Chapter 10

Harry

I was beyond thrilled when Mrs. Longbottom came to the room Parkinson and I shared to inform us it was dinner time. Parkinson had been grinding her teeth for an hour, after clicking her tongue for several. Obviously she was doing these things just to drive me insane!

We made our way from our quarters into the shared dining room. The table was already set with several empty dishes and even more delicacies to choose between eating. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until that moment.

I sat down and, thankfully, Parkinson sat as far from me as possible. We were soon joined by other teams, the first being Luna and Crabbe. Luna sat beside me, Crabbe beside Parkinson.

Luna greeted me with a bright smile, but it was obviously forced, the lines not reaching her eyes, "Hello Harry."

I forced a smile back, "Luna. How are you?"

She shrugged before trying to force another smile. It quickly turned into a grimace, "Horrible I suppose."

"The same. What were you forced to do?"

She sighed, "I have to act normal. I'm already being stuck in this, and now I'm being told I can't even act like myself!"

I frowned, "I'm sorry Luna."

She shrugged again, "Nothing you can do about it Harry. Thank you though. How about you?"

I nearly started laughing, "I'm supposed to work on interview etiquette. Apparently I'm horrible with public speaking."

"That's funny, isn't it? You being famous, but horrible with interviews."

"It is."

"It's true though."

"What is?"

"That you're awful with interviews."

We both let out soft chuckles before being joined by several more groups. Hermione sat on one side of me, Ginny on the other.

Ginny gave me a swift and firm hug, "How are you?"

"I'm alright, you?"

"Terrific! We had to work on dancing!"

My smile quickly faltered into a frown. Ginny was awfully excited about dancing with someone else. She must have realized my apprehension, as she quickly added, "Our dance is very unique. And we never have to touch!" I was skeptical, but forced a small smile anyway. Ginny quickly took hold of my hand under the table.

Before long, the table was entirely full with all of the teams. As before, all of the Slytherins sat on one end together, and the rest of us on the other. The mentors and escorts sat in the middle, also not thrilled being forced together.

Around the table I could hear everyone exchanging their stories of their lessons. Most everyone disliked their lessons. The only people who seemed even remotely happy were Ernie and Ginny, Hannah and Michael, and Anthony and Susan. Most groups worked on dancing, but then you had those groups who worked on other aspects, such as appearances. The one I found the oddest was that of Hermione. She told us how Mrs. Weasley had forced she and Malfoy to sit down and simply get to know each other. I could see her logic, those two living together had to be as bad, if not worse, than Parkinson and I sharing a room! They were probably at each other's throats constantly and making everyone's lives unbearable! I'm sure making them mind each other would make lives much easier, but, did Mrs. Weasley really think it was possible?

We finished dinner while exchanging stories, but it was nothing like the Great Hall. It had been the first day of classes, and we hadn't been to any. I never realized how much I liked seeing the first year students telling their stories of getting lost in the corridors or running into "scary Slytherins". First years were very interesting little people, and I legitimately missed them.

The Great Hall was warmer, and louder, and just comfier. I'd never realized how homey the Great Hall was, but, in that moment, I realized that when I thought of Hogwarts as home, I thought of the Great Hall.

I was yanked from my thoughts as each of the mentors stood and made eye contact. It was time for real training.