Hotaru, Pansy and Blaise made it to the Great Hall half way through breakfast. They walked over to the Slytherin table, sat down and hurriedly began to fill their plates. Breakfast for Hotaru consisted of French toast with butter, powdered sugar and a light drizzling of syrup while Blaise and Pansy went full out on the pancakes and sausage. Out of habit, Hotaru glanced over at the Gryffindor table and spotted Harry as usual. This morning, however, he was facing her. Their eyes met and he nodded his head toward the door.

"Hey guys, I think I am going to step out for a minute." Hotaru said to Blaise and Pansy. She got up and hurried out of the Great Hall while their mouths were full and couldn't argue with her. She walked up a flight of stairs and around the corner and watched for Harry. After a few minutes he came walking toward her. Hotaru could feel her face heating up. She had wanted to talk to Harry for weeks now, but she had never gotten the chance. Now that he was actually willing to talk to her, he face felt hot and she felt slightly dizzy.

"Hey 'Taru." Harry said quietly when he finally made it up the stairs and rounded the corner. Their eyes met and the regret was as evident as it would have been had he fallen to his knees and begged her forgiveness.

"Hello Harry." Hotaru said quietly, not quite sure how she should act. This was the boy she had grown up with. He had been her only friend in that house full of pain and sadness, and yet here they were; Staring at each other in a nearly abandoned hallway in a school neither of them had ever even dreamed they would be at. Of course, Hotaru had never thought that she would be the daughter of the man who killed Harry's parents either.

There was a moment of silence, as though neither of them were completely sure as to what they should say.

"Har-" Harry started.

"Hota-" Hotaru began at the same time as Harry. They both stopped abruptly, Hotaru blushed.

"Go ahead." They both said in unison, and then laughed a bit.

"Hotaru." Harry said seriously. "I just wanted to sa-" Harry was cut off by an angry Pansy storming toward him.

"What the bloody Hell are you doing Potter?" She spat, jabbing him in the chest, pushing him back away from Hotaru. Harry was too surprised to respond right away, but was sputtering angrily only moments later.

"What do you mean, what am I doing? I was talking to Hotaru." Harry scowled at Pansy, but immediately seemed to feel bad about being so rude.

"Pansy it's true, he was just-" Hotaru started, trying to explain to Pansy that Harry had wanted to tell her something.

"Hotaru, you don't have to defend this prat." Pansy said angrily, glaring daggers at Harry. "I know that it is his fault you have been hurting."

Hotaru stared at Pansy with curiosity written on her face. "What makes you think that?" Hotaru asked.

"Oh Hotaru, I may not have known you for very long but I know when something is bothering you. I have seen you glancing at Potter with pain in your eyes." Pansy said, not taking her eyes from Harry. "I also saw you in the hall way a few weeks ago." Pansy admitted.

---- FLASHBACK ----

Pansy was searching for Hotaru. She wasn't in class and Professor Snape had given her leave to find her. She had left the Common Room before Pansy or Blaise had so Blaise didn't have any idea where she was either. Pansy knew that she probably came off as a babysitter for Hotaru to other people… But who cares what people think? Pansy didn't know why, but from the time she met Hotaru, she had felt drawn to her, and had felt the urge to protect her. There was just something about her that she couldn't place, but she could tell that Blaise could sense it too. When Pansy didn't know where Hotaru was, she felt a sense of panic, like she was in danger somehow.

Pansy was beginning to get frustrated when she turned a corner and she heard Hotaru's soft voice calling that stupid Potter.

"Harry!" She said, moving toward him. Pansy stepped quickly back around the corner. Neither Hotaru, nor Potter seemed to have noticed her. She felt disgusted that Hotaru could be friends with the prat. Hotaru had previously told Pansy that she didn't know Harry well enough to judge him, but Pansy figured that she could judge him by how he was treating Hotaru which wasn't good at all for him.

Pansy couldn't hear what they were saying any long, as they were speaking too quietly. However, she was peeking around the corner and she saw Hotaru take a step back as thought surprised. A moment later, Harry turned and walked away, muttering something. She just caught a glimpse of a tear falling down Hotaru's cheek.

Pansy was filled with anger. If there was one thing Slytherin's were, it was loyal to each other. May the Gods come down from Heaven and damn the world, the Slytherin's would still be loyal to each other. They had been through too much together not to be… Well, except Crabbe and Goyle. But then, some wondered if they were really human and not troll.

She felt the desire to run over to Hotaru and give her a big hug like a friend should, but something told her that she needed to keep her distance. She watched Hotaru turn and head toward Potions class… Which meant that she was heading her way. Pansy ran as quietly as she could back to the classroom, sensing that Hotaru needed some time to herself.

---- END FLASHBACK ----

Harry looked embarrassed that she had been spying on them when he had been so heartless to Hotaru. He knew that she had done nothing wrong, and that the deeds of her father shouldn't be placed on her head. However, the thoughts had plagued his mind so much that he couldn't get them out of his head. When he looked at Hotaru, all he could think about was that her father was the one that killed his parents. It was because of her father that he'd had to live with the Dursleys. However, whenever he thought about it, he also always remembered what Hotaru had said on one of those lonely nights in the cupboard.

I am glad that I was dumped on the doorstep… Because if I hadn't, I would never have met you Harry.

It had finally dawned on Harry a few days ago that he was being the worlds' biggest prat to Hotaru when she hadn't even done anything wrong. He hadn't had the courage to talk to her though, not after the way he treated her. Not until today; and he would not let Pansy Parkinson get in the way of his apologizing.

Hotaru wasn't quite sure what to say. She wasn't aware that Pansy had been present during her conversation with Harry. Though, thankfully she didn't hear the words exchanged between them. She didn't want Pansy to think differently of her, so she didn't tell her who her father was. She had, however, heard that many old, pureblood families into Dark Magic were servants of Voldemort. This made Sailor Saturn a little nervous (well, as nervous as Sailor Saturn gets, which isn't really much at all), and she had once again warned her not to let anything slip to Pansy.

Pansy stepped beside Hotaru and put a protective arm around her shoulders.

"Watch yourself Potter," Pansy hissed, as she led Hotaru away, leaving Harry glaring at Pansy's retreating back, hoping his look would actually do something. Hotaru glanced back and gave Harry a small smile, signifying that she had accepted his apology. This lifted his spirits a bit, but he still couldn't help but internally yell at himself for being such a jerk in the previous weeks.

He watched as Hotaru and Pansy turned into the Great Hall and knew that Ron was probably wondering where he was. Now he wasn't worried about Hotaru hating him, his mind reverted to something else. that had been occupying his mind which was the recent mystery of the break in at Gringotts.

---- FLASHBACK ----

Harry was on his way to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Hogwarts grounds with Ron. He had received an invitation from Hagrid on the first day of classes, and he was told that he could bring Ron if he wanted to. When they got to the hut, Harry knocked on the door, to which loud barking emitted from behind the door.

"Shut up Fang, yeh stupid dog." Harry heard Hagrid's muffled voice from behind the door. Finally, the door opened and Hagrid appeared, and held out a large arm, welcoming them inside. "Come on in Harry, Ron." He said, and closed the door behind them.

Once they were in and seated, Hagrid served them piping hot tea and something he called 'rock cakes.' Ron bit into one, and nearly broke his teeth, so they pretty much left them alone. Harry told Hagrid about how Professor Snape was singling him out and treating him like he was some arrogant, prideful celebrity, and taking points off of him for the stupidest reasons.

"Ah Harry, Professor Snape is jus' like tha'. Don' mind him none." Hagrid said, with a wave of his hand. "Besides, you haven' given him any reason ter hate yeh, have yeh?"

"Well, no… But-"

"Then pay 'im no mind." Hagrid turned to tend to Fang, his dog, and accidentally knocked a pile of papers to the floor. Harry told Hagrid not to worry about it and told him he would handle it, so he got to the floor and began picking the papers up.

Near the top of the pile was an article in the Daily Prophet, the wizarding newspaper. There was a picture of a Gringotts bank vault and Goblins all around inside, studying it. The article that went along with it was a detailed account of a break-in of Gringotts. Harry leaned over and nudged Ron, motioning to the article. Ron's eyes widened and Harry whispered in his ear

"That was the same day Hagrid and I was at Gringotts to get my money so I could buy my things for school," He said hurriedly. Ron turned his head to gape at Harry, and at that moment Hagrid turned around.

"Wha's wrong Ron?" Hagrid asked, as he took two steps to get to the table. Ron accidentally poured his tea down his shirt.

"Ah, we need to be going Hagrid, it was nice to see you again!" Harry said, as he and Ron left the hut.

---------------

AngelMeroko: I am so sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out. I credit it to my little sister who hit me in the stomach, thus causing my creative flow of thoughts to stop THUS creating a writer's block! In short, my little sister gave me writers block ::cries:: …AND she pulled my hair!

Blaise: Are you serious? Oh well, I don't care. I'm not in this chapter much.

AngelMeroko: But it slowed down the progress for the next chapter.

Blaise: …Doom. I think she should be sentenced to death by… ::points at Ron:: Weasley.

::Collective gasp::

Ron: Hey, what's that all about?

::Hotaru, Pansy and Draco discuss::

Hotaru: We, the council have decided that the reviewers should decide what happens to the perp.

AngelMeroko: Righto! Review and say what I should do to her! (she is the reason this chapter is short)