door, his fur rose and he hissed a warning. Shadows moved in the hallway.

"Stay here." Harry stood and Hermione grabbed his hand again. He gave her hand a squeeze, gave her a reassuring grin and dutifully ignored the butterflies fighting in his stomach. Even his voice was deceptively steady, "It's going to be fine. I'll just take a quick peek out in the corridor and see if there's any news."

Harry gripped the compartment door and slid it open in time to come face to face with a large skeletal creature in black tattered robes that hung loosely over its body. The bulbous head was shrouded in the hood but the rattling sound that came out as its voice echoed in Harry's mind.

He held onto the door, his mind screamed for him to close it, but his body refused to react. Harry's vision blurred, his heart ached with sadness and despair and somewhere someone screamed seconds before a flash of green light turned to utter darkness.

"Harry?" He heard a voice. He thought he might even have recognized the voice. "Please, Harry. Wake up." It was a pleasant voice that made him want to smile, if only his face would cooperate. It kept talking to him, but the voice was muffled and far away. It was too much work to get closer to the voice to clearly hear the words spoken, and he just didn't have the energy to search for it. He sighed in exhaustion. "Oh thank goodness."

He blinked his eyes open. It was too bright. He immediately closed his eyes again. He was lying at an odd angle. He tried to move. It hurt. Harry winced as pain lanced through his head and he squeezed his eyes closed. "Blimey, what was that?" His voice was low, groggy and hoarse. It sounded like it belonged to someone else, but Harry was pretty sure that those words reflected his thoughts, his lips moved and breath came from his lungs.

Then again the speed of the connection between thought and action was severely hampered and if he had to guess, it may have been moving backwards. He was still lying down on the floor after all and his brain told his body to sit up. His eyes were screwed shut and his brain told them to open.

"That was a Dementor."

Harry's eyes flew open and he frantically scrambled away, until his back slammed against the wall. A wave of pain and nausea washed over him. Harry gripped his head to keep it from swooning, but he didn't mean to hiss and whimper, "Ow."

"Careful," His voice sounded amused much to Harry's annoyance. He looked around the room at his friends. Blaise frowned at him, Jason looked confused and Hermione was worried and practically strangled Crookshanks in her embrace. There was a man with short light brown hair, somnolent hazel eyes and a serene smile, crouching before him holding something out.

"What is a Dementor?" Harry straightened his glasses, struggled to sit up right, glanced at his hand and raised an eyebrow at the stranger.

"A Dementor is a foul, dark creature and a guard at Azkaban. Why they are here on this train is another question and one I intend to find an answer for." He gestured to Harry again, "I'm Professor Lupin. Eat this, it will make you feel better."

The hand that slowly reached forward for the chocolate the professor offered trembled and Harry let it drop to his lap. "Bugger."

Lupin tsked, "Language, Harry. Here," He took Harry's hand and put the chocolate on the palm of his flaccid hand. "Be sure to eat all of that. It really will make you feel better." The professor stood and watched Harry for a moment. "Now if you'll excuse me. I need to speak with the conductor."

The man left and closed the door behind him. He looked at Harry - who avoided his gaze - through the window pane of the compartment door before moving down the hall. Harry closed his hand around the chocolate and closed his eyes with a soft groan. "Well, that was embarrassing. Not exactly a stellar first impression with a new professor."

Hermione set Crookshanks on the bench. "You had us worried." She sat on the floor beside him, took the chocolate from his hand and broke off a small piece. "You should eat this."

Harry opened his eyes and looked at her, obediently opening his mouth so she could drop the bite on his tongue. Slowly he chewed and despite wanting to laugh off the affect that chocolate could possibly have on him at the moment, he really did feel a bit better. Harry pushed himself up to sit properly. "Thanks."

She fed him another bite, "You really scared me." Harry smiled wearily and leaned his shoulder against hers.

"Sorry about that." Harry suddenly felt exhausted, but continued to eat the chocolate that was now shared with Hermione as she would eat a bite for every one she gave Harry.

"I've only ever read about Dementors before; nasty things that suck all the happiness and peace from a person's soul to leave you with nothing but horrors and despair, a shell of what you were and turn you into one of them." Blaise sat back on the bench after relating his limited knowledge, his book curled into his grip and jumped when Crookshanks hopped onto his lap. "Bloody cat." Despite his words, the teen rubbed Crookshanks head.

Edited 10/12/2016