A/N: Well first I would like to thank all of you who reviewed the last chapter! The trio will be re-united, properly this time. Onwards…

Chapter 10- First Day Back

Harry awoke the next morning, not in the Gryffindor Tower as he thought, but in an odd room that looked exactly like it, except there were no other beds, and the absence of Ron's snoring. He got up and walked over to a partition which held a shower, sink and a toilet. After tending to his ablutions he found his trunk at the foot of his bed.

He pulled out a black set of robes with the emblem of scythes and an hourglass on it and put it on. When he turned around he came face to face, well, knee to face with a familiar looking house elf.

"Dobby?" Harry asked. The elf broke into a smile as tears of joy ran down his face.

"The great Harry Potter remembers" he squealed as he hugged Harry's leg. After a few minutes of coaxing him he managed to pry Dobby off of his leg.

"Er Dobby, why are you here, and why am I here? And where is here?" Harry asked confusedly.

"We is being in the Room of Requirements Harry Potter sir!" Dobby squeaked, "And you is here because Dobby found you asleep outside the portrait of the large miss sir!"

"Oh, so what time is it?" Harry asked, not bothering to ask about what the Room of Requirement was, or why he was asleep outside the Fat Lady's portrait. He knew that, he didn't have the password.

"It is 7.30 Harry Potter sir, and you should be in the Great Hall before the Professor hands out the time tables!" Dobby said, a touch of urgency creeping into his voice.

"OK Dobby, how long do I have?" Harry laughed.

"2 minutes Harry Potter sir!" That sobered Harry up.

"Oh shit" Dobb's eyes grew wide at the language but Harry didn't care. Being late on his first day back would not be a good thing.

"Dobby can help Harry Potter!" Dobby said proudly.

"Could you Dobby, you'd be a lif-" But the rest of Harry's sentence was lost as Dobby grabbed the hem of his robes and apparated them with a loud crack to the Great Hall where many students gaped at Harry and the house elf. "Well talk about making an entrance" Harry muttered.

"I have to be going now Harry Potter sir, but just call my name if you is needing me!" Dobby squeaked and with a crack vanished.

"Mr Potter!" the clipped voice of Professor McGonagall rang out across the Hall. Harry swore under his breath and turned to face her with a smile on his face. "If you have finished greeting the house elves perhaps you would like to join your housemates for breakfast?" Harry grinned. Same old McGonagall.

Harry made his way over to Gryffindor table and seated himself next to two first years, who happened to recognise him.

"Harry"

"Harry!" they said excitedly and he turned around to see Mark and Lisa.

"Oh hi guys!" he said with false cheeriness. He had enough hero worshipping with Colin and Dennis Creevy.

"You never told us you were Harry Potter" they said with awe in their voices.

"Yeah well," Harry said but he was saved from elaborating when Dumbledore motioned for him to come over. "Bye guys," he said hastily. He made his way over to the Head table, ignoring the glares he received from Professor Snape. Same old Snape.

"Now Harry I believe we have to discuss your timetable." Dumbledore said, observing him over the top of his half moon glasses. "I take it they taught you in our curriculum?" That and more, Harry thought, but he nodded. "Good, now if you would kindly write down which lessons you would like to take I will put you in now." Dumbledore waved his hand and a blank parchment and quill appeared.

Harry opted for Charms, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions and Ancient Runes. He opted for Ancient Runes because it was the High Elves who devised them; Harry was probably more proficient than the Professor in that class. He had also opted for Potions because while he was away he found he quite enjoyed brewing them away from Snape's tyranny, he planned on showing the Potions master up this year.

Harry passed the list back to Dumbledore who nodded and tapped the parchment with his wand, transforming it into a timetable. "You almost have the exact same timetable as Ms Granger, except she has Arithmancy when you have Care of Magical Creatures if memory serves," he looked at Professor McGonagall questioningly who nodded. "Off you go, Charms first Harry." Harry nodded and turned to leave, but Dumbledore tapped him on the shoulder, "Don't forget this Harry" he said with that damned twinkle in his eye. In his hand was a gold badge with the Hogwarts emblem and the letter HB printed on the front.

Harry took it and pinned it on the front of his robes. "Thank you Professor," he muttered softly. He put his timetable in his pocket and went over to Gryffindor table, taking his previous seat. He sensed a barrage of questions coming on so he dismissed the unknown students with a wave of his hand, and proceeded to fill his plate with bacon, eggs, sausages, and kippers, all of his old favourites.

He ate quickly, and seeing he had fifteen minutes to get to Charms he walked out of the Hall. The next moment he was tackled to the ground with a bone crushing hug.

Hermione awoke at 6.30 as usual on a school day. As she was Head Girl she wanted to make an example of proper behaviour. After showering and dressing she made her way to the common room at 7.00, in good time where she was greeted with a chaste kiss from Ron.

She noticed something wrong then. Or she finally took notice. It wasn't any different from the others, but it didn't feel right. Before she could ponder on this further she was met by an excited Parvati.

"Come on Hermione!" she urged.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" she asked, though pleased at her keenness to start the school day.

"Because Harry will be there" she said dreamily. This woke Hermione right up and she nearly fled for the Great Hall right then if it wasn't for the anchor that had become Ron's hand.

"So" Ron said stupidly.

"So?" Parvati said incredulously.

"It's only Harry" Ron said indifferently, "I mean I've missed him but still, its just Harry."

"Just Harry?" Parvati exclaimed. "He's not Just Harry; he is the new and improved Harry!"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked; ignoring the looks the girls of Gryffindor Tower were giving him which plainly said they thought he was as thick as two short planks.

"HE'S HOT RON!" Parvati screamed, along with three or four other girls, Hermione was nearly crying with having to keep her mouth shut.

"Really?" Ron said in a surprised voice. He didn't get an answer. The girls just huffed and went their ways, Hermione dragging Ron out with Parvati by her side. He could be heard muttering 'women' under his breath, along with the rest of the males in Gryffindor Tower.

When they entered the Great Hall, Hermione was disappointed to see Harry wasn't at the Gryffindor table, from the annoyed sigh from her side, so was Parvati. Nevertheless breakfast was as usual, with Ron eating everything he could reach. About half an hour later Professor McGonagall was handing timetables out, from hers Hermione could see she had double Charms, then Arithmancy followed by double Potions in the afternoon. She only had Charms with Ron today and Parvati had Divination when she had Arithmancy.

Before she could make her way up to Charms there was a loud crack and Harry, with Dobby clutching onto the hem of his robe appeared. Promptly everyone turned and gaped at the sight before Dobby disappeared again. Before anything else could happen Professor McGonagall had called him over to the table. It was then she realised that the space which was next to her had been occupied by a fourth year who she was itching to kick out so Harry could sit next to her.

She hoped he would sit near them so she could at least scold him for disappearing last night but to her, and many girls dismay he went and sat with the first years at the other end of the table, who stopped him from getting breakfast, by bombarding him with questions, adding two more people onto her hex list.

The eggs which were on her fork had gone cold now as she continued to watch him talk to the headmaster and then finally get some food. Ron meanwhile had been helping himself to a fourth helping of bacon and sneaking food off of her plate when she wasn't looking. When she gazed around the hall she saw many girls with a dreamy look on there face as they gazed shamelessly at Harry.

When Hermione saw him get up she itched to follow him but it took a minute of waiting for Ron to finish before she could drag him out of the Hall. Fortunately Parvati seemed to be in the lead so she could pass this off as catching up with her friend.

When she saw him pause for a moment she let go of Ron's hand and ran to him, tackling him in a hug which brought them both to the ground. "Where did you go to last night? So much for 'I'm not leaving again!' Honestly!" she said into his shoulder.

"Come on Hermione, give him a break." Ron said, sounding slightly jealous. When she surfaced she saw Parvati smiling at her before wiping the look off of her face. "How've you bin mate?" Ron asked clapping him on the back.

"Oh just fine" Harry replied dryly. "So Parvati seems you took my place while I was away" Harry said with a smirk. She blushed before nodding, "Well looks like I'll have to be filled in. What's been happening?" his eyes roamed around each of them, finishing and resting on Hermione.

Before Hermione could start to answer Ron opened his mouth and did something only he could do. He stuck everyone's foot in it. "Well mate, for a start me and Hermione are dating" He said proudly, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

The effect was instantaneous. The smile slid from Harry's face as he felt his heart slip right through his stomach and to the dungeons below them. Catching himself he hastily put on a small, half smile and closed off his eyes, something he had done frequently in Etherlon. Whereas before they showed his emotions perfectly they now turned emotionless and cold. If he gazed at you like this it seemed like he was studying your very soul. The change made Hermione and Parvati shiver, it was like Harry had put a mask on, and he was almost unrecognizable. Ron was fortunate enough to be too oblivious to notice.

"Oh" he said; his voice devoid of emotion, not bitter, not angry, and not sad. It was like Hermione had been slapped round the face and she flinched slightly. When he next spoke his voice was carefully light, enough to fool non observant people, like Ron, into thinking he was cheerful. "I am happy for you two. About time is all I can say. I saw it coming for years; annoyed it didn't happen sooner, would have saved me having to split myself between you. You are made for each other. Just let me be best man at the wedding" he said with a knowing smile that didn't get anywhere near his eyes.

Hermione almost wanted to cry. He left never knowing how she felt about him, how she feels about him. He felt the same way yet he thought that it was Ron who her heart had chosen. She knew he was saying those things to convince himself more than anything. Parvati seemed to be equally stunned.

Inwardly Harry was cursing Knithsil for every second he let him believe Hermione felt the same way about him that he felt about her and his was cursing him for each second of heartache he would endure for the rest of his life. He never let the guard on his eyes or voice drop though. In a light tone, one he chose to display casualness he spoke again. "So…Charms next?" he asked.

The casualness of his tone stung Hermione again, he didn't know he was doing it, but he was slowly breaking her heart. Ron spoke again. She was glad this time; she didn't trust her voice at the moment.

"You've got it as well?" Harry nodded. "Cool!" Without waiting for an answer he turned on his heel and walked off. Well he walked at the speed everyone else ran at. It took a few precious seconds for them to realise he had left so quickly and then they set off at a slightly more sedate pace.

When they reached the classroom they found him talking to Lavender Brown who was batting her eyelids at him. His expression was still unreadable. The bell rang and they all filed in, Hermione tried to save Harry a seat, but so did all the other girls on the class, and it just so happened that he sat in the furthest one away from Hermione, next to a very excited Lavender Brown.

He only looked at her once in that lesson, and when she looked him in the eye his guard dropped for a brief second and she saw one thing. Pain.

A/N: There we go, it is approximately 10:00pm here in England when I am finishing this and I hope that it is not reflected in my writing! I must say I feel sorry for Harry, even thought I am writing it, which is weird yet oddly easy to write him in pain like this. Ah well, don' forget to review and tell me what you think! Until next time…