Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. You should know this by now.
Sorry I'm late! It took longer to write this than I expected. Please forgive me?
Thank you to the 14 people who added me/this story to their alerts/favorites! You are very much appreciated!
And to my frequent reviewers Dracarot, and Schurmann, you are my favorites. Thank you very, very much.
And all of thee above, just thank you so much. You inspire me to write much faster than I would otherwise. Trust me, whenever I write something I have a lot of trouble getting to 10,000 words and I'm passed it already. Thank you so very much.
Chapters should be getting longer now that they're at Hogwarts. This one illustrates that perfectly with 9000+ words.
Chapter 3: Hermione and Hogwarts
"We'll start with Ollivanders. It tends to take the longest so it's best to get it over with quickly." Sirius sighed.
Remus smiled at his friend and Harry scoffed, flattening his hair and straitening his glasses.
"I expect it will take a while, so I'll go and gather the rest of the essentials. I'll meet up with you at Ollivanders." Remus headed off in another direction. Sirius pouted at him.
"Sure, leave me and Harry alone to wander the streets of Diagon Alley all alone!" Sirius yelled after the other man, "Are you sure you trust us to stay out of trouble?"
Remus just waved and continued on his way.
Sirius sighed. "Well, let's get this over with. Come on Harry." The two of them walked the rest of the way to the infamous wand shop and stepped inside.
Harry looked curiously at the boxes piled to the ceiling and the little chair in the corner until an old man who he assumed was Mr. Ollivander walked out from the back of the store. "Ah. Harry Potter. Yes. I've been expecting you." He turned to Sirius and spouted out all of the information about his wand as though he was some sort of wand encyclopedia before turning back to Harry. "Which is your wand hand?"
Harry frowned about the reference to his fame, holding up his right hand, but he didn't have a chance to say anything as a measuring tape started taking measurements of seemingly random body parts and Ollivander began grabbing boxes out of the piles.
After several failed attempts Harry was starting to get annoyed. The pile of failed wands grew ever larger and Harry began seriously considering starting a bonfire out of them before Ollivander paused his grabbing of boxes. "Perhaps…? No… but maybe." He disappeared in the back of the shop, returning with a particularly dusty box, handing it to Harry. "Phoenix feather core, holly, eleven inches."
Harry opened the box and pulled out the wand. He admired it for a moment before giving it a wave. A spectacular shower of red sparks spilled out of the end of the wand and pooled at Harry's feet before vanishing.
"Curious...very curious..."
"Sorry, but what do you find curious?" Sirius was intrigued. He'd never seen the old man show so much emotion before.
"I remember every single wand I've ever sold. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand," He pointed to Harry, "gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother gave you that scar."
Sirius' eyes widened and Harry barely held in a gasp. Harry stared at his new wand with amazement as Sirius paid the old man for his services, still in a small amount of shock. The two of them silently decided to keep that interesting bit of information to themselves, other than Remus of course.
The two of them left the shop to find Remus waiting for them holding a metal cage containing a beautiful snowy owl. Remus smiled and held up the cage. "Call her a late birthday present."
Harry gaped at the beautiful bird. Sirius huffed. "Well I can't have you outdoing me. Come on Harry, I'll get you one of those nifty wandy-holdy-thingys, then we'll go get some ice cream." Remus shrugged, but said nothing about Sirius spoiling Harry; Sirius was his guardian after all, and Remus himself had started it.
The group went to the necessary shops and finally found themselves at the beloved and frequently visited Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Harry played with his new wand holster as he ate his ice cream. The wand was released by flicking his wrist back and splaying his fingers. It took him a few tries before he was able to catch it consistently as it flew out of the holster at high speeds. Sirius had also gotten one for himself after seeing how awesome it was. Remus was obviously impressed by it, but he refrained himself from spending the money. Sirius and Harry both noticed his interest and shared a significant glance, intending to get him one as a gift at the next opportunity.
The trio enjoyed their ice cream before grabbing some last forgotten items and returning home.
-HPBC-
The morning of September first started with a flurry of activity. Harry did some last minute packing and Sirius hovered over him like a mother hen.
"Did you pack your books? What about your caldron, you didn't have trouble fitting it in your trunk did you? Don't forget your quills! And your parchment! Those are important, you'll need those."
Remus entered the room and put a hand on his fellow marauder's shoulder. "Calm down Sirius. It's not like he's leaving forever, and we can always owl him anything he forgot. Stop acting like a flustered housewife."
Sirius scoffed. "I am not acting like a flustered housewife! I just want to make sure he's ready to go."
Remus raised an eyebrow. "Exactly."
Sirius huffed.
"I'm ready to go." Harry cut his godfather off before he could start anything and make them late.
"Alright Harry." Remus shrunk Harry's trunk and the three of them, plus Harry's yet unnamed owl, went out the door.
They arrived at Kings Cross Station with twenty minutes to spare and walked through the barrier with no incidents. Sirius unshrunk Harry's stuff and the two adults heaved it onto the train.
"Well Harry," Remus smiled at his late friend's son, "I guess we'll see you for Christmas. That is of course if you want to come home again after experiencing Hogwarts food. It's much better than anything the three of us can make. Yes, even yours." Remus laughed at Harry's skeptical look; Harry had become quite the chef since the adults started allowing him in the kitchen. "Especially Sirius'."
"Hey now, I'm a perfectly good cook!" Sirius retorted.
"Yeah, if you like your food black and crunchy then you're a fantastic cook." Remus scoffed.
Sirius began sulking, much to the amusement of his companions.
"Don't worry, I'll be home for the holidays." Harry reassured his guardians.
"Good." Serious smirked. "Who else would Moony have to fawn over if you didn't come home? Certainly not me! People already mistake us for a couple enough as it is."
Blushing furiously, Remus sent Sirius his most potent glare only to receive laughter in return.
The train's whistle blew, signaling that it was about to leave. Harry stepped onto the first step, turning around for a final goodbye from his godfather and friend.
"See you Harry. Have a good term."
"Yeah, be sure to use that owl of yours to write us. And if you have any questions on your revisions send them to Remus and he'll correct them for you." Remus punched Sirius' arm lightly. "I mean be a good student and do your own work!" He instructed Harry playfully.
"I will." Harry smiled at his godfather's antics.
"Pull lots of pranks and break all the rules! For us! As the son of a marauder you must continue his legacy!" Remus surprisingly didn't reprimand Sirius for telling Harry to break rules. In fact he was smiling fondly as though remembering something.
"Won't be a problem." Harry winked at Sirius. They'd bought all sorts of supplies for just such activities.
The train whistled again. Final call.
"Quick Harry, find an apartment so you can wave goodbye as the train leaves. That's always the best part!" Sirius shooed him to go.
Harry did as he was told, hurrying onto the train and quickly finding a compartment in the back. He stuck his head out the window just as the train started moving.
"I'll see you for Christmas!" He called, waving. Sirius and Remus waved back happily until the train rounded a corner and they were gone. Harry pulled his head back into the train and closed the window.
What Harry didn't see was Sirius place an arm around Remus' shoulders and say in an overly dramatic fashion, "Oh Moony, our little puppy is all grown up and off to school," only to get shoved to the ground by a smirking Remus.
Oblivious to the hilariousness that he'd missed, Harry sat alone in his empty compartment for a minute before a familiar red-head entered.
"Harry! Finally found you. You had to pick the one on the end didn't you? I swear I searched through half the train. I thought maybe you'd missed it!" Ron sat across from Harry.
Harry grinned at his friend. "Like I'd be stupid enough to do that. Nice to see you Ron."
Draco soon entered the compartment as well. Smiling his unique smile that made him look as though he thought he was better than everyone, though his friends knew it was just his natural smile. "Harry, Ron." He nodded at the two of them and his friends smiled back at him as he sat down.
It didn't take long before Neville showed up looking flustered. "There you guys are! Have you seen Trevor? He's gone missing. There's another first year girl looking for him for me, but she's not had any luck either." He looked as though he were on the verge of tears.
"Don't worry Nev, we'll help you find him." Harry assured him. The other two nodding in the affirmative got out of their seats.
After about five minutes of searching, Draco found the toad in one of the boy's toilets. He turned his nose up at it and called for his friends. Neville was so relieved at finding his pet that he didn't even mind as he reached into the bowl and pulled him out. "Thanks Draco."
The boys went to return to the rear compartment. On the way there they met with a girl with frizzy brown hair.
"Oh, you found it." The girl smiled at Neville, showing her buck teeth. Malfoy and Ron smirked.
Neville smiled back at the girl. "Yeah, my friends helped me. He was in one of the toilets. Thanks…" He looked at her questioningly as he realized he hadn't asked her for her name.
"Hermione Granger. And you?"
"I'm Neville Longbottom, and these are my friends, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, and Harry." Neville knew how Harry didn't like people's first impressions to be based on fame, but Hermione was a smart girl.
"Harry? As in Harry Potter?" Her eyes flicked curiously to Harry's forehead, which was covered by his hair.
Harry sighed. "Let's continue this conversation in the compartment shall we?" He motioned for the group to continue.
Hermione eagerly followed the quartet into their compartment and Harry shut the door behind her.
"Yes. I am the Harry Potter. I just don't really like to be judged solely on something that I don't even remember doing." He lifted his fringe so Hermione could get a good look at his scar, she drank in every detail. "Any other questions?" He let his hair fall back over his forehead.
"Nope. Thank you." Hermione looked quite satisfied with the information she'd gathered.
"Good."
Silence fell over the group for a moment before Neville tried to open up a conversation. "So… Hermione, what house do you think you'll be sorted into?"
Hermione brightened up at being asked a question involving school. "I think Ravenclaw sounds great, though I'm hoping for Gryffindor. What about you?"
Neville blushed. "My parents were Gryffindors, but I'm not very brave. I think I'm more suited for Hufflepuff."
"Don't put yourself down Nev, you're plenty brave." Harry attempted to reassure his friend.
"Yeah mate, you were brave enough to stick your hand in that toilet when Draco didn't want to." Ron pointed out, receiving a glare from Draco.
Hermione smiled sympathetically.
"I'll be in Gryffindor for sure. Every Weasley in history has been in Gryffindor." Ron puffed out his chest in pride.
"What about you Draco?" Neville asked. Hermione had wanted to ask Harry, but Neville beat her to the punch.
Draco frowned. "I always thought I'd be in Slytherin, but lately I've been thinking that Gryffindor wouldn't be so bad, especially if it meant I'd be able to stay with these idiots." He motioned to the other boys in the compartment and Harry Ron and Neville laughed good-naturedly.
Hermione turned to ask Harry where he thought he'd be going, but she was interrupted by the arrival of the trolley lady. Although Sirius had taught Harry to spend his money wisely he decided to splurge and bought more than enough for all of them. They immediately began tucking in.
Though she started eating treats as well Hermione wasn't one to be distracted. She turned to Harry as she grabbed some pumpkin pasties. "So where is it that you expect to end up Harry?"
Harry swallowed his mouthful of chocolate frog and shrugged. "I don't know. I figure I'd fit in any of them, except maybe Ravenclaw. I don't think I'm smart enough for that one." His friends laughed and Hermione frowned.
"So you think it's possible that you'll be in Slytherin?" She looked a bit concerned.
"Sure, what's wrong with Slytherin?" Harry grabbed another treat and began opening it and Draco nodded to strengthen the question, sending Hermione a look of dislike.
Hermione frowned as a blush rose to her cheeks. "Well, it's just that I read that a lot of dark wizards come out of Slytherin house is all, and I didn't expect the boy who defeated you-know-who to be at all ok with being in the same house as the man who killed his parents."
Draco scowled.
"Being in Slytherin doesn't automatically make someone into a dark wizard," Harry pointed out. "Draco might be in Slytherin and he's alright isn't he? I mean, I don't think we would have stayed friends very long if he wasn't."
Draco snorted. "The same could be said of you."
Harry smiled. "See?"
Hermione nodded sharply, mollified.
The group fell into silence once again as they all ate their snacks. The peace was interrupted when the door opened to reveal two large boys on either side of a black haired girl who had a face that somewhat resembled that of a pug.
The girl's eyes landed on Harry. "So it's true. I heard that Harry Potter was in this compartment."
Harry and his friends all frowned.
"Pansy." Draco nodded to the girl, but she ignored him.
Pansy scanned the others in the compartment, pausing momentarily on Draco. "I see you're already mixed in with the wrong sort, for the most part." She indicated Draco. "You and your blonde friend there should come with us; we'll teach you what might otherwise take you a while to learn, that is, that some magical families are better than others." She looked pointedly at Ron. "How about it?" She held out her hand for Harry to take.
Harry raised his eyebrow. "No thanks. I'd rather stay here with my friends." He emphasized the word friends, hoping she'd get the hint that she'd just insulted him.
She frowned, dropping her hand. "I see." She turned to Draco, "What about you then?" Draco just shook his head, causing Pansy's eyes to narrow. She turned to leave. "I'm sure you'll learn of your mistake soon enough. Come on Crabbe, Goyle." The three of them left, leaving the compartment door open.
Hermione closed the door. "Well that was unpleasant."
Harry sighed. "You don't know the half of it."
A frightened look crossed Hermione's face. "You get that a lot then?"
Harry nodded. "Well, not that exactly, but people come up to me expecting me to be some sort of heroic figure who'll give out autographs or let them take pictures with me. It's really annoying to be looked at like an idolized image rather than a regular person."
"Wow." She turned to Ron. "Is he always this humble?"
Ron snorted. "Pretty much. He hates his fame. If I it were me I'd probably flaunt it in everyone's face."
"And that's why you should never be famous." Draco smiled his usual smile and everyone else laughed.
"Yeah, like you'd be any better." Ron retorted, which started everyone up again.
After everybody calmed down Hermione couldn't keep her curiosity to herself. "Draco, did you know that girl?"
Draco scowled. "Yeah." His face darkened. "Her parents knew my parents before…" He looked at his hands.
Everyone fell quiet.
"Before…?" Hermione looked confused for a moment. Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant. "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I was really little. I don't even remember them." His face was downcast so nobody could see his eyes.
Everybody was silent. Harry placed a hand on Draco's back in understanding.
"It's alright Draco, Me 'n Nev don't remember our parents either. Well," he looked at Neville sadly, "you know." Neville nodded. "We've all have our moments."
Neville coughed.
Everyone in the compartment jumped when someone knocked on the door and opened it. "Anything more off the trolley dears?"
They all breathed a sigh and Harry bought another, smaller, round for everyone. Draco took the distraction to discreetly wipe his eyes. If any of the others noticed they didn't say anything.
The rest of the train ride was considerably more cheerful.
-HPBC-
The four boys, plus Hermione, got off of the train to hear a booming voice calling for "Firs' Years!" and followed it to a very large man in a moleskin overcoat.
The overly large man took one look at Harry and nearly burst into tears. "Harry!" Harry jumped at being addressed by the very large stranger. "Er, sorry 'bout that. I knew you when you was just a baby!" He smiled down at the much smaller boy. "Yer parents was some of the nicest people ter graduate from Hogwarts."
Harry looked up at the large man in wonder. "You knew my parents?"
"Well yeah. Rubeus Hagrid, by the way." Hagrid grunted as he realized that he'd allowed himself to get distracted. "Come ter visit sometime and I'll tell you some stories. Right now I've got a job ter do. Firs' years! Over here to the boats!"
The first years all followed Hagrid to the boats and upon hearing him say "Only four students per boat" Hermione smiled at the four boys and went to a boat by herself.
Harry frowned and turned to his friends and lowered his voice. "Hey guys, I'm going to sit with Hermione. She looks pretty sad to be alone." Ron and Draco gave him weird looks, but Neville nodded at him.
"I'll go too." The stout boy flushed as he rushed toward the boat Hermione had claimed.
Harry smiled. "See you two at the other side." He waved and followed after Neville.
Hermione looked surprised when the two boys climbed into her boat. "Don't you want to be with your friends?"
"Nah," Harry brushed her question off as nothing, "We spend all our time with them anyway. They get kind of overbearing sometimes, eh Nev?"
Neville just nodded, still blushing.
Harry grinned mischievously, "Besides, Nev here thinks you're cute."
Both Hermione and Neville's eyes bulged out of their sockets and they began glowing bright pink. Harry laughed.
The boats started moving even though they only had three in their boat. Harry looked around quickly and noticed one other boat with only three passengers and nobody standing on the shore, so he relaxed.
Several gasps were heard as the castle came into view and Harry had to admit that it was a very impressive sight. That was probably the reason why they had the first years take this route to the castle. He admired the view until the boats reached the shore and they all filed after Hagrid once again.
They entered the castle and waited for a few minutes until an imposing black haired woman with green robes came through the doors and addressed them, welcoming them to Hogwarts and explaining the houses and house point system before turning and leading them into the Great Hall.
She led them to the front of the hall, placed a grungy old hat with a large rip in it on a stool, and began calling names starting with "Abbot, Hannah" and going down the list alphabetically.
Harry didn't pay much attention until he heard "Granger, Hermione." He perked up and watched the bushy haired girl step up to the hat and place it on her head. She was only there for a moment before the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR" and she happily went to take her seat with the cheering table. Harry then continued tuning the sorting out until he heard another familiar name ("Longbottom, Neville") and his insides did some flips until the hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR" and Neville (blushing) went to sit next to Hermione (also blushing).
Harry relaxed. He didn't realize he would be so anxious about his friend's sorting. He really didn't want them all to be separated, though he would still be their friends if they were.
Harry was brought out of his thoughts by Draco's name being called. Harry gulped as his friend put the hat on his head. Several minutes passed and people were starting to whisper, he was taking longer than anybody else so far. Finally Draco frowned and the hat yelled out "SLYTHERIN" and Draco took it off and tossed it roughly back onto the stool. He glanced toward Harry, frowning. Harry smiled encouragingly at his friend, which caused him to cheer up a bit and continue to his new table.
Again Harry waited patiently until this time he heard his name. Whispers filled the hall, and Harry frowned, but walked forward purposefully to the stool and defiantly put the hat on his head.
"Well now, you're a tough one." Harry just stopped himself from jumping at the sound of the voice in his head. "You love a good prank, I see. That's always good for student moral. Very brave, you'd fit well in Gryffindor, yet also very Loyal, a trait of many a Hufflepuff. I also see a vast capability for intelligence, perfect for Ravenclaw. But… yes… a cunning mind… very sneaky… Slytherin for sure…"
Harry frowned as he thought, assuming that the hat would get the message. "Well Gryffindor and Slytherin are all well and good, but I'd rather not be in the other two."
"Oh? I see, your friends are in those two, I see them. Yes. You'd do well in either one wouldn't you? But that is strange… no aversion to one or the other. Most wizards these days prefer one house over the others, especially when it comes to these two. Yes, you are special aren't you." It wasn't a question.
"Well, my parents were in Gryffindor, and Draco's in Slytherin, so it can't be all bad, right?"
"Yes. Yes, I remember your parents. Well then, though you would do well in either house I'd better put you where you're parents would be most proud. Go join your friends in GRYFFIDOR!" Applause erupted from the red and gold table and the Weasley twins started up a chant of "We got Potter!"
Harry took the hat off and gently placed it on the stool. He turned towards his new table, glancing at Draco with a smile across the hall as he sat down next to Neville and Hermione.
The hat was hardly on Ron's head for a second before it yelled out "GRYFFINDOR" and Ron came to join two of his three friends at the Gryffindor table. Harry frowned when he looked up to see Draco scowling at the Slytherin table.
Dumbledore said a few strange and random words and dinner appeared on their plates. Harry would talk to Draco later; right now it was time to see if Hogwarts food really was better than his own cooking. He piled his plate full of food and took a bite of chicken, chewing slowly, calculating the taste. He hated to admit it, but Sirius and Remus had been right; it was better than his. He made a mental note to find out where the kitchens were and ask the cooks for some pointers. Harry sighed, but continued eating, now with more vigor.
Hermione noticed his sigh and asked if he was feeling alright. He just shook his head. "It's nothing."
Ron snorted. "He's just upset because the food tastes better than his own cooking."
Harry scowled at his friend, but didn't deny it. Ron knew him too well.
"Really? You cook?" Harry nodded. Hermione looked surprised. "Are you any good?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, Sirius and Remus have let me cook ever since I was old enough to use the stove and they discovered that I was a natural with a frying pan. I actually really enjoy it."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, but didn't inquire further.
Harry scanned the head table as he chewed on a piece of steak and kidney pie. He nearly choked as pain erupted from his forehead. He dropped his fork and swallowed forcefully, placing his hand to his burning scar. Neville noticed and looked at him with concern.
"Are you alright Harry?"
Harry took a deep breath. "Yeah, just… a headache." Sort of.
"Do you need to lie down? I'm sure an older student would be happy to escort you to the hospital wing." Hermione looked concerned as well.
Harry shook his head. "No, it's stopped. I'm fine." He turned back to his food as though nothing happened, cautiously scanning the head table again.
"If you're sure…" Hermione turned back to her food with some apprehension.
After dinner Headmaster Dumbledore gave a few announcements, including a warning to avoid the forbidden forest and the third floor corridor. Most of the students thought the last bit was a tad strange, but the Headmaster had a history of strange, so they accepted it.
The prefects then escorted the first years to their common rooms, making it impossible for Harry to talk to Draco. He tried to catch his friend's eye before he left the great hall, but Draco's head had been down and he'd looked rather depressed. Harry would just have to talk to him after classes the next day.
-HPBC-
The next day after breakfast (which Draco was absent for) the three Gryffindor boys (plus Hermione) went to their classes. Everyone was surprised by Professor McGonagall's transformation. Harry grinned as he imagined Sirius, a dog animagus, learning from her, a cat animagus. He couldn't help but wonder how torn it had made his dogfather feel when he found out that his teacher and he were enemies in the animal kingdom.
Harry tried to talk to Draco during lunch, but he didn't see him. This disturbed Harry greatly. Was Draco avoiding him?
Harry paid full attention in all of his classes that day, intent on learning everything he could. He couldn't wait until he would be able to do some of the things the teachers demonstrated.
Finally dinner came around and Harry kept an eye out for his Slytherin friend. He frowned when the food appeared before Draco showed up. The blonde boy finally walked into the great hall halfway through the meal. Harry immediately set down his fork and got up to walk toward the Slytherin table, Nevlle and Ron following soon after. Hermione looked after them curiously.
"Draco," Harry frowned at seeing the blonde boy flinch at the sound of his voice, but continued, changing his plan just a bit, "Can we talk to you after you're done eating?" He had intended to talk to him right there, but changed his mind when he'd seen his friend flinch. Something was off and Harry wanted to know what. Had something happened in his house? Or maybe with the sorting hat? Harry remembered him tossing it roughly after being sorted into Slytherin. Maybe he'd gotten into an argument with the scrappy piece of headwear.
Draco nodded, not turning around to face them. Harry's frown deepened, but he and the other two Gryffindor boys returned to their table to finish their meal.
When the three of them finished eating they got up and made their way to the exit, slowing only to turn and make eye contact with Draco, silently telling him that they'd be waiting for him on the other side of the large doors. Hermione was curious as to what the boys were doing, so she followed.
The boys waited outside the great hall for a few minutes before Draco finally emerged and they all walked to an empty classroom not far away.
As soon as the door closed behind him Draco relaxed with a sigh. He turned to his friends with an unconvincing smile.
Harry frowned and folded his arms as he faced his blonde friend. "Alright spill. What did the hat say to you to make you so upset?" Draco looked surprised and Ron and Neville looked confused. Hermione looked intrigued.
"What do you mean?" The hat clearly hadn't spoken to Ron. Neville looked ready to repeat the question.
Draco let the fake smile fall from his face and he sighed again. "It told me I'd be best in Slytherin. I told it that all of my friends were probably going to be in Gryffindor so I wanted to go there, but it wouldn't listen to me." He scowled, "It said that my family had always been in Slytherin as long as they'd been going to Hogwarts and that tradition was important. We kind of got into an argument after I told it that I didn't even remember my parents, so why should I go where they'd been? It felt ridiculous arguing with a filthy rag," He practically spat the word, "but it insisted that Slytherin was where I belonged and finally just yelled it out before I could convince it otherwise."
"I figured as much. I saw you throw it on the stool and realized after my conversation with it what must have happened."
"What did it say to you?"
Harry huffed. "It said I'd fit in any house and debated where to put me. I told it that I'd rather be in either Gryffindor or Slytherin and it was intrigued that I'd be ok with both houses. He-It said that most wizards in this age like one or the other, never both. It finally chose Gryffindor when I mentioned my parents both being in it." Harry looked thoughtful for a minute, "It seems to like to uphold traditions." He glanced at Ron.
"Yeah," The redhead caught Harry's look and caught on, "There's never been a Weasley that wasn't in Gryffindor. M'dad said so once."
Hermione piped up, adding her two cents, "But what about those that do get split up? Like the Patil twins, Parvati was sorted into Gryffindor, but Padma is in Ravenclaw." She looked pensive for a moment. "Maybe… maybe they have ancestors who were in both houses… but then I think personal choice does have something to do with it as well. Then there are the obvious traits that are generally applied to the members of each house. I could just have well been put in Ravenclaw, but I practically radiated my desire to go to Gryffindor, and since I don't have any previous ancestry to go off of the hat put me there. Hmmm… this is quite the puzzle. Maybe there's a book that will say something about it in the library." She wandered off without a second glance at the boys, obviously heading to the library.
"Man she can talk can't she?" Ron looked after her incredulously. Draco nodded in agreement.
"She's not so bad." Harry defended the studious girl. "I bet she'll be dead useful with revisions. I think it would be best to befriend her." Neville blushed, but nodded his assent. Draco and Ron both mumbled in agreement. "Not to mention pranks. Speaking of which," Harry smiled at his friends mischievously. "Let's start planning our first one shall we? I've got a legacy to uphold."
The others became serious and they began talking in muffled whispers about the whos, whats, wheres and hows.
-HPBC-
That Friday was the first year's first potions class. The quartet was excited because Gryffindor and Slytherin would be taking this class together for the entirety of their stay at Hogwarts, meaning that the four of them would be able to be together. Plus Hermione.
Draco had been having a bit of trouble with his fellow Slytherins. They didn't seem to like the fact that he hung out with a group of Gryffindors. He often found stuff missing from his trunk and would have to go find it. The stolen items were usually hidden around the common room, but once he'd found his left trainer had been put on the ceiling with a permanent sticking charm and he'd had to go to his godfather for help. Things calmed down a little bit after the Slytherin Head of House had a chat with the other students. They still continued, only more covertly.
All of that drama just made Draco that much more excited to have a class with his friends.
The four of them plus Hermione entered the dungeon together and sat clustered on the left side of the classroom. Draco ended up being the only Slytherin on that side of the room.
Professor Snape entered with his robes billowing behind him dramatically and Draco, Harry, Ron, and Neville smiled at the man. Snape took a look at the seating arrangements and frowned a bit, but didn't comment. Instead he went into his usual first year speech about bottling fame and brewing glory before putting instructions on the board and telling the class to follow them as silently as possible. He sat behind his desk and pretended to write something as he watched the class carefully.
Everything went well at first, but halfway through the class something splashed into Draco's cauldron and it started sputtering out bright orange smoke. Draco let out a cry of surprise and jumped backwards, nearly knocking Neville over. Severus vanished the contents of Draco's cauldron with a flourish and glared towards the snickering Slytherins on the right side of the classroom.
"I expect better from members of my house Miss Parkinson. Twenty points from Slytherin." The words slid out of his mouth like slime and his face looked as though he'd eaten something foul. He widened his attention to the whole class. "I'll not tolerate sabotage in this class. Anyone who attempts it will receive the same punishment at Miss Parkinson plus three detentions now that you've been informed. Potions can be dangerous, even deadly, if messed with, so while you may think it a funny joke to slip something into someone's cauldron while they're not looking I would advise you to think twice or you could find yourself in the hospital wing or worse." He looked back to his godson and his eyes softened imperceptibly to all but those who knew him very well. "Mr. Malfoy, seeing as your potion was ruined by an outside party I will allow you to pair up with Mr. Potter for the remainder of today's lesson." He turned around with a swish of his robes and returned to his desk where he continued with his covert observations.
The lesson ended with no further incidents.
-HPBC-
When the mail arrived the next Thursday morning Neville was surprised to receive a package from his Gran. He opened the box curiously and pulled out a glass orb swirling with red smoke.
"Is that a remembrall?" Of course Hermione would be the first to know.
"Yeah, my Gran sent it. It's supposed to glow red when you've forgotten something."
"Well it's red now mate." Ron pointed out, the ever observant one.
Neville frowned. "Yeah, I just don't remember what it is I've forgotten."
Harry looked at his friend sympathetically. "Don't worry Nev, it will come to you."
Neville smiled, "Yeah."
Having finished their breakfast the four boys plus Hermione headed off for their first flying lesson.
Walking out onto the grounds the students saw their flying instructor, Madam Hooch, standing in the field surrounded by brooms. Once all of the students had arrived she began her lesson, instructing them to each stand next to a broom and say "Up."
Harry did as he was told, holding his hand directly above the broom as he stated the word. His broom immediately flew straight into his hand and he smiled. He looked over to his friends and saw that they were having a bit more trouble than he'd had. Ron's broom lifted a few inches off the ground before falling back down again, Draco's flopped over as though it had just woken up and didn't want to get out of bed, and Hermione's and Neville's didn't move at all. Scanning the rest of the class Harry noticed that everyone else had had just about as much luck as his friends and he was the only one to get it to come up on his first try.
Harry grinned. He'd gotten his dogfather to give him early flying lessons, but they'd been caught by Remus when they'd been getting the brooms out and he'd made them put them away. Moony enjoyed a good prank and some horseplay now and then, but he still liked to follow the rules.
Once most of the students had gotten their brooms into their hands Madam Hooch blew her whistle. She told them to mount their brooms and kick off firmly but gently when she whistles and hover just a few feet in the air until she blew her whistle again.
The class did as instructed and Madam Hooch blew her whistle. Harry kicked off lightly and felt himself rise into the air. He wanted to go higher, but told the broom to stop once he'd reached a few feet. Neville's voice broke Harry from his own little world and he looked over at his friend to see that he was still rising, fear clearly written on his face.
"Neville!" Three voices shouted his name at the same time as the boy lost control and crashed to the ground.
Harry landed as fast as he could and ran to his fallen friend. "Nev! Are you alright?" Neville moaned and cradled his arm. Madam Hooch arrived and declared Neville's wrist broken and instructed the class to stay on the ground while she took him to the hospital wing. Harry, Ron, Draco, and Hermione offered to tag along, but Madam Hooch insisted that they stay with the rest of the class.
The boys huffed in exasperation, but did as they were told. When they turned around and rejoined the group they saw Pansy Parkinson stoop down and pick something up off the ground with a sly grin.
"Oh look what I found. It's wittle Nevvy's remembrall." She waved it in front of her mockingly.
Anger rose in Harry's chest. "Give it back Parkinson!"
She raised her hand in mock fear, "Oh no! What am I to do? Is wittle Potty angwy? What's he going to do?" She laughed, mimicked by the two trolls behind her. "If you want it so bad Potty, why don't you go catch it? Here Crabbe." She handed the orb to one of her troll like body guards. "Throw it as hard as you can."
The monster of a boy grinned stupidly and did as he was told.
Harry didn't even think as he mounted his broom and shot into the air. He automatically calculated the remembrall's trajectory and aimed for where he could catch it, pushing his broom for all it was worth. He stretched out his arm, but was a touch too slow and the fragile ball dropped passed his outstretched fingers. Not missing a beat Harry dived after it, arm still reaching out in front of him. He heard his friends cheer and Hermione scream as he pulled his broom up inches from the ground, lifting the glass orb above his head, his feet skidding on the grass.
He froze as someone called his name furiously and he turned his broom to see Professor McGonagall marching across the field. He swallowed in fear and dismounted, head hanging in shame.
"Follow me Mr. Potter." Harry did as he was told, glancing to his friends as he followed after her.
-HPBC-
After dinner later that evening Harry and company explained the day's events to their friend in the Hospital Wing. Harry was still in shock so Ron and Draco told most of the story up to the point when McGonagall had taken him away, at which point the three boys turned expectantly to Harry, two of them with wide grins plastered on their faces.
"Go on mate; tell Neville what happened after she took you away." Ron encouraged him.
Harry shook his head to clear it. "She brought me to Olliver Wood and told him that she'd found him a new seeker." Harry still couldn't believe it. Padfoot would be ecstatic.
Neville's eyes bulged out of his head.
"Youngest seeker in a century, this bloke!" Ron clapped Harry on the back and laughed. "Can't hardly believe it! Harry's a natural on a broom!"
The four of them, plus Hermione, laughed for a while longer before Madam Pomfrey came and gave her charge one last check up before releasing him.
Even though the hospital wing was located on the first floor Draco followed his Gryffindor friends up the stairs, intending to take a side passage on the fourth floor (that Padfoot had so helpfully informed them about via owl the week before) back down to the dungeons.
On the second floor they were surprised by Peeves who started throwing dung bombs at them. They coughed on the fowl smelling smoke and ran for the stairs only to be caught in the middle as the stairs started moving. Not caring where they ended up the quintet ran to the top as soon as they stopped and approached the nearest door in hope of escaping the poltergeist's attention.
It was locked but the ever clever Hermione unlocked it with Alohomora and the five of them rushed inside and closed the door behind them, panting.
"You think we lost him?" Draco was holding his side and breathing hard, but otherwise ok.
"I think maybe we did." Ron sounded relieved.
"Yeah." Harry agreed.
"Um… guys?" Neville on the other hand looked terrified.
"What is it Neville?" Hermione asked as they all looked at him to see him pointing at something. They all turned to see a giant three headed dog standing over them. The dog let out a low growl and all five students screamed, turning right back around and exiting the room as fast as they could.
They didn't stop running until they reached the secret entrance to the passage that Draco needed to take to get to the dungeons.
"What was that thing?" Ron was leaning against the wall in an attempt to catch his breath.
"I think a better question… is why is it in a school?" Draco panted.
"I don't know… but I think we just found out… why the third floor corridor was put off limits." Harry had to pause after every few words to take a breath.
The others just nodded and continued catching their breath.
Hermione let out a long breath, finally able to breathe evenly. "Or better yet, what was it guarding?"
The others looked at her questioningly.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked quizzically.
"Didn't any of you see what it was standing on?" She frowned as the boys all shook their heads in the negative. "It was standing on a trap door. It was guarding something."
"Well that's fascinating," Ron said sarcastically, "But it can continue to guard whatever it likes. I sure as hell won't be going back there to find out what it is."
Most of the others nodded.
The Gryffindors said goodbye to their Slytherin friend and left for their beds.
-HPBC-
The next few weeks passed in relative peace with Hermione following the four boys pretty much everywhere they went. Harry didn't mind. He and Neville were even starting to see the bookish girl as one of their friends. Draco and Ron on the other hand saw her as somewhat of a nuisance. They only put up with her because she was helpful with some of their pranks, though she refused to help them prank any teachers or prefects and any prank she helped them with had to be perfectly harmless. She agreed that a good prank, if done right, was good for uplifting the general mood of the school.
Draco continued to be pestered by the other Slytherins, so he started sitting at the Gryffindor table during meals. None of the teachers seemed to mind, and the other Gryffindor students knew that he was well behaved, for a Slytherin, so they allowed it.
After a particularly hard day of pestering by the older Slytherins Draco went to his friends in hope of a good prank on his whole house. Hermione came up with a brilliant plan to turn all of the Slytherin student's hair purple for a day. Draco agreed to have his hair color changed too so that they wouldn't get caught and the next day Hermione gave the boys a thick blue potion and told them to somehow get it into the Slytherin's drinks. The boys took the potion to the kitchens (which Sirius had so gracefully told them the location of in one of his letters) and instructed the house elves to put it in the drinks of all of the Slytherins at breakfast, including the teachers. The house elves were happy to oblige.
The next morning was a Friday and the five students made their way to breakfast, Draco sitting at his usual place at the Gryffindor table, hoping that the house elves could somehow know he was there. He drank his drink faithfully and continued on with breakfast as though he knew nothing. It only took a few minutes for laughter to break out around the hall and he turned with everyone else to discover the source. He himself broke into laughter at the sight of the purple haired Slytherins. His friends pulled out their acting skills and looked at him and pointed, pretending to try not to laugh (and failing pretty badly). Draco tried to look horrified as he picked up a spoon and used it as a mirror. He nearly burst out laughing at the sight of his purple hair, but managed to channel it into appearing angry. He continued to pretend to fume as he finished his breakfast. He and his friends glanced at the high table to see his godfather leave the hall with a head full of greasy purple hair. Draco had to hide a smile at that.
The whole school (besides the Slytherins) had been greatly amused and the four boys she hung out with had been thoroughly impressed by Hermione's cunning, though she was somewhat annoyed that the Slytherin teachers had been included in the prank.
After breakfast the four boys and Hermione found an empty classroom and Draco let it all out. He laughed so hard that he fell to the floor and couldn't stop for several minutes.
In all the excitement at breakfast nobody had noticed a long thin package arrive for Harry. After Draco and the others had stopped laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe Harry placed the long package on the table.
Not having noticed Harry carrying anything before, his four friends looked at it curiously.
"What's that Harry?" Hermione inquired.
"Don't know for sure, but I can guess." Harry grinned and pulled off the wrapping to reveal a Nimbus 2000. The others all gasped and admired it for several minutes before they all left to go spend their free period taking turns flying on it.
-HPBC-
Weeks passed in relative peace. The pranking of the Slytherins continued, with almost a one a week. Draco was always a good sport and included himself as one of the victims every time. He didn't mind, they were all harmless, plus it helped to keep him and his friends out of trouble.
The day of Halloween arrived and everyone was excitedly chatting about the decorations and the feast that was to come. The four boys plus Hermione were making their way to the feast.
Hermione was excitedly twittering about something she'd read in the library and Ron and Draco just couldn't take it anymore.
Finally Ron snapped and rounded on the frizzy haired witch. "Arg! Why are you such a bookworm! We don't care!"
Draco joined him with a sneer. "Yeah Granger, why can't you get that already? Stupid muggleborn, go read your stupid books in your stupid library and leave us alone!"
Hermione froze and tears started pooling in her eyes before she turned around and ran away.
"Hermione!" Harry called after her, but she kept running. He turned to his friends and frowned. "What did you go and do that for?" He turned and followed after Hermione. "Hermione! Wait!"
Neville looked between his friends, "We'll see you at the feast!" He turned and followed after Harry.
Ron and Draco just huffed and continued to the great hall.
Harry saw Hermione duck into a girl's bathroom and close the door. He huffed and stopped behind it. "Hermione! Come on Hermione, they didn't mean it!"
"Go away!" It was clear by her voice that she was crying.
Neville finally caught up. "Is she in there?" Harry nodded. Neville turned to the door. "Hermione are you ok?"
Hermione didn't answer.
The two boys sat in silence for a while before Harry sighed. "We'll leave you alone then. Me 'n Nev will save you a seat at the feast." He turned to leave.
Neville paused. "See you Hermione."
The two of them joined their other two friends at the Gryffindor table. Harry glared at the two boys. "I can't believe you'd do that. Do you know how upset she was? She ran into a girl's bathroom and started crying!" Harry didn't say another word to the two boys as the food appeared and he started eating. Neville just glared at them before loading up his plate.
"Blimey Harry, I didn't know you cared for her that much." Ron felt bad for making her cry. He loaded his own plate up and began eating.
Draco just frowned and started eating as well.
The four of them sat in silence until the doors to the great hall opened and Professor Quirrell ran up to the head table. "Troll in the dungeon! Thought you aught to know." He passed out and the great hall erupted into chaos.
-HPBC-
AN: Sorry it's late. I would also apologize for the cliffhanger, but I'd be lying. ;)
I know it's terribly overused and cliché getting Harry a wand holster, and it wasn't in my original outline, but Sirius insisted. You know, in my head. Plus I like it and it is practical, so nya.
This chapter took longer than I expected, so I've changed my goal for the next chapter to Monday. I think a chapter a week will be sufficient from now on don't you? Starting next week of course. We'll see how that works out, but for now look forward to the next chapter to be posted by Monday!