The next morning, Harry wakes up to the sound of birds chirping through the window next to his bed and he smiles softly, turning over to see Neville sitting up in his own bed. Next to Neville is Dean, and then Seamus, both whom are slowly beginning to wake up. The person closest to the door, of course, is Ron, who has his mouth open and drool coming out, causing Harry to cringe in disgust at the sight before he sits up in his bed. With a stretch of his arms, Harry finds himself yawning before moving to the edge of the bed and placing his feet on the carpeted ground, smiling softly at the threads between his toes. When he finally gets up off of his bed, he grabs a towel and a new set of clothes before going to the washroom to shower up and brush his teeth. When he's finally done, he makes his way back to the room and puts everything away like he was taught, smiling softly as he thinks about what Sirius would say if he didn't do so.
"You ready for breakfast, mate?" Neville asks softly, careful not to wake up Ron and be too loud for a still waking Dean. Harry nods his head before making his way around his bed and walking alongside Neville down the stairs before stopping at the bottom and looking for Hermione.
"It seems she's not awake yet. Would you like to wait for her in the armchairs by the fireplace?" Neville asks and Harry finds himself smiling at his new friend before nodding and making his way over to said chairs. When he sits in one that looks comfortable enough, he finds himself relaxing and smiling softly at Neville. When Sirius had first told him about the prophecy, he had also told him about how Neville was the other person who was involved, and Harry had decided then and there to be Neville's friend, especially upon learning how similar their lives were. Harry could admit though that before the actual trip to Hogwarts, he had been nervous about becoming friends with Neville and then having other, new people, become friends with him and Hermione. Especially Hermione, since Harry knew how smart she was, and how off-putting that seemed, especially when she was nervous about something. But so far, Neville and Hermione seemed to be taking well to one another, and Harry couldn't be more thrilled.
So lost in his thoughts, Harry hadn't realized that Hermione had already come down and was waiting patiently for him. When he finally did realize it though, he couldn't help but smile in embarrassment and stand up.
"I hope we get our schedules today," Hermione states while they all go down the stairs and head towards the great hall.
"Siri said we should, but since it's a Sunday, we don't have to start classes until tomorrow, thank goodness," Harry responds in kind before frowning at the people staring at him as he walks by. He finds himself chewing on the inside of his cheek, noticing briefly how Hermione and Neville began walking closer to him upon noticing it themselves. He smiles gratefully at them before remembering what Siri mentioned and straightened his shoulders, giving the few people who look at him a light glare.
"I should warn you," he whispers, before continuing, "That Siri said since he's still on the run, it'll be best to call him Snuffles when we're around people or where people can overhear us," he states while Hermione giggles and Neville nods.
"Snuffles it is then. Is it because he's an animagus?" Neville questions and Harry finds himself nodding before opening the doors to the great hall, surprised they've made it already. The trio find themselves picking up their breakfast easily - Harry with pancakes and syrup, some eggs and some sausages; Neville with eggs, bacon and toast and Hermione with cereal, which she's forever thankful for before they dig in, smiling at one another before watching Professor McGonagall as she begins her descent down the table.
Filled with excitement enough as it is, Harry grins towards his two friends, his leg moving up and down due to said excitement. When Professor McGonagall finally gets to him to hand him his timetable though, he frowns when she holds it just slightly out of his reach.
"You should know, Potter-Black, that I will not take any dark magic nonsense in my house. If I find that you've been using unforgivables, or torturing in some way, you will be-"
"Professor, I'm sorry to interrupt, but what makes you think I'll be doing any dark magic?" Harry asks, confused but knowing why and wanting to hear the professor Sirius talked so highly about admit to it. He waits patiently, chewing on the inside of his cheek before he sighs after a few moments of silence.
"Dad talked highly about you, you know. Said you always thought about things before judging." Harry pauses here, frowning while looking down before looking back up with steely eyes. "And trust me, if I did dark magic, anywhere, Dad would have my hide." He adds before holding his hand out for his timetable and smiling when it's given to him. He can tell by the professor's pursed lips that she doesn't believe him but he's alright with that, because he knows he has all year for her to realize otherwise.
With a small defeated sigh though, he looks towards Hermione and Neville and shrugs before looking at his timetable and frowning.
"Looks like we have Potions first, then History of Magic, and then Charms and lastly, Defense," Neville says with a sigh while Harry scrunches his nose up. He looks towards Neville and Hermione before sighing once more and finishing his breakfast as best as he can. It's obvious, though, that he's no longer in the mood to eat and Neville looks towards Hermione in confusion, wondering what's wrong. Hermione shrugs in return before looking towards Harry knowing that eventually, he'll open up.
It doesn't take long for it to happen - Harry looks up and opens his mouth before closing it briefly with a snap. "When Dad and Pa' were growing up, they used to pick on a kid named Severus Snape." Harry begins while Hermione and Neville look at him with wide eyes.
"It was mostly harmless pranks, at least until they got older. When they were older, Snape was already practicing dark arts and the gang he hung around with tended to strike first. My parents' pranks became a little darker until one day, Siri jokingly suggested to Snape to go check out that whomping willow out there one night. Now, my dad's had a friend that was a werewolf, and he used that tree as cover during nights of the full moon. Apparently, Snape had some sort of idea about it, knew he was a werewolf, so Siri suggested it on the night of the full moon, not actually believing that Snape would be stupid enough to actually go out and see if it's true." Harry adds, taking a breath before continuing, "But he did, and my Pa saved his life. There were some other things going on afterwards, like I guess Snape was obsessed with my Mom, since they used to be friends before they had a falling out, and he was none too pleased that she ended up with my Pa, but -" Harry adds, before Neville interrupts.
"You think Snape is the same Snape, and will take it out on you?" Harry nods in the affirmative, cringing slightly as a loud bang echoed around the room before standing up.
"Might as well get this over with," he sighs. He looks towards his two friends with a smile before they slowly begin making their way to the dungeons.
He's sitting in the middle of the room, and in between Hermione and Neville, watching the room as best as he can. He'll admit that he's nervous, that he's worried, too.
"Everything will be okay, Harry." Neville whispers and he smiles gratefully at the boy but doesn't say anything, having a feeling otherwise. Hermione's about to respond when, of course, the door opens and Harry finds himself looking down in worry. This is his first class at Hogwarts, and he can't help but wish that it was with anyone but Snape, and instead, tries to listen.
He's not surprised when Snape does roll call, and even less surprised when Snape gets to his name:
"Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity." Snape says and Harry can't help but notice that Draco Malfoy and his friends sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's and Sirius', Harry saw, but they had none of Sirius' warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels, and Harry couldn't help but shiver at the sight of them.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word. Harry wondered if the point of it was to try and spook people, but he shrugged the thought aside.
"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." Snape adds and Harry ends up looking towards Neville with an arched eyebrow, both of them shrugging in disbelief.
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Harry found himself frowning, chewing on the inside of his cheek briefly as he notices Hermione's hand shoot up into the air. He doesn't know it, at least he doesn't before remembering something Siri taught him.
"I'm pretty sure if you combine the two ingredients, sir, it makes a sleeping potion?" Harry finishes, trailing his statement off into a question as Snape's eyes narrow and become black. Harry gulps, looking towards Neville briefly, who only shrugs.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Harry smiles softly at this question, trying not to feel too bad about Hermione's hand in the air again before answering, "There technically is no difference, since they come from the same plant." Snape narrows his eyes even more and Harry gulps again before frowning at the next question.
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Harry bites the inside of his lip, noticing Hermione's hand go up again. He doesn't know the answer to this one, he knows that, and he ends up shrugging.
"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?" Snape's eyes narrow even more as his lips purse, and Harry tries not to show how uncomfortable he feels.
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape questions and it takes everything inside of Harry not to scoff or point out the fact that he answered two out of three of the questions correctly.
"For your information, Potter, a bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, but you forgot to mention that it also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter." Harry found himself scowling slightly as he copied down what he could, shaking his head a little and wanting to say his name was Potter-Black. Eventually, things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. Unfortunately, Harry was with Ron instead of Neville, something he wasn't happy about but pretended to ignore for the sake of it. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Hermione's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
Harry immediately rushed over to his friends side with a frown, looking at the damage before glaring as Snape made himself known.
"Idiot boy!" - snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose and Harry found himself moving his wand briefly to try and ease the pain, knowing it might cost him.
"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at him before. Then he rounded on Harry and "You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." Harry found himself gritting his teeth before grabbing his books and making his way with Neville to the door.
"No, Potter. Weasley will take Longbottom up. You will stay here," Snape snaps and Harry grits his teeth and breathes through his nose.
"It's alright, Harry." Neville whispers before beginning to walk towards the door, staying far from Ron. Harry goes to sit back down, this time next to Hermione as he stares at his desk before finishing up the potion and waiting for the end of the class to come. When it finally does, he and Hermione make their way to the hospital wing, only getting lost twice, to check on Neville. By the time they arrive at the hospital wing, their friend is front of them, completely cured and a small smile on his face.
"How was the rest of class?"
"How was Ron?" Both Harry and Neville ask at the same time before grinning.
"Ron was a little-" Neville trails off before shrugging, "He kept talking about you. It was weird." He finishes while Harry sighs.
"Class was terrible." He adds as Neville nods. He's about to say something else when Hermione nudges him.
"We should get going to History of Magic, now," she states and Harry finds himself nodding, excited for learning about the history of magic, Siri never really going into too much detail when he asked since his Dad admitted that he had a ghost for a professor that went on about the goblin wars.
When the trio finally gets to the classroom, he can't help but feel a slight amount of disappointment rush through him when he realizes he'll has the same professor Siri had, since Harry realizes the professor is a ghost. He lets out a small sigh, looking towards Hermione who understands why he's disappointed before finding a seat near the back.
He's hopeful that the class goes by fast but disappointed when he finds himself nearly falling asleep alongside Neville before trying to come up with a way to keep himself awake. He knows, briefly, that Hermione looks at him a few times with annoyance, and he also knows that she'll find a way to tell his Pa, so he begins writing down ideas, nudging Neville every few items, who shakes his head or nods it.
"I'll meet you guys down there," Hermione states while shuffling her bad and Harry tilts his head before shrugging and nodding.
Before he knows it though, it's lunch and he's thankful, making his way out of the room as soon as he can. He puts his bag back into the dormitory before heading towards the great hall with Neville next to him. It doesn't take long for them to find their seats and begin eating but unfortunately, Ron decides to sit nearby and Harry finds himself losing the urge to finish his food. He was distracted however, and thankfully, by the arrival of Hermione, who simply looked at Ron in slight disgust before looking at Harry with a grimace. Harry could only shrug briefly, nudging Neville a little when Hermione opened her mouth.
"I'm actually not that hungry, would you guys like to walk to charms right now?" Hermione asks and Harry couldn't be more thankful to his friend. With a look towards Neville and a small nod, the two of them stand up and with a quick goodbye, make their way to the charms classroom. Briefly, Harry noticed Ron frowning as he walks away but shrugs off the feeling he receives, still unsure about the fellow student.
When the three finally make it to the Charms classroom, they're pleasantly surprised to see the door open and the desks all arranged in a circle around another desk in the middle. There are already a few students in the room, books open and reading, no doubt, the first chapter. Without a second thought, the trio find a desk in the room they can all sit down at and sigh in relief as they unpack their bags.
"What were you doing in the library, Hermione?" Harry asks quietly while Hermione smiles.
"Honestly, I was just doing some reading for fun. Seeing if the library here is like muggle libraries back home," she adds with a sad shake of her head when Harry ends up giving her a questioning look.
For the three, the time moves by fast and eventually, the classroom is filled with other students and Harry finds himself looking towards the professor with a tilt of his head.
"Professor Flitwick," Neville responds as Harry smiles thankfully. After a moment, Harry finds himself turning back towards the professor and giggling lightly when he realizes that, just like Sirius said, the man has to stand on a stack of books to be seen. He ends up a little nervous when Professor Flitwick does a roll call just like Professor Snape did but slowly finds himself calming down by the time the professor gets to his name. And when the professor does finally arrive at Harry's name, he smiles softly when Harry responds before moving on and Harry can't help but feel a rush of relief go through his entire body. He didn't think the professor wouldn't make a big deal about it, especially since Professor Snape did and even though Harry hadn't had her yet, so did Professor McGonagall.
The class after that goes by quickly and Harry immediately begins to wonder if this will end up being his favorite class.
Before Harry knows it, the bell for the end of the class rings and the trio are some of the last to leave, partly because Neville had a few questions to ask and partly because they didn't want to leave the room at all.
"Now go on, you three. You don't want to be late for your next class," Professor Flitwick ends up stating, shooing them out of his classroom gently as a few people stray in for his next class. The three end up slowly walking to their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, being some of the last to arrive. Harry notices quickly that Draco and Ron are glaring at him and he lets out a small sigh before sitting between his two friends near the front.
The class goes on by slowly and every now and then Harry finds himself wrinkling his nose at the smell of garlic wafting by whenever Professor Quirrell walks near him - which, sadly, is a lot of times - but he manages to pay as much attention as he can with the small headache he's been gaining.
When the bell rings for the final time that day, Harry lets out a small sigh of relief before he rushes out of the room and heads towards his dormitory, slowly down slightly so Hermione and Neville can catch up.
"What's wrong?" Neville questions while Harry sighs as they enter the dormitory and sit on the cushions near the fireplace.
"Professor Quirrell's garlic smell gave me a headache," he responds while rubbing the top of his forehead as Neville smiles apologetically.
"Well, I'm going to go put my bags away," Hermione states softly before biting on her bottom lip, "I'll meet you guys back in the great hall, okay?" She asks as Harry and Neville nod before making their way to their own dorm and putting their bags down. It doesn't take long for Harry and Neville to arrive to the great hall and find themselves sitting next to Hermione. Harry finds himself frowning, briefly, at the notice of a Headache potion before realizing Hermione must have gone to the kitchens - without him! - and asked the elves to provide one.
"Thanks," he whispers before taking the potion and sighing softly in relief. The rest of the night goes by without problems and eventually, Harry finds himself laying in bed, falling asleep without thought.
The next morning, Harry wakes up hoping that his day won't be too bad. His first class, being Defense Against the Dark Arts, ends up with Harry pleading to his two friends to sit closer to the middle of the room so Quirrell isn't constantly pacing in front of them but of course, Harry ends up realizing that Professor Quirrell is going to pace in front of him no matter what when he sees the professor making his normal rounds around the room while talking, and ending up near Harry numerous times. With each time the professor walks in front of Harry's desk, Harry continuously smells garlic and feels a slight pain in his head, and he knows he's just going to have another headache today. Herbology, thankfully, there's no issues with, especially when Professor Sprout realizes he has a headache and gives him a small headache potion.
Lunch is a thankful reprieve and History of Magic just ends up with Harry just reading through the textbook and making notes within the book throughout the class. He's thankful that there's a quick break between History of Magic and Transfiguration, but not so thankful upon realizing he forgot something back at the dorm more than halfway to their class. With a frustrated sigh, he simply turns around, tells Neville and Hermione he'll meet them there and to let Professor McGonagall know he'll be a few moments late for having forgotten something and heads back to his dormitory.
When he get's there though, he finds his eyes widening over the fact that Ron Weasley is currently looking at him with wide eyes, hands on his trunk. He's thankful, of course, there's a quick lock on the trunk and that it seems like Ron didn't realize he would need to use muggle means to open it, but he finds a flurry of fury rush through him as he grabs his notebook on his bed and glares at the redhead, whose hand is to his chest as he looks away guiltily.
"I just wanted-"
"I don't want to hear it!" Harry snaps before continuing, "You had no right," he responds more softly this time before huffing and grabbing Ron's hand, dragging him away from his trunk as he walks out of the dorm. He's not surprised to find the redhead following him nor trying to talk to him but he is surprised, when, halfway to the class, Ron stands in front of him and blocks his way to the room with his arms crossed.
"Will you just listen to me?" Ron shouts before looking around the empty hallway. Harry finds himself huffing a little before trying to make his way around the Weasley, growling lightly when Ron continues to block his way. He can see the Transfiguration classroom from where he stands, and he notices that he's already nearing ten minutes late and he rolls his eyes before glaring at the young boy.
"No! I caught you attempting to open my trunk up. I don't have to listen to you. Now, get out of my way!" Harry snaps, nudging the boy with his shoulder before moving to the door and opening it.
"Sorry I'm late, Professor," Harry responds before going to sit in the empty spot next to Neville.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, each, for your lateness." The professor responds tartly as Harry's shoulders drop. "Next time Potter, make sure you have everything before going back and asking Mr. Longbottom to cover for you." She adds as Harry frowns to Neville who only shrugs in response and mouths 'later'.
The class goes on without any other problems but Harry notices the professor glaring at him a few times and finds himself frowning, upset that Sirius' favorite professor doesn't seem to like him. When the class finally ends, he's about to leave with everyone when he hears his name being said.
"Stay back a moment, please," Professor McGonagall states and Harry nods, briefly telling his two friends he'll meet them for dinner and trying not to shift when her monocle covered eyes look down at him.
"Next time you're late, Potter, do not feel like I won't hesitate to give you detention, understood?" Professor McGonagall states as Harry nods at her.
"Go on to dinner, then," she finishes and Harry nods, turning around and heading back to the dormitory to not only put his stuff away but vent to Sirius.
When he arrives to the dorm room, he's thankful as ever that it's empty and without second thought, sits on the floor in front of his bed and pulls out his mirror from his bag before calling for his Dad.
Author's Note: Oh wow, look whose finally posted an update, years later. This update has been about three months in the making – between work, HPatPPRtB and other adventures, it wasn't my main focus but - I told everyone here I would never abandon a story, and I haven't. So, to cwejr, I hadn't lost my way, I was just making sure I had everything I needed to say included.. As for the next chapter, I don't know when it'll be uploaded. I have up to the third book planned, but inspiration has to strike with this story. Sure, currently, inspiration is flowing lately, but please don't pressure me. Reviews are great, pressure for new chapters is not. Any large blocks of italicized text is taken directly from the books but other than that – I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and don't be afraid to leave a review.