A/N: The real note is down the bottom so you all don't have to wait any longer to get to the chapter!

Dedicated to everyone who has been patient and to those who reviewed!

Chapter Eight—Potions and Hospital Wing Friendships

On Friday, Harry could barely stop himself from bouncing all through breakfast. They had double Potions today and he was looking forward to learning something from Severus again. Kerus had, despite the protests Pansy had attempted, settled himself down on the bench and was happily munching away at the bacon on his own plate. Harry relaxed somewhat at something that was a little more normal than what had been going on for the last few days. The large rooms and corridors and the odd feeling of being watched by ghosts and other students had begun to get to him and he'd refused to even eat in the Great Hall the night before.

He'd written to Adriel within the journal she'd given him and he'd almost bounced up and down with glee when she replied immediately.

Okay, the first day, dear sister, was absolutely…crap. Nothing like what I expected and the DADA teacher is more than a joke. All I get from the other kids is glares and whispered murmurings and I just know that the older ones in Slytherin are planning something. But at least I have two others in the same boat. How come we never knew Zabini and Nott were neutral families?

Hmm. Well, at least Uncle Sev wasn't wrong; you did get into Slytherin. And didn't I tell you that Defence was going to bore you? After all, Michael read the whole book and he only learned that vampires can walk in sunlight after all, if their sire is rather powerful first. You are using dad's Map aren't you? You can always check to see what Slytherins are hanging around together and keep an eye on what they do; just don't become paranoid before we arrive next year. As for the two you mentioned, neutral families don't exactly advertise it, do they? We were unlucky.

Harry had barely paid attention in Charms and he'd jumped when little Professor Flitwick fell off his stack of books after saying Neville's name. The feather had been easy to levitate, since his mother had taught him the spell years ago in Japan, and he'd amused himself by making it dance, without the professor even noticing once. Astronomy had equalled less sleep on a Wednesday night, but they started later the next morning to make up for it. But since breakfast was served at a particular time, they still had to get up at the usual time in order to eat.

When it was finally time to head down to Potions, Kerus darted ahead of him on the stairs, clearing a path simply by the low rumble he gave. From experience, Harry had learned that some students were rather cruel when walking on the stairs and they tended to either shove you away or block and slow you down considerably. He was glad that he had such an overprotective familiar, because the worst of the perpetrators had backed off after a silver paw had swiped at their robes.

The Potions classroom was dark and gloomy, suiting Severus well, and the walls were lined with animals floating with jars. He peered into some of them, curious about their contents, but when one of them moved, he jumped back and tried to ignore the snickering that came from Malfoy's direction. Frowning, he settled down next to Blaise with Kerus sprawling out in front of them, gold eyes alert. The Gryffindors slowly trickled in and Harry sighed when he noticed an obvious break in the whole class. The Slytherins sat on one side, and the Gryffindors on the other, with a whole row of seats left empty between them.

It was sad to see such separation, but he saw that no one else seemed to mind it and when Severus strode into the room, he barely even noticed it. As the man went through their roll, he paused on Neville's name and lifted his head to pin the poor boy with black eyes that held none of the warmth Harry was used to seeing.

"Ah. Neville Longbottom, our new celebrity."

Kerus gave a low hiss and Severus' familiar flicked her ears in their direction. Severus glanced down at the leopard, before continuing on with the roll. When he finished, he fixed the class with a hard glare, and started to pace before them all. Harry watched, wondering exactly how the man had managed to gain a reputation for being one of the most hated teachers in the school. He'd heard plenty of talk in the Slytherin common room, and when he'd managed to have a quick chat with Ron on Wednesday, the red head had told him that all the new Gryffindors were terrified of him already.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand waving, those of you who have grown up within muggle environments will have some of the required technique. You will notice that it has some similarities with the art of Chemistry, though this is far more dangerous and you will often not be awarded a second chance." Coal black eyes flicked around the room, landing on each of the muggle borns. Hermione Granger looked about ready to fly off her chair, her eagerness making several other kids wince.

"Many of you will not believe this to be true magic, and I don't expect you to truly understand the beauty of softly simmering cauldrons, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins. I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, even how to put a stopper in death…" he narrowed his eyes as some of the Gryffindors began to whisper to each other. "If you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Harry barely stifled the laughter that bubbled up from within his chest. On the one hand, he'd been listening to Severus' mumblings about how incompetent his students were for most of his life, and on the other hand…well, the Gryffindors were certainly an amusing bunch. In the silence that followed, Severus walked between several of the desks until he came to rest before Seamus Finnigan, whose grey husky familiar gave a snort from his position next to the Gryffindor in protest to the face looming close to them.

"Finnigan! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Seamus blinked, a rather confused expression flitting over his face. His familiar gave a soft growl, and he shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know, sir."

Severus ignored the way Hermione's hand had shot into the air, and looked around the room for a moment. His eyes landed on Neville and, after a quick glance down at Kerus, he spoke to the now quivering boy. "Longbottom…where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione's hand stretched even further into the air. Neville swallowed nervously, and when he spoke his voice shook ever so slightly. "I-in the belly of a g-goat, sir."

Severus raised an eyebrow and nodded, before turning to find his next victim. Harry blinked when those cold eyes warmed as they found him. "Potter, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Kerus huffed and his head landed on Harry's feet, making him wince since they'd become cold from the draft creeping about the room. "There is no difference; they are the same plant. One can also find them under the name of aconite."

"Very good. As for the first question," he threw a glare at Seamus who frowned and lowered his head. "Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Living Death. All of you are to write this down before separating into pairs for the potion we are to brew. Quickly!"

Harry pulled out his notebook and carefully extracted one of his quills. As he was writing down a quick set of notes on the three questions, he noticed that Theodore was frowning at his quill from his seat next to Blaise. Without looking up or stopping in his writing, Harry asked softly, "what's up, Theo?"

The boy bit his lip before stretching over and picking up one of the quills on Harry's desk, only to drop it when Kerus gave a warning growl as his head popped up beside them. "Sorry. But, what are these?"

Blaise blinked down at the feather. "Is that…"

Ferus yawned from his position on Blaise's lap, his gold and black banded tail flicking from side to side. "Phoenix feather."

Theodore's blue eyes widened. "How'd you get a phoenix feather quill? I know the Potter's are a rich family, but I've never even heard of someone gaining a quill like that unless they own a phoenix."

Harry shrugged, looking rather nonchalant about the whole thing despite the icy cold sliver of fear that was working its way through his veins. "A few phoenixes turned up at the estate a few years ago. Dad started up an area for them so they could breed in safety. They gave us some feathers and mum made these for me." It was true, some phoenixes had been residing within the Potter estate for the last few years, but they had been Fire Phoenixes.

"You died them then?"

He looked up at Theodore, who was frowning at the mostly silver feathers, the single black stripe that curved over it the only other indication for colour. When Kerus was a phoenix, he was one of the rarer ones. "No, they're Arctic Phoenixes, and I think there might be a Snow one there now."

Theodore simply stared at him, his mouth falling open in shock. "A-arctic? Merlin, Harry, do you know how rare they are?"

"Despite the rarity of any form of animal, this is not helping any of you begin with this class' potion." Severus stood before them, hard eyes trained on the three of them, even as his lips twitched in the attempt to not smile. Harry blushed and mumbled an apology, standing to gather the required ingredients as Theodore reluctantly paired off with Pansy.

The rhythm of slicing and crushing soothed Harry's nerves and it even helped to calm down Kerus, who finally stopped huffing. The only sign of his familiar's emotions was the seemingly random flick the black tip of his tail gave. Harry knew it wasn't random, knew that every flick was in fact a count of the number of times someone got too close for the Anistro's liking. The gold eyes may have been closed but Harry was definitely not fooled. His familiar knew exactly where everyone was in the classroom and had, most likely, already memorised each of their individual scents. It was odd, to feel the warmth of the silky fur against his leg when he had gotten so used to Kerus being a falcon or a ferret while he worked on potions, using his shoulder as a vantage point to ensure he made no mistake and didn't add a volatile ingredient at the wrong time.

Severus had told him it was a unique bond he and Kerus shared, one that he should never take lightly, nor for granted.

There was a loud hiss and Harry looked up to see acrid green smoke filling the room. He coughed when he inhaled some and his focus swam for a moment. It took him a moment to realise that Kerus was anxiously trying to get his attention. "Harry! Get onto the stool, now!"

He didn't even question the command. He reached back and felt for the stool, sitting himself down on it and bringing his legs up. He could feel Kerus leap up onto the table and wondered why he could still hear a potion hissing away. His eyes focused on the blurry shapes of people around him and he could dimly hear Severus scolding someone, but he couldn't quite focus on any of it.

"Severus."

A dark shape loomed over Harry, broken by the silver one he knew to be Kerus crouched on his desk. "Harry? Can you see me?"

"If you count yourself as a big black blob."

The man sighed. "Finnigan!" he barked out and Harry heard a small 'eep' from somewhere to the right. "Take Mister Potter along as well, and be sure to make it to the hospital wing!"

"You think I would allow something to happen to him?" Kerus sounded angry as he jumped to the floor and Harry laid his hand on his head when it bumped against him. "You insult my abilities."

"Only the abilities of the foolish children surrounding you both."

Kerus huffed, but started to walk forward, at a pace with which Harry could feel out the blurry surroundings and not fear tripping over anything. "Perhaps doubting the abilities of these wizards is not terrible for our health, master."

"Don't call me that," Harry said absently. He could sense Seamus and another person just in front and to the left of him, presumably someone who had been injured by whatever had happened to someone's potion. "What happened though?"

It was an Irish voice that answered him, instead of the rumbling tones of his familiar. "You didn't see? Merlin, you were injured but you didn't even see what happened?"

"I was a little busy being blinded by green smoke if it's alright with you, Finnigan."

Kerus growled softly, "you'd do well, wizard, to remember I'm not as cuddly as others around you."

"Kerus, don't threaten him."

"He insulted you!"

"And he has the right to do that. Since we have never been to the hospital wing, we both have to trust him. So please, don't antagonise him."

The leopard huffed but said no more.

"You'd trust a Gryffindor?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and blinked, his eyes beginning to sting a little. "My parents were both Gryffindors, as was my godfather and his mate. Just because I was the first Potter to end up in Slytherin doesn't mean I'm going to fall prey to this stupid House rivalry. My dad would skin me alive if I did."

"Sorry." The boy was quiet for a while, except to warn him that they were stepping onto a staircase. The movement of Kerus' head helped guide him up each step. "I didn't grow up in the Wizarding world, and despite knowing all about it, my mum never really wanted to talk about the old families."

"You're a halfblood?"

"And so are you. Didn't James Potter marry a Muggleborn?"

Harry shrugged. "It makes me a pureblood in a way. Two magical individuals cancels out pretty much all of my mother's muggle blood. She was all witch anyway."

He heard a whimper and then Seamus whispering before the boy answered him. "I never though of it that way. But me mum's a pureblood, and dad's a muggle, so I'm still just half and half."

"Not a bad thing."

"Maybe not to you. Other's disagree."

There was silence, except for the sound of their footfalls and the soft clicks as Seamus' husky familiar padded along. Everything was still blurry to Harry, shapes and looming colours that made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever. He kept his hand on Kerus' head, using that familiar warmth to steady him. It was after the third staircase and, as he found out later on, just down the corridor from the hospital wing, that his blurry vision fogged and the blobs of colour solidified into the Great Hall. Pumpkins, lit from within by candles, floated above the heads of students, laughing expressions carved into them. There was an odd warm feeling spreading through him; happiness.

For the first time that Harry could remember, he heard sound within a vision. A loud bang, the doors to the Entrance Hall, before someone screamed out, "TROLL, in the dungeons…just thought you ought to know", before there was a soft thump. But Harry couldn't See who or what was going on; people taller than him were in his way. And then there was screaming and the happy warmth he'd been feeling vanished, almost like it'd dropped into a dark pit.

His hand on Kerus' head twitched, as his foggy sight retreated and the ordinary blurriness he'd gotten used to now returned. He could see a dark blob before him, and whimpering from another being led away by someone dressed in grey and white, and ventured a guess, "Seamus?"

"Oh, thank Merlin. Here I was thinking that Snape was gonna kill me for you going all weird. Is this because of that potion? Because, well, me and Neville didn't mean it…"

"No," Harry said quickly. "Just a little dizzy 'cos of my sight. It's all blurry; things look weird."

"Okay then, Pomfrey told me to get you in as soon as you responded again. Nev's got loads of boils. Don't know how that works; the potion was to cure them, not create them."

Harry continued to listen to the soft words of the other boy as he was gently led down and through a set of large brown…doors, until he was pushed down onto the edge of a bed. Cool hands held his cheeks and Kerus gave a loud warning growl.

"Oh, hush. If you want me to fix whatever is wrong, I'll have to be touching him."

Harry swallowed, nervous about letting someone near when he could see nothing beyond a vague blob. "It's okay, Ker."

The cool hands shifted and fingers pressed against his temples. "Now, tell me what's wrong?"

"Everything's blurry. And my eyes are starting to sting."

"How bad is the stinging?"

"Like…sort of like muted acid."

The nurse hummed, before she muttered an incantation and the world began to clear up. The pain, however, was still present. In fact, it got worse.

"Ow."

Kerus rumbled from his perch on the bed, "what are you doing to him?"

There was barely leashed fury in his voice, but to her credit, the nurse merely tipped Harry's head back a bit and peered into his eyes. "It seems that when you inhaled the gas of the failed potion—yes, Mister Finnigan told me about that—it went straight for the nerves for your eyes. I'll have to keep you here for today, and give you a few potions." She pressed on his shoulders gently and he allowed himself to be manoeuvred down onto the bed. Kerus shifted and stalked up to rest beside him, his large head a comforting weight on his chest. "Now, rest up while I tend to Mister Longbottom."

It was nearly an hour later before Harry shifted from the curled up position he'd ended up in. turning his head cautiously, and experiencing the minimal amount of pain, he blinked and looked over at the bed next to him. "Longbottom?"

Neville sniffled and opened his own eyes, pale blue shying away from intense emerald green. "What?"

"Are you alright?"

"Wh-why do you care?"

Harry blinked, unable to fathom a reason why he wouldn't. "Because you're obviously either in pain or you're upset about something."

"You're a Slytherin."

"I noticed," Harry said, sarcasm coating his voice. "But what does that matter? We've only been here a week."

"Slytherins are-are bad wizards!"

Harry rolled his eyes and relaxed back against the pillows. Kerus opened one gold eye and peered up at him, before he huffed and closed it again. "Right. Of course. Bad wizards all of us, House defines the person and all that crap. You sound like Malfoy!"

Neville stared at him. "Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy?"

"No, his father, Lucius. Of course I am mean Draco bloody Malfoy!"

The Gryffindor shrank back from the biting tone and his hawk familiar gave a click of its beak in warning. "S-sorry."

Sighing, Harry shrugged and looked back over, his eyes bright in the shadows of the room. "S'alright. I'm sorry as well. How's about we start over? I'm Harry Potter."

"N-neville Longbottom."

"Pleasure Neville." Harry turned onto his side ignoring Kerus' annoyed hiss as his warm pillow was removed. "Now, mind telling me why you're so upset? So you stuffed up a potion, doesn't matter really."

"But it's Professor S-snape."

"He really isn't so bad a person. He doesn't like teaching very much, but he owes someone a big favour and this is what they wanted him to do. Besides, I remember my first few potions…must've completely ruined one for hangover cures. I think I actually gave him a headache."

Neville laughed quietly, the shifty nervousness beginning to bleed away. "I'm really not that bad at potions. It's just…"

"Professor Snape scares you, doesn't he?"

The boy nodded, his familiar tucking its head under its wing. "I'm gonna fail Potions," he mumbled.

Harry snickered, the sound causing Neville to look over at him sharply. "Fail?"

"What's so funny about that?"

"You were trained by Auror's! You must have the basics for pretty much everything!"

Pale blue eyes closed slowly. "Only the things they think I needed to know in order to fight, to survive."

Harry blinked. "They gave you all that training? But where did the confidence go?"

"Why does everyone assume I'm confident? All I want to do is avoid the spotlight. Someone else can be their figurehead. I'm nothing more than a clumsy fool."

Harry shook his head. Kerus rose, his nose bumping against Harry's cheek. "He is sad. But pure..."

Emerald eyes blinked. "What do you mean?"

The Anistro shook its head and leaped down off the bed, padding silently over to Neville's. Gold eyes watched the hawk, the bird bowing its head, before placing his forepaws on the bed, startling its occupant. "Tell him, make him understand, that he can touch me."

"Kerus?"

"Do it, Harry."

Neville swallowed, nervously watching the leopard by his side. "H-harry?"

"You can touch him. He wants you to, I think."

Slowly, a shaking pale hand rose and gingerly touched Kerus' black ears. The leopard purred, the sound rumbling around the room. "Merlin…"

"Little lion, you are more than you believe you are. You need only a chance."

Neville stared down at the leopard, his touches gradually becoming confident. When he spoke, his voice was soft and filled with wonder, "I don't think I've ever heard a familiar speak to anyone else. And I've never even touched my Nan's. I think I remember touching my parent's but…"

"You can't be sure." Harry sighed, stretching a little. "So, you know loads of stuff no one else does, but you aren't confident you can do it?"

The Gryffindor shook his head, wonder bleeding away to sadness. "I don't want to be able to, to be honest. But…what if something happens?"

Harry tipped his head back, eyes fixed on the ceiling. With a mental sigh, he did something he'd never done since he was seven. He forced a vision. The last time, he'd witnessed the death of his friend's mother, and he'd been terrified of having visions for weeks. He'd even tried to stop them from coming at all. Not that that would ever work.

His vision grew foggy and he blinked, his mind chanting Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter over and over until the very centre of his vision was suddenly very clear, too clear to be his real eyesight. He could see himself and Neville running along a dark corridor, shoes slapping in puddles of water. The corridor opened up into a chamber, a small red haired girl crumpled on the ground and a wavering form of young man standing over her. The vision flashed and suddenly he could see Neville swinging a sword, but a thick tail from a creature he could not see knocked it away, near to where he was standing. 'Grab Ginny Neville!' He watched himself pick up the sword, the silver blade arcing gracefully through the air to slice into the thick tail, the pained screech of the creature pounding into his ears. As if it was all in slow motion, he watched himself bring the sword up and plunge it through the roof of the creature's mouth even as one of its fangs pierced his own arm.

"Harry! Harry!"

He gasped as the vision vanished, surprised to find himself on the ground, cold and shaking. "Kerus?"

The Anistro pushed at his side, his rumbling purr calming his jittery nerves. "You are alright, Harry?"

"Yes, I think so." He swallowed and pushed himself up, shakily holding onto the bed as he stood. "I'm okay, Neville."

Neville watched him carefully and Harry could see how his gaze shifted and became a little more hawk-like then his usual soft eyes. "Are you sure? Should we call Madam Pomfrey?"

"No, no, I'm fine, really." Harry sighed as he flopped back down on the bed. "But here's an idea, Neville, how's about we work on our spell casting, duelling and all that wonderful crap. I'm sure you could teach me heaps, and I could help you be more confident in what you're doing. How's about it?"

Neville blinked at him. "I suppose that could work. But…well, you seem to be good at everything. The Ravenclaws were talking about it."

Harry laughed softly, shrugging one shoulder. "Ah, but Herbology I suck at."

The Gryffindor suddenly perked up. "Herbology? If you could help me with Charms and Potions, I'll help you with Herbology."

Harry looked over at him, emerald gaze calculating. He knew that he was meant to help the Boy Who Lived, but he knew something the other boy didn't. It wasn't something he'd Seen, more a feeling he got from the boy. He'd help him, but he'd also fight against him. "Alright, Neville, you got a deal."

Fate, in his opinion, was not so kind a being.

A/N: Good, yes? This has been sitting on my laptop for ages, but I haven't actually had a chance to get it edited and uploaded for…ages. Terribly sorry about all of that but everything's a little hectic at the moment. Looking for a new job in a world where jobs are being cut is hard work, you know? Anyway, review and perk me up!