Hey, guys. Before we start, I quickly wanted to tell you that I might have to start updating bi-weekly instead of weekly. I don't want to but I'm afraid there might be no way around it. I started school again on Monday. It's my last year and therefore will probably be the most taxing. My schedule is going to kill me and I'm a tutor once a week plus I'm part of a study group. No matter how much I love this story, my schoolwork comes first. For now, I will try to stick to updating once a week and see if it's manageable or not. Just a warning. Now, enjoy!


Since his very first detention, Harry hadn't seen a whole lot of his friends aside from Neville. He'd figured that they wouldn't spend as much time together because of Umbridge's new system but by the time he returned to the common room with his freshly scarred hand shoved into his pocket to shield it from curious eyes, he was feeling quite abandoned by them. The last he'd seen of Ron was during History of Magic. He hadn't stuck around after to talk but had immediately been off to meet Hermione in front of the Transfiguration classroom. Before, he'd arrived at lunch with Neville after Ron had stood them up to go back to the Gryffindor common room only to find that Hermione had only shown up very briefly to bundle up some food to take to the library.

He'd hardly seen his brothers either. After Nathan's brief visit in the morning, he hadn't found them again and Harry had few opportunities to run into Draco now that they didn't share any classes anymore. Yet, Harry's heart grew significantly lighter at the sight of Neville, perched on an ottoman right before the fireplace, a parchment roll in hand and chewing on a pencil. A blonde girl sat near him on the floor, a pile of discarded wrapping beside her. He raked his brain for her name but came up blank. He knew she was a girl from his year, a Hufflepuff, judging by her crest, but he'd never interacted with her before. She was in his Charms class, he remembered, and had been one of the few in History to answer a question correctly.
Neville looked up from his work and smiled at him. "Hey, Harry."

"Hey, Neville," he sat down in an armchair and looked at the girl. Her eyes were trained on him, yet Harry had the distinct feeling she wasn't looking at him.

"Oh, that's Megan," Neville introduced. "Megan, this is Harry. Or- uh- Eoin."

Megan's frown deepened. "Black."

Harry blinked. "What?"

"Black," she repeated. "You're Eoin Black."

"Oh. Yes, I am. I go by Harry, though."

Suddenly, she shook her head and snapped out of her trance. She offered him a small smile. "Sorry. I was just- just wondering."

"Wondering what?"

She waved her hand. "Doesn't matter. Not to you. Anyway, I'd better go and start writing my thank-you notes."

"Thank-you notes?"

She gathered the wrapping paper in her arms and dumped them in the trashcan before collecting a bunch of clothes, books and games from the floor. "Yes. My uncle always makes me write thank-you notes to everyone who got me presents or sent me cards for my birthday. It's annoying but he thinks it's impolite not to do it."

"I didn't know it was your birthday," he said unnecessarily. "Uh, happy birthday."

She smiled. "I'll write you a thank-you note."

Harry watched after her as she disappeared around the corner to the girl dormitories before turning back to Neville, who was once more reading through the parchment.

"So, uh, Megan?"

"She often helps Professor Sprout, like me. She's in at least four of our classes," answered Neville, not bothering to look up. "Maybe you should make an effort to get to know more people, especially now that we're not in Gryffindor Tower anymore."

"I guess so. Are you and her…"

He snapped his head up, flushing red. "What? No. Merlin, Harry, no! I don't like Megan like that. It's like you and Hermione, it'd be weird."

"Right. Course. Sorry," Neville nodded and lowered his head. "What're you reading?"

"Oh, it's your Herbology essay."

"What?"

"You left it on the desk. I saw that you'd gotten a few names wrong so I'm just going over it. I know you don't have much time for homework with your detentions and all."

"You don't have to do that," he sat, moving to sit next to him just as Neville lightly crossed out an entire paragraph.

"The effects you're describing here are for an entirely different plant and the complete opposite to what you're supposed to write."

"I was gonna rewrite it," he grumbled. "It's not due until next week. I just wanted it out of the way. How do you know so much about Herbology anyway?"

"Aunt Aria has a beautiful garden," Neville said. "Nathan never cared much for plants so she taught me instead. I've got my own garden now."

"I used to do garden work too," he said, watching Neville underline a word. "More of a chore really. My Aunt Petunia liked having a neat garden to show off but she didn't like working in the garden. Too filthy, she used to say."

"You must be happy that they're not your family anymore."

He nodded. "I guess. It's weird, though. I went to live with them when I was fifteen months old, I don't remember a time when they weren't the only family I'd left."

"Three months."

"Right. Three months."

He was only three months old when Voldemort came to kill him. A three-month-old baby with nothing but a mother's love to defend him. It was a horrifying thought. He'd only had three truly happy months in all his life and even then he'd been a kidnapped baby, a brother taken from his siblings. When it really came down to it, he was normal for all of sixty minutes.

"Here," Neville handed him his essay, which was now riddled with crossed out lines and added words, making it barely readable. "That should help."

"Thanks. You really didn't have to."

Neville shrugged. "It's fine. How was your detention?"

"Oh, uh, alright. Same as yesterday," he tugged his sleeve lower to cover his hand and rubbed it against his thigh. "Just lines."


Ron caught up with them just as they were getting ready to leave the Great Hall to head to the Charms classroom. His cheeks were flushed red and he was panting.

"Where've you been?" He asked, as soon as the ginger slowed to a walk beside him.

Ron's face flushed an even deeper red. "Oh, uh, the Quidditch pitch. I wanted to get some training in to, you know, the try-outs this afternoon."

"You're going to try-out for Keeper?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Will you be there?"

"No," his mood plummeted to a low. "I've got detention."

"Oh. Angelina said you'd ask if you could come later."

He shook his head. "Believe me, Umbridge won't let me do that."

He hadn't even considered asking her. It would've been of no use anyway and all it would've gotten him was a patronizing look, which he'd rather not endure more than he already had. Besides her fake sweetness, her patronizing ways were definitely the things Harry loathed most about her. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of asking anything of her.

"Potter!"

A scowl almost came across his face and the snarky 'Malfoy' already lay at the tip of his tongue, ready to be spoken, when he remembered that the terms of their relationship had changed vastly since the last year. He turned around, facing into an empty hallway, and spotted Draco leaning against the wall with Zabini, Nott and Greengrass by his side. He nudged Neville and Ron, who hadn't heard Draco's hiss, and tugged them into the hallway.

"So is this what you're doing all day?" He asked, glancing around the hall. "Lurking around the castle and sulking?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I've been more productive than you could ever hope to be, I assure you."

"Doing what?"

"Figuring out a way to save your hide," he said. "I can't say more. Not here, where people can hear. Meet me tonight by the Potions classroom."

Ron scoffed. "Yeah, right. Where Snape will find him and put him in detention."

"Don't be more stupid than you already are, Weasley. I've got it handled. Just be there at nine pm, sharp. Bring your friends, they might come in useful for once."

"What about Nathan?"

Greengrass stepped out the shadows. "I've already talked to him."

"You?" Neville asked, frowning. "You never liked him."

She shrugged. "My feelings for him don't matter, not that they concern you in any way. He'll be there, as will his friends."

"Right. We'll be there."

Draco nodded jerkily and walked past them, his friends following close by. Just as the last of them stepped out of the hallway, Draco popped his head around the corner once more. "Don't be late and make sure to keep quiet about this."

"He's still a jerk," Ron decided. "Your brother or no. And I know about jerk brothers, I've got one of those as well."

Harry hadn't caught her himself but Ron and the twins had assured him that Mrs Weasley could often be found crying over Percy's decision to leave the family for the Ministry earlier in the summer. Narcissa hadn't cried over Draco even once, so Harry thought he had at least that going for him. Although if Ron was to be believed, the time would soon come that Draco would more than make up for that- he was sure that they were living on borrowed time and that Draco would betray them to Voldemort sooner or later. Harry didn't believe it, not anymore. He might be a jerk, and a big one at that, but he would never do anything to hurt his mother, other than Percy Weasley, who probably hadn't given his family so much as a second thought. He'd always been aiming high, even in his school days, and hadn't put up with any sort of fun. He damned it, really, and was constantly on the twins' case, telling them to quit the jokes and concentrate on their careers instead. Sometimes, Harry even thought Percy was ashamed of what others might consider a low birth. He always acted like he was born in a family of higher social standing than the Weasleys, on par with the Malfoys perhaps, and hadn't cared that his brothers and sister mocked him for it.

He fell flat on his bum as someone crashed into him and startled out of his thoughts. Cho Chang was sprawled out before him, frantically collecting her quills that had spilled out of her bag upon their fall. He picked up a roll of parchment lying by his side and held it out for her to take before standing up.

"I'm so sorry," Cho said, getting onto her feet. "I'm late for class."

He blushed. "Don't worry about it, Cho."

She blinked at him. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Yes," he said, for a short moment unsure whether she was joking or not. "It's Harry. Harry Potter."

Her eyes flitted up to his forehead and found his scar. "Oh, Harry. I didn't recognize you. You look so different now."

"That's alright. Uh, how are you?"

"Good. Um, listen, it was nice seeing you but I really am late. I- We'll talk sometime else, yes?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

He looked after her until she rounded the corner. When he looked back at Ron and Neville, who were grinning at him a deep blush crept upon his cheeks.

He hoisted his bag higher and walked past them. "Shut up."


Right, questions. There's been a few so I hope I don't miss any, as I do have an annoying tendency to do that.

Before though, I want to point out that Megan, as well as any other students of Harry's year that might come up, are canon characters. I got Megan's name (as well as others) from JKR's list of the original forty on Pottermore, if you're interested.

Dorms for the main characters:Hufflepuff: Harry, Neville, Dean, George
Harry, Neville and Dean share a dorm with Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley.
Gryffindor: Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Seamus, Fred
Ron and Seamus share a dorm with Zachariah Smith, Wayne Hopkins, Roger Malone and Oliver Rivers
Ravenclaw: Nathan, Luna, Draco
Draco shares a dorm with Terry Boot, Kevin Entwhistle, Theodore Nott and Stephen Cornfoot.

The kidnapping is still a big thing but Harry's gotten hardly any news since the end of Fourth Year. His friends especially are careful to spare him the worst. Don't worry, it'll be a topic again sometime (soonish)

Lucius is in Azkaban for being a Death Eater. The public knows this. The details surrounding his arrest are hazy at best for all those not involved. The Ministry was unable to push it under the rug because the arresting Aurors (Shacklebolt and Tonks) aren't under their thumb.

Black is better than Malfoy because aside from figures such as (fugitive mass murderer) Sirius Black, the name is largely associated with people like Phineas Nigellius Black, especially among intellectuals, wheras Malfoy stands for corruption, betrayal, lies and pureblood supremacy. Black also enabled Narcissa to claim Sirius' inheritance, which Harry is Heir to but too young to inherit for now. By calling Harry 'Malfoy' they are trying to discredit him. They're enunciating that he's Lucius Malfoy's son. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree and all that.

There will be no smut in this story. There will be same sex relationships though.

Brotherly bonding is coming right up, I've not forgotten about it.

I hope I haven't forgotten anything. If I have, please point it out to me and I'll come back to it.