"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Parselmouth"

Reading/Writing

"YELLING"

Later, in Gryffindor Tower

Harry and Astoria eventually arrived back to Gryffindor House with their Head, and after saying goodnight to McGonagall, they gave the password to the Fat Lady, and crawled through the portrait hole. He gently helped Astoria into the Gryffindor Common Room, while he climbed through himself. When he exited the hole, he looked around, and saw that there were at least several Gryffindors in there: Ron and Hermione were in the chairs that the three of them usually sat in, along with Neville and Ron's little sister Ginny, as well as Ron's older twin brothers Fred and George, while Lavender and her best friend Parvati Patil were sitting around one of the study tables near the stairway to the girls dormitories. There was another group of Gryffindors, led by an upper year Gryffindor named Cormac McLaggen, who were congregated to the far left of the common room, who noticed Harry and Astoria coming through the portrait hole, and started waking towards them, their glaring eyes set on Astoria, who Harry quickly started putting behind him, while Ron and Hermione noticed this, and started towards them.

"Move aside Potter, clearly little Greengrass hasn't realized that she isn't welcomed here in Gryffindor House." McLaggen said, as he pointed at Astoria. "So she needs to be taught a lesson, that she doesn't belong here in the Lion's Den, and should go and join her sister in the Snake Pit."

Harry glared at the older boy, and felt his fists clench. While he was largely unaware of it, Lavender was watching this take place, and she easily noticed that her new friend was clenching his fists. Although she had just started getting to know Harry, Lavender couldn't help but feel concerned about what was going to happen. Zoning out of the conversation that she had been having with Parvati, Lavender watched what was happening between Harry and McLaggen's gang.

"Back off McLaggen, you're not touching Astoria!" Harry growled, as he held Astoria behind her, shielding her from McLaggen.

McLaggen narrowed his eyes in confusion, as he didn't understand why the Gryffindor Golden Boy, not to mention the Star Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, was protecting the unworthy Gryffindor girl. At that moment, Ron stepped in on McLaggen's side.

"Come on Harry, you know that Greengrass doesn't deserve to be here," He said, shooting a glare at the little brunette girl behind Harry's back. "Besides, don't you remember what I told you about her family? They're all Dark, and sided with You-Know-Who So let her get what she deserves."

Everyone who was in the room at that time looked at Ron in shock, except McLaggen who smirked at Ron's words. Even Ron's siblings were shocked to hear him say that, as they themselves didn't put up with bullying. Hermione herself, stared at Ron in shock.

"RON! I can't believe you would say that!" She exclaimed, as she went to take Harry's side. "Astoria Greengrass was sorted into Gryffindor House, by the Sorting Hat, and you know as well as I do, that the Sorting Hat never makes a mistake!"

Ron stared at Hermione in anger, as he couldn't understand why she wanted to help protect Astoria.

"Well it seems like it did this time, Granger," McLaggen snarled, as he glared at Astoria. "It's a well known fact that like Malfoy's, Greengrasses have been sorted into Slytherin House, so this little snake should go back to where she belongs, with her no-good big sister. She doesn't belo..."

Whatever McLaggen was about to say next, was cut off by a fist connecting to his face, as he went down with a bust and bleeding lip. Wiping the blood from his lip, McLaggen looked up to see that the fist belonged to Harry. McLaggen stared at Harry in shock, much like everyone else, as they couldn't believe what had just happened; even Percy Weasley, who had just walked in to hear what was going on, looked on in shock, as he watched the older Gryffindor get punched by the Third Year boy. Normally the rule abiding Head Boy would've stepped in and broken up whatever was going on, but he decided this time to see what was going on, and get the full story.

"Let's get something straight, McLaggen," Harry growled, as he stared down at the older boy, and his gang. "And this goes for your bunch as well, no one is laying a hand on Astoria, and I do mean no one! Anyone who tries to say that my little godsister doesn't belong in the House that she ahs been sorted into by the Hat, will answer to me."

Many looked at Harry in confusion, as they processed what he had said. While most were trying to understand it, Percy, as well as Lavender, were the only ones to get an idea of what Harry was saying. Deciding to act, Percy finally stepped in, but looked at the boy who his parents had unofficially adopted as a seventh son.

"What exactly do you mean, godsister, Harry?" Percy asked, making sure that everything stayed calm.

Harry looked at the older boy, and saw an understanding in the Head Boy's eyes.

"What I mean, is that Astoria's mother, is my godmother, and so that means that she is my family," Harry said, clearly enunciating the word family, in a way that the older Weasley boys, and youngest Weasley girl, understood. "And that also includes her older sister Daphne, and since there is has been a long alliance between my family, and that of the Greengrass girl's, anyone who insults my family, insults me, and I will not stand for it!"

Although he was still largely unaware of his family's influence in the Magic World, McLaggen did, and the older Gryffindor boy gulped in nervousness, as he knew the consequences of insulting a powerful Magic family that was allied with another; especially when that Magic family was called Potter. Backing off nervously, McLaggen and his bunch held up their hand in surrender, showing that they were not a threat.

"Got it Potter, completely understood." He said nervously, as he then turned and ran up the Boy's dormitory stairway, with his friends coming right behind him.

Everyone watched in a relative uncomfortable silence, as Harry and Ron glared at one another, almost as if one of them was daring the other to do something. Lavender watched on in concern, as she wondered who would end up being the victor in their silent argument. Lavender, like any Gryffindor, knew Ron's dislike for Slytherins, but if Harry was the godson of a woman whose daughter's were in Hogwarts with them, one of them being a Slytherin, she had to wonder how much that would hurt the friendship between Ron Weasley and Harry. Especially now that it was revealed that one of those two daughters was a fellow Gryffindor, and Ron had insulted her in front of Harry.

Finally, and thankfully for everyone in the room, Ron backed down as well, and glumly stalked back up the boy's dormitory stairway. Harry watched in silence, as he wondered if Ron understood to leave Astoria alone, or if he would try anything stupid to ruin their friendship. Truth be told, Harry didn't exactly want to lose his friendship with Ron, but the fact of the matter was, Ron had too many issues that he needed to deal with, especially his immaturity and inferiority complex. There was also the fact that he had several self-confidence issues, and that he was always complaining about his family's poor status, and how he often felt a little overlooked.

In Harry's view, Ron should count himself lucky to have a family; Harry would give anything to have a family like the Weasley's, and not have to live with the Dursley's. The Weasley's had in a way, took Harry into their home, and treated him like he was part of their family, but it wasn't necessarily the same thing as having a family of his own. But if he did have a godmother, then perhaps he had a chance for a family. Nevertheless, he was going to forge a relationship with his two godsisters, and he would not let anyone pick on Astoria; not McLaggen and his bunch, and not Ron.

Turning to Astoria, he gently rested a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay Tori?" Harry asked, concerned about how the ordeal had affected her.

Tori smiled back at Harry, as she nodded her head.

"Yeah Harry, I'm doing fine, thanks." She replied, eliciting a smile from her older godbrother, and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

Hermione, the Weasley's, and even Lavender, smiled at the show of affection between the two godsiblings, though Lavender did take note that there was a moment of tenseness in Harry's body, as though he wasn't used to physical touch. She was curious about this, and decided to put it in the back of her head. At that moment, the other Weasley's approach the young girl, each of them with a smile on their faces.

"Hey Astoria, sorry you had to go through that, but if you and your sister are apart of Harry's family," Ginny said, as she shook hands with Astoria, and wrapped her arm around the First Year's shoulder, all with a smile on her face. "Then I think I can speak for the rest of us, that you're apart of the Weasley Family too."

"Right you are, little sister, a family member of Harry's, is a family member of ours too." Said Fred, backing Ginny up.

"Right on that Freddy!" George said, agreeing with his twin.

"While I normally don't always agree with the twins, what they said also goes for me," Percy also confirmed, a rare smile on his face, though it did turn into a frown when he turned towards Harry. "However Harry, I will still have to report this to Professor McGonagall, so don't think you'll be getting away with punching McLaggen, even if you did it for the right reasons."

Harry nodded his head in understanding, while he and the others led Astoria to where they normally sat. Through this whole thing, Lavender watched everything, as she couldn't help but admire the way that Harry had stood up for Astoria. It showed the type of person that Harry was, a person who was willing to do whatever he needed to do, to protect those he cared about. It was something that she always liked to think that her ideal significant other would be like, but she didn't want to rush anything yet. Sure she wanted to get to know him more, and her talk with him earlier would undoubtedly give way to more conversations later, but she had aa good feeling that there would be some things that Harry wouldn't be comfortable talking about. Although they didn't normally talk to one another, maybe she could ask Hermione if there were some sore subjects with Harry that she could avoid, just so that she could have some easy conversations with Harry.

"He's a pretty sweet guy, isn't he?" Parvati asked, shocking Lavender out of her haze.

Lavender looked at her best friend, realizing that she had forgotten that she was still there. Not knowing if Parvati had seen her watching Harry the entire time, Lavender couldn't help but blush, her face turning a warm shade of red.

"What do you mean?" She asked, hoping to feign ignorance, if her assumption was correct.

Parvati rolled her eyes, while she looked into Lavender's eyes.

"Come on Lav, I was watching you the entire time," She said, a mischievous smirk growing on her face. "I saw the way you were looking in Harry Potter's direction, and how you were watching in concern when he and Ron Weasley confronted each other about Astoria Greengrass being in Gryffindor House."

Lavender's embarrassment grew in that moment, as her red face deepened in color. She had hoped to be unnoticed, but her friend knew better than that. Nevertheless, she knew that Parvati would hound her for details for why she had been watching the whole time, but thought up a suitable answer.

"Astoria Greengrass was sorted into our House," She answered, knowing that it would be a relatively accepted excuse. "And I was just intrigued to see how Harry would defend her is all."

Parvati looked at Lavender in a shrewd and suspicious manner, as though she didn't fully accept her answer. Regardless, she knew that eventually, Lavender would come out with the truth. Either way, she was admittedly too tired to pursue this line of conversation, as she yawned. Gathering her parchments and quills, Parvati stood up from her chair.

"Alright, what ever you say. Come on, let's get ready for bed." She said, already starting for the stairs.

Lavender nodded her head, and moved to follow Parvati. As they passed Harry's group, Lavender quickly took a moment to look at Harry, and mouthed good night to him. She couldn't help but smile, when Harry mouthed good night in return, especially as it was all thankfully unnoticed by any of the others. Climbing the stairs to the Third Year girls dormitory, Lavender climbed into her nightdress, and sat on her bed, watching as Parvati, also in her nightdress, quickly fell asleep after her head hit the pillow. Lavender couldn't help but smirk at Parvati, as she knew that if the Indian girl wanted to, she could stay up and chatter all night, but when she was really tire, she would pass out in a moment, without having a chance to even mumble good night.

For the time that she stayed awake, Lavender thought about her conversation with Harry, before he left for the Headmaster's office. Although it was the first time that they actually had a full conversation, as far as she could tell, Lavender couldn't help but smile about it. It showed that while he didn't share an equal enthusiasm for it, Harry respected her interest in Divination, and she could honestly understand his dislike for Trelawney's constant prediction of death. Lavender would also, in a minor shallow manner, that Harry was cute and quite good looking. Lavender's thought would be broken though, when Hermione finally came though the door, giving her a chance to ask some questions with her.

"Hey Hermione, how'd everything turn out down in the common room?" She asked, not surprised by the confused look on the Gryffindor bookworm's face.

"Hey Lavender, it turned out okay, with almost everyone accepting Astoria," Hermione answered, as she went about getting ready for sleep. "I honestly couldn't believe how Ron acted, especially towards a First Year; McLaggen to some degree, I could understand, but not Ron."

"Yeah, I hardly believed it myself." Lavender replied, agreeing with Hermione that Ron's behavior was off. "Hey Hermione, could I ask you a couple of question, about Harry?"

Hermione whipped her head around, and looked at Lavender as if she had two heads. Understandably really, since Lavender had never talked to her about Harry before. Hermione didn't really have a close relationship with the blonde Third Year Gryffindor, and since Harry was her best friend, she felt a little protective of Harry; after all, although she had not said as much to Harry, Hermione viewed him as a brother, so she was curious as to why Lavender was asking about Harry.

"Sure, but can I ask why, just so I can better understand why you're suddenly asking me questions about Harry?" She said, her eyebrow quirked up whenever she found herself curious about something.

Lavender squirmed on her bed in slight concern; despite feeling sure that Hermione wouldn't say anything to Harry, Lavender wasn't quite sure how she felt about him yet, and didn't really want to give away too much.

"I had a small but friendly conversation with Harry earlier," She said, deciding to start small. "And I really like talking with him, but for the most part it was me trying to translate whatever Trelawney had predicted, or what she believed that she was predicting. I'd like to talk with him again, but I'd like to know what he doesn't like to talk about, so that I know any sore subjects to avoid with him."

Hermione contemplated what Lavender had said to her. She was surprised that Harry had spoke with her, as Hermione didn't believe that he was interested in her, but if he did have a conversation with Lavender, then it was something. At the very least, Harry was talking with a girl, and though she wasn't very close to Lavender, Hermione was willing to give the girl a chance; so long as she didn't hurt Harry.

"Well, one sore subject that I definitely know you should avoid mentioning in a conversation with Harry, are his relatives," Hermione said, her voice becoming more harsher, as she enunciate relatives; which made Lavender look at her in confusion. "Harry's never really said it, or rather anything, but I do believe that he has a terrible living arrangement with the people that he has no choice but to live with, his relatives the Dursleys. I strongly believe that the home he lives in is abusive, and the way he often acts does nothing but confirmed it; I assume you noticed the way that he flinched when Astoria hugged him?"

Lavender nodded her head, while her previously blushing face turned as white as a sheet, when the thought of someone as kind and sweet as Harry Potter being forced to live in an abusive home life. Though she herself, couldn't complain either, but shook her head, to avoid those thoughts from entering into her mind. Thankfully, it seemed as though Hermione didn't notice Lavender shaking her head, as she continued.

"In any case, I've read that flinching on contact is a sign of physical abuse," She said, her eyes seemingly drifting in sadness, as she spoke. "And I'm certain that Harry is being abused in the house that he's living in with his relatives. I've been wanting to say something about it to Harry, but instead I just avoided it, afraid of how he'd react if I tried to get him to talk about it. I guess I'm more afraid of losing Harry's friendship, to the point that I'm not being a good friend that should be helping him."

Lavender could understand what Hermione was talking about; by all accounts, Harry was one of, if not, the first friend Hermione had. In a way it was similar for Lavender in regards to Parvati, with the Indian girl being her first actual friend, for as long as she could remember. In retrospect as well, she could understand the relationship that Harry had with both Ronald Weasley and Hermione, as well as the rest of the Weasley children; they were the first real friends he could remember having, so she definitely felt as though she could relate, especially about not telling the person she was close to about the truth.

"Anything else I should avoid mentioning, in case I have a conversation with him?" She asked Hermione, really trying her best to keep her mind off of her own experiences.

Hermione looked at Lavender, beginning to appreciate how the girl wanted to respect Harry by knowing what topics to avoid. While slowly coming around to the idea of Lavender being with Harry, Hermione was willing to give her a chance, if it meant that Harry could be happy.

"Well, one topic of conversation that he definitely doesn't like to talk about is his fame," Hermione answered, as she changed out of her clothes, and into her nightwear. "I'm sure that you're aware that Harry hates his fame, and would rather be left alone by others. Oh and unless he starts the topic, try not to mention his parents.

"He's proud of the memory of his parents, but if you talk about them in a certain way," She elaborated, as she did her best to brush her bushy hair down, only to fail at it. "Then he'll probably get the idea that you're insulting them, and he will shut down. It's best to just let him start it first, if the conversation starts to go in the direction of his parents."

Lavender could understand what Hermione was talking about. Harry had a lot of pride in the memory of his parents, and she had a lot of respect for their memories, and admittedly envied Harry for his parents being willing to sacrifice their lives to protect him. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to ruin his memory of them. Lavender's attention went back to Hermione struggling to get her brush to go through her hair, only to have it snag and pull it, rather painfully. Getting up real quick, she opened her trunk, and pulled out her bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment, and walked over to Hermione, taking hold of her hairbrush.

"Here, let me help, two drops of this, and your hair will settle down, trust me." She said, as her words got Hermione to cautiously put her hands down.

Lavender applied the two drops, and as she gently scrubbed them into Hermione's hair, her words were soon being proven right. The normally bushy locks were beginning to settle down, and Lavender finished it out by taking hold of Hermione's now free brush, and started brushing the now smooth hair, while Hermione just stared at her reflection in shock. For years, Hermione had tried to find some sort of hair product that would help her hair to settle down, and yet Lavender actually had such a product, in the Magic World, that could help her?

"What did you use to do that?" She asked, her shock still on her face. "I've been trying to find way to tame my hair, but couldn't!"

Lavender shrugged, as she continued to brush Hermione's hair. Stopping long enough to show Hermione the bottle, she resumed brushing her hair, as she looked at the hair product.

"It's called Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment," She answered, putting the brush down as she finished, pleased with what she did for her fellow Gryffindor. "Interestingly, it was invented by Harry's great grandfather, Fleamont Potter, and as far as I know, the Potter's still get a portion of the profits that come from it. I'm actually surprised that Harry never mentioned it to you. I wonder if he doesn't know about it?"

Hermione wondered the same thing, as she handed the bottle back to Lavender.

"Probably, there's a lot of things he doesn't know about the Magic World," Hermione said, as she and Lavender walked back to their respective beds, with Lavender first putting the bottle back in her trunk. "Do you think you could tell me how I can order my own bottle of Sleekeazy's? It'll be a lot better than me having to constantly ask you if I could borrow it."

Lavender smiled at Hermione's question, as she settled in underneath the covers. Looking at the formally bushy haired girl, she nodded her head.

"Sure, I actually have a catalogue that I used to order the bottle," She answered, as she prepared for bed. "I'll give it to you in the morning, so that you can order it. If you like, I could also give you some pointers on how to keep your body in fit shape, so as to help improve your magic.

"In the Magic World, magic is kind of like a muscle, if I'm using the Muggle phrase correctly," She said, as she looked inquisitively at Hermione. "The connection between your body and your magic, is based on how well your body is kept. If your body is in good fit, then your magic will be strong, where if you don't keep your body in good fit, like Crabbe and Goyle for example, then your magic will be weak."

Hermione looked impressed by Lavender's words, as she never thought about her body and her magic being necessarily connected in the way Lavender described. She would have to look into it, while making sure to do what Lavender suggested.

"Huh, I never would've thought of it like that, thanks Lavender, I'll keep it in mind." Hermione said, before she yawned.

"No problem Hermione, good night." Lavender said, before she too yawned, and shut her covers after Hermione replied good night.

Lavender laid in her bed in contemplative silence, as she thought about what Hermione suggested for her in regards to certain conversation topics to avoid with Harry. She understood why Hermione suggested those topics, and especially about avoiding the mention of his relatives, if they actually were abusing them. It couldn't help but make her think of how she herself was being abused by her own father, while her mother did nothing but cower whenever he got angry. She couldn't help but shudder, as she thought about the last time that she had seen him, before the school year started; it had taken nearly a week for the bruises she had on her body from his beating, to heal, and the beatings only seemed to grow with more intensity as she grew older with each year.

Nevertheless, she swore that when she turned seventeen, she would run away from her home, and never set eyes on her father again. She was a Gryffindor, and she would make sure that she would survive, so long as she could eventually get away from her abusive home. Closing her eyes, Lavender drifted off into sleep, as she looked forward to future conversations with Harry, and swore to herself, that she would not only become a good friend to him, but also a trusted confidant, that he could easily open up to.

"Good night, Harry Potter." Lavender mumbled, as she finally succumbed to the realm of sleep and dreams.