A/N: Sorry this one took so long to get out! I don't know what it was so hard to write...
A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed this story! You guys are a great motivation.
Enjoy!
The first week of classes made Harry realize that he was going to be bored out of his mind all year long. He would most likely want to bash his head against the castle walls by the time Sixth Year rolled around. It was a simple thing to forget, really, that he would have to do all of his classwork and homework again. At least this time he would know exactly what his professor's expected of their students. Maybe that was considered cheating, but Harry couldn't bring himself to care, considering the circumstances.
The brunette knew that he would need something actually intellectually stimulating in order for him to retain some semblance of sanity during his school years. He could try to read every book in the Hogwarts library, Harry supposed. He could plan out every move he could make against Voldemort from the shadows in meticulous detail. He might even be able to somehow get Dumbledore to start his hunt for the Horcruxes years early, ergo ending the war years early.
He sighed into his pillow. It was way too early for heavy thoughts. The meager amount of light shining through his window told him that it was too early for him to be awake. Casting a quick Tempus, he saw that it was only just past six o'clock. His brain was already racing and he felt wide awake, so he knew there was no way he could manage any more sleep. Harry climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
He had been extremely pleased to learn that each Slytherin had their own private bathroom attached to their dorm room. No more awkward moments when someone forgot their towel and didn't have their wand there to summon one. Harry decided on a steaming hot shower to loosen the already tense muscles in his back and neck. He could tell it was going to be a very tiring day.
.
Harry decided over breakfast, when Draco made a snarky remark about the Chosen One, that Longbottom Watching was going to be one of Harry's distractions of sorts. If he analyzed the boy enough, he might be able to better help him defeat Voldemort. So far Harry knew that Neville Longbottom was pretty much the same as he had been when Harry was the Boy-Who-Lived. The only exception was that Neville now had Ron and Hermione to force him into an attitude that was much more suitable for a Gryffindor. This made Harry ponder how much of his own bravery had been due to Ron and Hermione. He still felt utterly betrayed by both his two former friends and Dumbledore, and couldn't stand to look at them without his face creasing in anger.
One thing that really upset the Slytherin was the fact that Dumbledore had meddled in his life. When the Headmaster had mentioned the meddling at the train station after Harry had lost to Voldemort, Harry had never expected the old man's manipulations to run as deep as they had. Harry had expected the extent of the man's meddling to be contained to his hunt for the Horcruxes and the many times he had faced Voldemort. He had never thought of the possibility that Dumbledore would condition him to be the hero that the Wizarding World expected him to be.
"I mean, he isn't a very impressive wizard. I would have thought that the Chosen One would be exponentially more powerful than Longbottom is," Draco was oblivious to Harry's wandering mind as he sneered at the Golden Trio.
Harry's gaze traveled to the table at the front of the hall where the Headmaster sat. The betrayal he felt for the man was nearly crippling. He had thought that Ron and Hermione had wanted to be his friends out of genuine kindness, not because they had been ordered to by Dumbledore.
"Why do you dislike the Headmaster so much, Harry?" Harry looked at his blonde friend with surprise. He knew that if he lied to his friend, that his would lose some of the trust he had earned from his fellow Slytherin.
"I can't seem to get over the amount of meddling the old man has already done in the Chosen One's life. He handpicked his friends for Merlin's sake."
Draco nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I just don't understand why Longbottom's situation affects you so much."
Harry shrugged, "I guess I just wouldn't want him meddling like that in my life."
"Thank goodness you're not the Chosen One, Harry." Harry and Draco smirked at one another. The brunette let a chuckle rumble through his chest. If only his friend knew.
The day's classes passed uneventfully. Harry spent most of the time trying to plan the unveiling of Voldemort on the back of Quirrell's head at some point before he went after the Philosopher's Stone. No matter how much he tried to remember situations that it would have been easy for the man's turban to "accidentally" unwrap itself, he couldn't think of a single one. Harry had let many frustrated sighs loose, causing Draco to roll his eyes at him.
"Just because you already seem to know most of this, doesn't mean that you can ruin it by putting a damper on my mood," Draco whispered to him during Charms with a half-hearted glare.
"Sorry," Harry had murmured, not even looking at the blonde. He didn't even look at his feather when he flicked and swished his wand at it to levitate it.
"Very good, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger!" Professor Flitwick, a short balding man, praised the two, who were the first to manage the spell. Harry scoffed internally. If only the man knew.
After the day's classes, Harry and Draco spent the remainder of their time before dinner by the lake doing homework. Draco seemed slightly annoyed at how quickly and effortlessly Harry had managed to finish his work. The blonde went back to work, oblivious to what Harry was plotting behind his emerald eyes.
He needed to tell Draco some of the truth. Harry knew that his friend was as loyal as any Hufflepuff to his true friends – not that he'd ever tell him that out of fear of being hexed. Even just the last couple days of befriending Draco had proven to Harry that the two would be nearly inseparable in the years to come. The Gryffindor turned Slytherin just needed to decide when and how to tell Draco about his past.
His thoughts were distracted by the Golden Trio walking out of the castle and towards Hagrid's hut. He suppressed a sigh to avoid Draco's suspicion. Hagrid had always been pleasant company, and he doubted that his old friend would want anything to do with him as a Slytherin. This upset Harry. How many Slytherins had been denied basic friendships and pleasantries for simply being a member of the Hogwarts House with the worst reputation?
The more he mulled over it, the more he realized that he had known well before now that the prejudices against Slytherin House were extreme and, for the most part, uncalled for. Not all Slytherins were Dark, not all Gryffindors were Light. Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor and he was the most pathetic human being that Harry had ever had the displeasure of meeting. He had, after all, betrayed his family – and now also Neville's family. Light and Dark wasn't something that could be ordered into Houses.
"What are you thinking about now, Harry?" the blonde quirked an eyebrow at his friend. He had never met anyone who spent such an enormous amount of time thinking about obviously heavy topics than Harry Potter.
"The prejudice against our House," Harry answered honestly.
"Ah," Draco breathed. "You'll get used to it eventually."
"But I shouldn't have to get used to it, as you put it." Harry's irritation was building into anger. "We are all witches and wizards, and just because bloody Voldemort was a Slytherin does not mean that every one of us Slytherins is an aspiring Dark Wizard. Magic should unite us, not drive us apart!"
"I didn't realize it bothered you so much," Draco was surprised.
"Yeah," Harry mumbled. "It's just a matter of time before some of us – Slytherins I mean – become what everyone else expects us to. Of course we are going to go down a Dark path if all we are ever told is that that is the only thing we could ever possibly accomplish."
"You've got a point," Draco pondered something. "You know, if I didn't know any better I would think that you are a Gryffindor at heart."
Harry laughed. "You have no idea."
"Oh?" Draco looked surprised.
"Erm," Harry had no idea how to cover his slip. Maybe he should start revealing some of the truth, piece by piece. "What if I told you that I was a Gryffindor in another life?"
Not technically a lie, so that was good.
Draco snorted. "And I used to be a Hufflepuff."
Harry mock glared at his friend and gave him a shove.
"We had better head back to the castle. I'm sure we've already missed the beginning of dinner." Draco packed his schoolwork with several flicks of his wand. Harry one-upped him and cleared his work with a single swish of his.
"Show off," Draco muttered under his breath.
Harry smirked, "If you wanted to skip the crowd of the Great Hall, we could simply head to the kitchens and have the House Elves give us plates to take back to the Common Room."
Draco nodded and the two raced back towards the castle.
.
Weeks passed quickly, and Harry was beginning to trust Draco more. Possibly even enough to reveal part of the truth soon. School was still boring the brunette out of his mind, but he had come up with several ideas to keep him entertained for the next several months at the very least.
He had decided that he would just have to wing it when it came to unveiling Lord Voldemort under Quirrell's turban. The Defense Professor was still the center of most of the jokes the students cracked, and no one suspected a thing. He did remember many students, especially the Weasley twins, picking on the man's turban throughout the year.
Harry had also come to the conclusion that it would be useful for him to become an Animagus. His preliminary research into the topic had revealed that it required a great deal of mediation, which would work wonderfully in combination with the meditation it took to master Occlumency.
Speaking of Occlumency, Harry needed to get on his Head of House's good side as soon as possible so that he could employ his help with the topic. He knew that Snape would be more than willing to help his blonde friend. Harry did know that it was not his father that had tormented the Potions Master, but Longbottom's this time. That made it tremendously easier for him to get into the man's good graces. Well, as much as that was possible. The man was still a snarky bastard most of the time, less so towards members of his House, but still notably unpleasant at times. The man had to uphold his appearance as the greasy git of the dungeons, after all.
Getting his foot in the door with Professor Snape came much quicker than Harry would have anticipated. Draco asked Harry to stay after Potions class one afternoon to speak with his godfather about some topic that they had a paper assigned over.
"What can I do for you, Draco?" the black haired man stared at his godson only once all of the other students had left the classroom.
"I had a question about the essay you assigned, godfather. You explained that we are to go into detail about the significance of each of the ingredients…"
Harry zoned out, looking around the Potions classroom. It seemed less cold and dark now that he lived in the dungeons. As a Gryffindor he had always shivered at the thought of coming down here for class, but now he hated the idea of leaving the quiet and isolation of the dungeons for the hustle and bustle of the other floors of the castle.
"Were you simply waiting on your friend, Mr. Potter?" the Potions Master was staring at him, his gaze unnervingly steady.
"Yes, sir," Harry nodded. Had he still been a Gryffindor he would have had to mask his features from the man, but as a Slytherin that act was forever ingrained within him. He had learned from Draco that one was never to display any emotions to those one did not explicitly trust.
"Let's go Harry," Draco gave him a small smile. "Thank you, godfather."
With a nod in their direction, the dark man turned and stalked into his office.
.
"I don't understand!" Draco almost yelled in frustration. "How on earth can this potion call for Lethe River Water if I have never even heard of the Greek Underworld actually existing."
The two Slytherins were studying and working on an essay for Professor Snape in Harry's bedroom. It had become the duo's regular hideout, providing peace and quiet that not even the Slytherin dungeons could.
Harry shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, I would have never thought that there would be a magical world right in the center of London. There must be equivalents in other countries, too."
Draco nodded, unconvinced.
"How much do you know about Occlumency, Draco?" Harry changed the subject.
"Father taught me some introductory material but nothing concrete, only theory. Why do you ask?" When Harry merely shrugged, Draco went back to whining about the stupid Greek river of the Underworld.
"You know what? I'm going to go ask Snape about that bloody river." Harry stood and cleaned up his school papers with a silent flick of his wand.
"Fine," Draco huffed. "I'm going to stay here and work on this paper some more."
Harry nodded and headed out of the door. It was a testament to the trust that he now put in the blonde that he allowed him to stay in his bedroom without his presence.
The trip to his Head of House's office never seemed longer. He knew that he had to start building a bridge towards an amiable relationship with the man if Harry was to ever receive help from him. Harry also knew that as a Slytherin, Snape would never give any information without expecting something in return.
Harry had not even noticed that he had knocked on Snape's door until he heard a gruff, "Enter!"
"Hello, sir," Harry bowed his head at the man when he entered the Potions Master's office.
"What can I assist you with, Mr. Potter?" The dark man eyed the teen standing in his door.
Harry closed the door to the office behind him and made his way to sit in front of his professor's desk. The brunette took a deep breath and figured he might as well go ahead and let the cat out of the bag.
"I was wondering if you could help Draco and me with Occlumency."
Surprise flickered across the Professor's face briefly before he composed himself. "And why should I assist two first years with such an advanced topic?"
"Well, Draco has already been introduced to the beginnings of the subject, and I have done a large amount of research into the topic and am prepared to spend as much time in practice as necessary."
The Potions Master stared at him for a long moment.
"What could a first year possibly need this skill for?"
Harry did not know what to say. In all honesty, no first year should need to master Occlumency. But then again, no first year should have to carry the burden and expectations of the Wizarding World on their shoulders. Sighing, Harry decided to, again, go with as much of the truth as he could safely divulge.
"There are Dark times approaching."
If his words surprised him, Snape did not reveal it this time. Instead, he stared at Harry again with calculating eyes. Without warning Harry was staring down the man's wand and barely had time to register the words he spoke.
"Legilimens."
Harry fought hard to erect enough shields in his mind to keep his secret safe from the invading mind. Forcing a calm over himself he instead tried to project memories and thoughts of his time here at Hogwarts these last several weeks. The presence tried to pry down his walls, sensing them and wanting them destroyed. Knowing that he had no other options, Harry let some of the less important memories filter through…
His abusive aunt and uncle.
Receiving his Hogwarts letter hundreds of times without being allowed to open a single one.
The Potions Master withdrew from his mind just as quickly as he had entered it. Harry did not know what to say. He stared at the man like a deer caught in a car's headlights, waiting for the imminent impact.
Snape stared back at the boy. Harry thought he saw something akin to sympathy flicker through the man's dark eyes.
Snape leaned forward, across the desk, and spoke with a low voice, "I will teach you and Draco to improve your Occlumency skills."
Harry could only nod mutely.
"We can begin our… lessons Sunday."
Again, Harry nodded, "Thank you, sir."
The brunette stood and made his way to the door, only turning to bow his head to his teacher, never meeting the man's obsidian eyes.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Draco commented absently when Harry returned to his room. The blonde was still busy trying to figure out of the river Lethe actually existed for magical Greece.
"Professor Snape and I visited the Greek Underworld and its Lethe river."
Harry barely avoided the book that was thrown at him by a scowling Malfoy Heir, letting the tension drain out of him from his encounter with his Head of House.
.
The rest of the week passed quickly. Snape had asked Harry to stay after class on Friday, and informed him once only the two of them were left in the classroom that Harry should be at the professor's office at two o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday.
It was one forty-five right now and Harry was fidgeting. Draco was playing chess with Blaise in the Common Room and Harry was standing outside of Snape's office. He had decided not to invite Draco to this first meeting.
Knowing that he couldn't handle waiting much longer, Harry knocked on the door. Several seconds later the door opened and Snape looked at him before glancing out into the corridor behind Harry.
"Mr. Potter."
"Professor," Harry nodded his head respectfully. He had certainly come to appreciate Snape's acceptance of him, much preferring it to the hatred he had known before.
Once the door to the man's office was shut, Snape strengthened the wards around the room with several flicks of his wand.
"You mentioned that there were Dark Times ahead. What makes you so sure of this?"
Harry shuffled nervously. What should he say to that? He knew that he could not lie to the man; he would see straight through any stories Harry told.
"I am not at liberty to say." The Potions professor watched him thoughtfully for a long minute, before deciding that his answer was satisfactory.
"You realize that I could pluck the information from your mind with extreme ease." Harry nodded anxiously.
"But I have agreed to teach you Occlumency, a very advanced form of magic. As a first year I do not see your need for this skill, but I admit that you have intrigued me. Whatever I learn from these lessons will stay between the two of us, Mr. Potter. I can only assume that Draco does not know whatever it is that you are guarding in that head of yours. Otherwise he would be here as well."
Harry nodded, "Thank you, sir. I have utmost faith in your confidentiality."
"Then let's begin." The lanky man shed his outer robes, revealing black trousers and a matching black button up shirt. "I want you to relax. Try to clear your mind. Calm any emotions. The first thing you need to master if you wish to perfect the art of Occlumency is mediation."
The lesson lasted just over an hour, and consisted only of Snape talking while Harry sat with his eyes closed, soaking up the words his professor spoke. Afterwards, Harry couldn't help but think about the stark contrast in the lesson he had just had and the "lessons", if one could call them that, that the same man had given him in Harry's fifth year. He could safely say that he preferred the lesson he had just received to the brutal and relentless battering of his mind.
.
The rest of the semester seemed to fly by. Between being bored out of his mind with classes and homework, Occlumency lessons with Snape on Sundays, hanging out and bonding with Draco, watching and plotting against Quirrell, and keeping a close eye on Neville Longbottom, Harry was kept more than busy.
The Slytherin had learned that Neville was basically the same person he remembered him being in his first year: timid, clumsy, and shy. Ron and Hermione – who Harry had started calling Weasley and Granger even in his own mind as well as aloud in conversation with Draco – forced the Gryffindor characteristics out of the Golden Boy. The trio did everything Harry remembered doing so far in his first year as the Chosen One. They were still trying to figure out the mystery of Nicholas Flamel.
With Christmas fast approaching, Harry decided to stay at the castle over the break. He planned on starting his studies into his Animagus form while the majority of the student body was away from Hogwarts. Draco, of course, was going home and had insisted that Harry join him at Malfoy Manor, but Harry had declined the offer. The brunette did not know if he could face his friend's parents just yet. Perhaps when he was more practiced at Occlumency and could keep his emotions out of the forefront of his mind and off of his expressions.
As he had expected, the coursework was banal and not at all stimulating. Harry did enjoy the amount of free time he had from completing his assignments early. He and Draco had taken to flying around the Quidditch Pitch after dinner, before the sun set. Harry enjoyed flying and managed to forget everything for those few moments that he and his blonde friend zoomed through the air.
The first snow fell the week before classes ended and everyone left for the holidays. Overnight, the Hogwarts grounds were transformed into a winter wonderland. Snowball fights and ice skating on the lake ensued.
The morning that the students who were going home for the holidays left, Harry helped Draco double check that his luggage was completely packed.
"Are you sure that you don't want to come home? Mother and Father said that you are more than welcome to come visit for the duration of the holidays." This was the seventh time that the blonde had asked in the last three days alone.
"I'm sure, Draco. I'll just stay here and get ahead on classwork for next semester." Draco rolled his eyes at that.
"You'll have read half of the library and completed all of next semester's homework by the time I return from the Manor."
Harry snorted and smirked at his friend.
The two made their way down to the common room where all of the students had gathered to say goodbye. Not long after the two boys had arrived in the room, Snape led the group of students who were going home for Christmas – which was everyone except for Harry, a third year, and two of the seventh year Prefects – to the Entrance Hall. The Slytherins were the first to arrive in the hall, and McGonagall checked off all of the students' names on a list of those who were leaving the castle. Five minutes later the group of Slytherins were making their way to Hogsmeade.
Harry stood just outside of the doors and waved to Draco before turning and making his way back into the castle. He stopped short when he noticed a snowball fight between the Weasley twins half a Quidditch pitch away from him. His heartrate sped up and he grabbed his wand when he saw a certain turban wearing professor heading across the castle grounds within firing range of the twins. This was his chance.
Harry cast quick Disillusionment and Silencing Charms on himself and ran towards the twins, carefully erasing his footprints in the the snow as he went. He glanced behind him and noticed Dumbledore standing next to McGonagall in the main doors leading to the Entrance Hall. They were simply looking over the grounds with serene smiles on their faces.
Adrenaline was pumping through his veins by the time he was close enough to the twins to cast a spell on their snowballs. Quirrell was seemingly oblivious to the mischievous grin that spread across the Weasleys' faces almost simultaneously.
"Are you thinking what I am, Fred?"
"I believe you are thinking exactly what I am, George."
Several snowballs began to fly directly at the Defense Professor, who had his back turned to the two redheads. Harry raised his wand and flicked it, willing his magic to knock the man's turban off of his head the moment two of the group of snowballs collided with Quirrell's head.
An inhuman shriek pierced the cold December air as the turban fell to the snow.