Disclaimer: I own nothing of the wonderful world of Harry Potter. I make no money from writing this fanfiction, only words.
A Life Alone
Chapter Twenty-Nine
By Loony
As usual Harry was one of the first few to breakfast even though he ate the least. It was a good place to be seen reading every morning; you never knew who would try to frame you for what. The students around him all looked very tired. He supposed they had had a late night contemplating what had become of the troll if they hadn't already been told. If Dumbledore was a better man, Harry would have expected him to keep his name out of the whole troll affair but seeing as it was Dumbledore he would probably make a grand announcement about how he had bravely fought the troll single-handed and won. That would cause a few students to raise their eyebrows at him and more rumours would ensue. Everyone would be confused as to why he had helped save Granger when he hated the school. No matter. Harry would simply have to show them all that he was not on Dumbledore's side.
Sure enough, when the hall was fullest of students and the staff table filled Dumbledore stood to make an announcement and the school fell silent at once. "As you are all aware, a troll managed to enter into Hogwarts last night," he began grandly. "And, as some of you may know, it cornered Miss Granger in one of the school lavatories. One of our number gallantly went to her rescue and managed to knock the troll out single-handed and risked his own life doing so. Fifty points shall be awarded to Gryffindor and let us give a round of applause to Mr Jeremy White!"
Nobody made a sound. Instead, every head in the hall turned to look at him in surprise. Harry made a rude hand gesture towards Dumbledore and, swinging his bag over his shoulder as he did so, began to leave the hall. It felt like walking in a swimming pool under their gaze. Every movement felt greatly exaggerated and hard to make.
Finally he was free and headed straight for the library. He needed to research spells that made music. He probably should have done it before he was going to attempt to get the stone but Harry hadn't really seen the point. Now it would have to be taken under the utmost stealth; even though he had told Dumbledore not to have teachers following him, he was pretty sure he would be under close observance.
He was reading about a very complex charm to create a self-playing harp when he heard a tentative voice behind him. "Excuse me, Jeremy?"
Harry gritted his teeth and looked into the face of the girl he had rescued form the troll. "What?" he snapped. He really wasn't in the mood to put up with her.
"Well – I mean – I just wanted to say –" She flopped down into the chair beside his.
"Say what?" he asked bitterly.
"Thank you," Hermione gushed. "For saving my life. You know we get lessons off today so the teacher's can help rebuild the bathroom."
No classes? Well at least one good thing had come out of saving her dratted life. Now he would have more time to spend researching spells that would help him get to the stone. "Fine. Now leave."
"Can't I stay? I mean, in the library with you?"
"Do I look like I want you to stay?" Harry was making a point of blocking her out. He bent further over his book.
"Oh!" she said crest-fallen. "But what have I done? You can't hate me really. I know you don't. You wouldn't have saved me otherwise. Please can I stay, Harry?"
"Shut it!" he hissed in alarm and quickly scanned the room for eavesdroppers. "Bugger off won't you? What was I supposed to do? Leave you to die?"
"But what did I do?"
"You're the reason I got discovered! If it hadn't been for you Dumbledore would have never known I was here." There really was no getting rid of Hermione.
"But why -?"
"Go away! I don't need filth like you hanging around."
And finally, looking very downhearted, Hermione left.
Harry's triumph at finally being left alone did not last long, however, and it was no more than ten minutes later that Ron came in and sat down beside him.
"What do you want?" He would have thought Ron would be avoiding him like he had been the day before. There was no reason anything should change now.
"Why'd you save Hermione, eh? Trying to get into Dumbledore's good books, are we?" he sneered.
"Dumbledore is the last person whose 'books' I want to be in. Now kindly leave."
"Well you don't fool me, White. I know what your kind are like always-"
"My kind? What the hell is my kind?"
Ron raised his eyebrows and wrinkled his nose. "Dirty Slytherins who don't deserve to be here. Always thinking you're better than everyone else. You worm your way into high places then go about killing us wizards just because we aren't pureblood."
"Is there a point to this?"
"Stay away from Hermione. Stay away from us all. We don't want dirt like you in our house." Ron too, left.
"I thought you were better than that." It was the great Draco Malfoy, king of the snubbers. "Then you went and helped a mudblood."
The staring and whispers from the random students hiding behind shelves was one thing but was it really worth the constant interruptions just to use the library? "What is it now?"
"Tut tut, White! I would be more careful if I were you. You weren't at the feast last night and you never know who might let it slip to the teachers. You may have helped their mudblood but I'm sure they would be very interested to know that you were up to something last night."
"Are you done? You people are really quite annoying." Honestly, save one persons life and suddenly everyone wanted to be your friend.
"I'm telling you, White, you can't have the world as your enemies. You need allies somewhere. Even you can't live if the whole world's out for your blood. I can help you there."
"And why should I trust you?" What was Malfoy getting at? It had only been the other day that he had laughed about his lack of friends to his fellow Slytherins. He had to be up to something, but what?
Malfoy bent over the table towards Harry and said one last thing before he left. "Well for starters, we both hate Dumbledore. Think about my offer, White. You never know when it'll come in handy."
There was definitely something up with Malfoy. He didn't exactly seem the Good Samaritan type and he was never anything but insulting to anyone but the Slytherins. His sudden interest in being more sociable towards Harry was very peculiar and was definitely something to cause suspicion.
Before anyone else could bother him about what he had been doing the night before, Harry picked up his books and left for the private room he normally studied in. He spent the rest of the day working in solitude attempting to master a spell that would conjure a song to sound in the air for a lengthy amount of time. The best he got however was a long note like a foghorn, which was probably the sound he would have managed to make out of the flute.
"Did you hear? He once killed a vampire."
"I heard he used the Dark Arts to save that girl."
"You know, he's got Hermione in a life debt to him now and he's using that to make her do perform some dark magic."
Harry was the subject of much talk for the next few days to come and most of the tales that were spun about him were so ridiculous it was amazing that they were being spread around the school. Things ranged from him being a ministry worker in disguise, hunting for dark wizards, to being possessed by the Dark Lord. He even heard one ridiculous story about how he wasn't even real and he was an apparition of Dumbledore's made to protect the school.
It was the crowds of students milling around him in the hallways that made him late for Potions the next day and he entered a few minutes late directly behind Ron. The rest of the class was already seated by this point and Snape had begun his daily lecture before they began their potions. Naturally Snape did not take kindly to his talk being interrupted.
"White! Weasley!" he barked no sooner than they had placed a foot in the room. "Explain yourselves!"
"I had to speak to a prefect, Sir," said Ron meekly.
"That's no excuse! Kindly arrange your private matters to outside of class time!" Amazingly Snape managed to find faults in even the most legitimate of excuses. "Ten points from Gryffindor and detention with me tonight! White, why are you late?"
"I didn't want to see your face for any longer than I had to," Harry drawled. "I might have gone blind."
"Five points from Gryffindor! Seat!"
Not without reason, Ron and several others found his punishment, or lack of, very unfair. This caused another wave of rumours to fly through the school almost as quickly as the time began to fly past. It all went in a blur of colours, small arguments with teachers and spells soaring in all directions. Before it even seemed possible it was the beginning of December.
