"You mean that thing just fell asleep?!" Fay asked in disbelief after Harry shared her experience of Fluffy with her and the twins, well an edited version of her experience – one where she just happened to remember reading about how to calm a Cerberus…
"I don't suppose you took a peek at what it was guarding?" George asked with a grin, excitement at the prospect of finding out gleaming in his eyes.
"Nope. I don't particularly give a fuck either."
"Merlin, I'm dying to know what's down there!" Fred chimed in. "I bet it's dangerous."
"Or valuable!" His twin added.
"I think 'dying' is the key word there." Harry laughed. "I'm not above nicking something, but if you die trying what's the use?" She was curious, but not curious enough to put her life on the line! Whatever, it was fun to think about, and provided a nice light subject to talk about over lunch. Her previous exposure to animals consisted mostly of stray dogs and rats – lots and lots of fucking rats.
"I have a theory, well the start of a theory." Hermione said as sat beside her – as though she was welcome – and helped herself to a few sandwiches.
"I'm sure you do." Harry mumbled under her breath, but of course Hermione was sitting close enough to hear. The girl wasn't deterred though and went on to recount a conversation she'd had with Hagrid in which he'd let slip that whatever was being hidden had something to do Nicholas Flammel.
"Who's Hagrid?" Fay asked.
"The grounds-keeper. He knows you, by the way." Hermione added with a nod to Harry. "He knew your parents."
Harry groaned. "Great. Someone else who thinks they know more about me than me. So who's Nicholas Flammel?" It was actually fun to think about what was beneath that trap door, though only recreationally. If it truly was something dangerous, why would it be kept in a school? Why not at a secret army base? Did wizards have secret army bases?
"Hagrid's actually really nice." The book worm defended, and Harry bet he was – he named a monster Fluffy after all! "And well, I don't know." The twins broke into fits of exaggerated laughter, and Harry couldn't hide her own snicker.
"You don't know?"
"You don't know?" The twins asked as Hermione's cheeks reddened.
"Congratulations, that must have been a big step for you." Harry laughed and, having finished her lunch, forced herself to drink the nutrient potion she affectionately referred to as 'Health Goo' – it was worse than old mayonnaise, but she'd suffer the foul taste if it made her stronger.
"I don't know everything! No one does." Harry bet Mr Hyde knew. Rationally she knew he couldn't know everything, but by Christ, he knew enough!
"I'll alert the media." Harry replied dryly, though she did wonder about this admission of weakness, of what someone like Hermione would surely view as a weakness. Maybe she'd taken Harry's previous criticisms to heart. The poor girl was doomed if she was taking advice from Harry – she couldn't even get a grip on her own life and was in no position to guide anyone! Well, whatever was going on with the girl, it was a small improvement and Harry would take it. Anything for a quiet life.
Harry held her hand beneath the frigid water of the Dark Lake. The bones in her hand were aching from the chill and her skin was numb, but she could still just about feel the smooth pressure of motion as she wiggled her fingers beneath the surface.
"What are you doing out here Miss Potter?" Came a dark drawl. For a moment she didn't respond, annoyed with herself for not having noticed Snape's approach. Eventually though she stood and flicked her arm free of excess water before turning to face him with a sigh. She suspected he was going to try to 'help' her again. She thought he'd given up on her, but apparently not.
"What are you doing here?" She returned.
"It's rude to answer a question with a question." Snape had been conflicted about whether to approach the young girl when he first spotted her on his way down to gather bursting mushrooms from the forest.
Harry shrugged, unabashed. "Forgive me, I'm usually terribly polite." She responded with such sincerity he had to fight back a small smile. "I was enjoying the air: it's so crisp and clear up here." It was true, and she wondered if she'd notice the difference when she got home. The air in the factory was rank, but she'd grown accustomed to it before. For some reason the thought of it scared her – like being here was robbing her of the ability to survive in the real world, of what she still thought of as the real world.
"Aren't you cold?" Snape eyed her standard school robe, under which she was wearing the same tattered muggle attire she usually wore. Did she even bring a winter robe or coat?
Yes, she was cold. "Neh, I'm fine."
The girl wasn't making conversation easy, but he pushed on regardless. "I thought you'd be spending the weekend with your friends." He'd been keeping a close eye on her and was relieved the general hostility she inspired was still being kept at bay, and that she'd even carved out a few friendships. She was annoying as annoying can be, but she had enough to deal with without being ostracized by her peers. He knew how that felt.
"Uh-Uh." She agreed, struggling to see why that was any of his damn business. Snape saw her continued reluctance and fought back a scowl – it wasn't like he didn't have better things to be doing than to be dealing with a difficult little girl! Dumbledore had told him it was best to let her be, to wait until she was ready to come to them, but Snape simply didn't agree. The headmaster must have noticed how proficient she'd become over the last few months; he must have heard the rumours of her hexing other students with spells beyond her year, so why he couldn't see the danger was a mystery to Snape. It was obvious to him that the girl had a yearning to learn, to get powerful, and he knew how dangerous such a desire could be if not guided properly. He also knew Dumbledore had a lot invested in bringing Potter on side, and so had reached the conclusion that he did notice all these things, and that the wily old man was therefore up to something. It was no doubt something advantageous, but Snape wasn't comfortable with the girl being maneuvered without her knowledge – she wasn't generally hard to read and he knew if she ever found out it could backfire spectacularly.
Still, he had managed to bury all his doubts and concerns by reminding himself he had given the old man his allegiance, and that he had to have faith Dumbledore knew what he was doing. And so after his initial attempts to assist her, he'd backed off. Lately however his doubts had grown too incessant and obtrusive, and they'd been that way since he noticed how close Dunbar and Granger were. He couldn't place what exactly was making him nervous – it was just a feeling he couldn't shake. He was glad she was befriending lighter leaning students, as that was surely the safer option, but that didn't really match her personality at all.
"I'm sure you've learnt by now of the political nature of the wizarding world?" He asked, unsure of how to phrase his concerns without giving them away entirely.
"I guess." Harry responded with equal uncertainty, wishing the man would just get to the point.
"And you know of the various expectations the opposing sides place upon you?" She snorted at that.
"I think I managed to freaking smash any expectations the week I arrived." At least that's certainly how it had felt. The backlash was proof enough!
"I wouldn't be so sure." He said. The girl had street smarts, and he could only hope she'd take his words as a warning. He'd expected her to leave as soon as possible, just like she always did, so was pleasantly surprised when her eyes narrowed and she asked for specifics.
"And exactly which side still expects me to be anything more than a tramp with a wand?" Her eyes burned into his with a need to know, and unable to stop himself he took a brief look inside, and it was a good job he did, because his accusation had brought up various memories of her Slytherin friends – mostly Greengrass and Bulstrode trying to be helpful. Hearing his words she had concluded they were only doing so because they wanted something in return – if only things were so simple.
"I think we all expect more of you than that." He answered with a teacher's disappointment – mostly to avoid a direct response – but by the way she glared at him he could see she wasn't satisfied with that answer. "It's ok to have people who offer you genuine friendship, I only ask you to evaluate all those around you." He wanted to say outright that he didn't think there was a problem with her Slytherin friends, but the girl had so few of them that that would automatically throw suspicion on the Gryffindors, and he had no idea whether he could trust her. As far as he could tell she had no tact, and he could just see her marching straight up to the Gryffindors and telling them how he had said not to trust them! He didn't even know for sure that anything was going on; it was simply his instinct. Granger irritated Harry, he knew that, but Dunbar had gotten close, and it felt off that she would get on so well with both Harry and Granger. If nothing else was wrong, he would have dismissed this as Dunbar having an open mind, but the two Gryffindor girls also spent a lot of time with the Weasley twins – especially when Harry was with them, and he couldn't think of a good reason the renowned third year pranksters would want to spend time with first year girls – it just wasn't their style, never mind that they had an established group of friends in their own year… maybe he was making a mountain out of a molehill…
Harry stared at him at length, as though trying to glean what he meant from his face, before she gave a curt nod. "Ok."
Having had enough of the creepy potions master, she made her way back to the castle before pausing.
"Do you trust Dumbledore?" She asked out of the blue. Harry most certainly did not, so his answer to this question would tell her whether Snape was actually looking out for her or simply trying to mess with her or alienate her from her friends or something.
"I…" He thought a moment, "I trust him to do what he believes is best." He finally said truthfully. It was the best he could give her.
"I cannot endure another minute of that stuttering wreck!" Draco cried dramatically as the first year Slytherins entered the safety of the common room. The children had had the misfortune of having Quirrell teach them twice in one day, since he was filling in for Binns, who was off to some ghost convention or some such nonsense.
"I wouldn't let him hear you saying that." Harry tried to make her words sound humorously dismissive, but nobody missed her slight wince, or the poorly hidden strained seriousness of her tone.
"Oh, please! What would he do? He'd probably fall over in shock." Everyone laughed, while Harry just forced a smile: good to know Quirrell's sadistic side was reserved for her alone. Lucky her… In some sick, twisted way though she revelled in that knowledge. She hated the hidden personality of Mr Hyde, but there was something truly undeniable about him: He was powerful and strong and quick thinking and self-assured; and he was so charismatic when he expounded his expansive knowledge with such eloquence and passion. He was everything she wanted to be. Why did he have to be such an intolerable arsehole? That last trait undermined all the good. Regardless, she was certain she was the only student familiar with Hyde and it was both an honour and a curse. She wondered how these kids would react if their harmless fool of a defence teacher started to torture them. She chuckled at her own thoughts, ignoring the strange looks she received.
"Why was he staring at you?" Pansy asked, or more spat out, as they sat scattered about on comfortable chairs and sofas. Harry was making an effort to spend time with her house mates, though only the bare minimum she could get away with. It was Snape's fault really. She hadn't been able to dismiss Snape's cryptic message from her thoughts. She'd begun to analyse her friends' words and actions, but couldn't see anything glaringly wrong with them. Then again, she'd never had 'normal' friends her own age, so wasn't entirely sure what to look for.
It was this uncertainty that therefore motivated her to make more of an effort with her housemates, because they had been quite clear about their intentions over the months! Slytherins were supposed to be sly and cunning, but in the end they were just kids, and being placed into Slytherin hadn't given them any special powers in manipulation. They had never tried to butter up to Harry, never put her in a position that made her feel she owed them or used artifice to try to convince her of something. And she trusted aggression and sneers more than she did smiles, which was why she had more, well trust wasn't the right word, but she had more confidence in Hyde's words than she did any other teachers'.
Whatever, thinking about this gave her a headache, and so since the hostility was being held at bay for the time being, she thought it best to just get on with it – these were the idiots she had to associate with so she thought she might as well make the remainder of her time here as pain free as possible, and they seemed to be tolerating her presence, which was surprising after all the insults and hexes they'd shared during the first several months. Maybe they weren't quite as petty as she'd thought them to be. Besides, maybe if they simply got used to her, perhaps even familiar or friendly, she could minimise future conflicts. Though she couldn't pull of that Slytherin trait of smiling through clenched teeth – she called bullshit when she found it, so doubted she'd ever be completely accepted here, which was fine with her, just as long as things didn't go back to how they were before.
"He was staring at me?" She asked, already uncomfortable with this information. Since the night she met the Cerberus she generally made a point of avoiding even eye-contact with Quirrell whenever possible. She thought he would have sought her out by now...
"It was kind of creepy actually." Daphne told her with a frown. She had noticed how her friend was always a little more on edge during Defence, but Harry never wanted to talk about it.
Harry caught the curious eyes of those around her and tried to shrug it off. "I'm probably just in trouble again – no big deal." God, she hoped she wasn't in trouble again!
Seemingly annoyed that nothing more interesting was going on, Pansy changed the subject and the group moved on, while Harry was happy to fade into the background, her thoughts pulled back to Quirrell. He had left her alone for a while now, and even though she was glad to not have to endure his company, this ongoing silence made her uneasy. He couldn't possibly be finished with her all of a sudden, so what was he up to? As she continued to figure out just how to do this whole school thing, and to curb her language around the teachers, the amount of detentions she earned was getting less and less, but still, every time she was given one she half hoped/half dreaded that it would be assigned to the crazy man.
After some time everyone broke off to take care of that day's assignments, and thinking she should follow their lead, Harry moved to a table with Millie and Pansy.
"Well, look at you two sitting together." Millie broke the silence after some time. It was true that Pansy had been one of the last of the Slytherins to accept Harry's presence without resorting to snide, derogatory comments. Maybe it was because she and Draco had been the first ones to piss Harry off, or maybe it was because she could make a casual comment on the weather sound frustratingly haughty, but she fuelled Harry's sarcastic tongue like no one else.
"Ha! Me and Pans are best buds – you didn't know? We shop and lunch and we stay up late doing each other's nails and everything!" She guessed those were the type of things girlfriends did together. Harry looked across to Parkinson expecting to see revulsion in her eyes, but instead there was a strange spark there. "Yeh, yeh, you don't need to say anything: you wouldn't be seen dead with me."
Pansy snapped out of her little trance and smirked. "We'll visit a hair stylist on the way and then you can wear out the first outfit you buy. After that you'll be more or less acceptable." She said with a nod that made Harry feel like she'd just decided on something. It made her uncomfortable.
"Glad I can be acceptable."
"More or less." Millie corrected with a laugh.
"Piss off. Besides, I don't think we shop at the same stores." The girls snickered, but didn't push. It had taken them a while to realise Harry's aggressive language didn't necessarily mean she was being aggressive: nowadays it didn't rile them up as it had before.
Harry could tell most of the girls still didn't approve of her being here, and the boys tended to ignore her all together, but they all agreed life was better without the strain of constant fighting.
Lately their main point of contention had to do with Harry's continued friendship with Gryffindors. They said she was damaging Slytherin's reputation. She told them her choice of association was none of their business but they were pretty persistent on this. Occasionally she would find herself losing fights with the older members of her house, but her year mates knew she'd hurt them if they pushed her too far and were therefore learning to bite their tongues.
Things were getting better.