Sirius walked into the kitchen feeling like a new man, even though every inch of his body hurt after experiencing Arcturus' training regimen first hand; today was the day that Harry would experience his first official Hogwarts experience and he was there to see it.
"Told you, you were better off training under me." Harry said cheekily as Sirius took a seat and winced.
"I'll beat you during our Christmas duel! Just you wait and see!"
Henry dashed out of his room, worried that he was running a bit late when Draco called out to him. Skidding to a halt he found the blond boy glancing at him awkwardly.
"Can we talk? It won't take long." He followed the boy into his room.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about everything. I mean I still hate Weasley and I won't start rallying for muggle-born rights anytime soon but I've enjoyed this truce we've had going on. Honestly the constant need to put you down had started getting on my nerves."
"Why did you do it?"
Draco blinked several times before clearing his throat "I suppose I was jealous and hurt. Granted, initially my intentions of befriending you might have been dishonest but I hadn't expected you to reject me. Later watching you walk around with those two while I was stuck with two baboons, hurt."
"Why didn't you befriend other Slytherin's?"
"Because I am a rich spoiled kid or at least was. There are others who are equally rich but because of fa-Lucius' connections we were at the top of the food chain or so I believed. I-I just wanted him to be proud of me, maybe Harry should have been his son" he said with a dry laugh "charming, powerful, sharp all the qualities a pureblood expects in his heir."
Henry sighed, he didn't know the details of what had really happened but he could see that Draco had been working hard to change. With all the pompousness gone; he was pretty decent company.
"I suppose that I'm sorry as well, maybe I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions but you reminded me a lot of someone that I would prefer to forget. But I've enjoyed our truce as well, besides in a mind bogglingly twisted turn of events we've somehow ended up becoming family and I don't know about you but I'm really enjoying having a place to call home."
Before Draco could ask him what he meant he raced out of the room yelling "last one in the kitchen is a troll."
"Don't be nervous about the sorting, you might be better off not sharing a boat though. The firsties are tiny but it might get cramped."
"For Morgana's sake Sirius let the boy go find his compartment or do you want to ride the boats as well?"
"I can do that?" Sirius asked, getting whacked at the back of the head by Andy.
Harry grinned giving his godfather one last hug as the warning whistle sounded and hopped onto the train going to find his brother.
He found him where he'd left him along with two other passengers. "Harry, these are Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood and this is my brother Harry."
Neville gave Harry a shy smile and Luna just looked at him with her big dreamy eyes. "You look better in person." She finally concluded, much to his amusement and went back to reading her magazine.
Neville and Henry started discussing Snape, both were utterly grateful for his departure. Harry watched them talk but he mostly watched the shy boy, he clearly had all the traits to become the next Lord of House Longbottom, if only he could see it for himself.
An hour into the ride the boy had finally gotten comfortable around Harry. They were just about to start a game of exploding snaps when the compartment door slid open.
"Um, hi Neville, Harry." Hermione threw Ron a nervous glance before stepping into the compartment "um Henry, would you like to join us in the compartment next door?"
Henry was about to respond in the negative when Harry nudged him gently "I'm not going anywhere, besides we don't need to hang out 24/7 together."
Pursing his lips Henry followed Hermione out and into the other compartment. As soon as the compartment door shut she pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "Oh, Henry, I've been so worried about you! We all were."
"There's really nothing to be worried about." Henry said, prying himself out of her embrace.
"You don't have to pretend anymore, Hermione's even placed privacy charms on the compartment so no one will be able to eavesdrop. Can you imagine that git Malfoy became prefect!"
"I'm not pretending. I finally have a family and I'm genuinely happy for the first time ever."
Hermione bit her lower lip clearly conflicted "but you don't understand, the article they printed about Harry there was a crest on his robes. I heard Mr Weasley mention Black Wands so when we went to Diagon Alley I purchased a book on magical societies in Europe and oh, Henry, I'm so sorry but Harry isn't who he says he is. He forms part of an illegal terrorist group, Dumbledore has asked the ICW to investigate it several times but every time it's been overlooked. Nobody knows who the head is but it's clearly someone powerful, they do some really dark things. I've of course listed several possibilities I'm still working on it though."
"Besides, Hermione and I have been talking about it and we think it's really fishy that he just shows up right after You-Know-Who comes back and he gets himself proclaimed a hero."
"So you are saying that Sirius, Remus, Tonks are all what? liars? They just made up their grandfather and chopped off a bunch of my hair and somehow modified the polyjuice potion to make a better version of me!"
"When you put it like that it sounds utterly silly but face it Henry, Sirius really isn't in the best frame of mind and we hardly know Tonks and Remus well it's not like he knows the entire Black family…"
"I'm going to ask you to stop there, Hermione. You don't get it and you can read a million books about it but you still won't get it. I have craved for a family my entire life and now I have one. After our first year, I watched a man die shortly after which I was shipped off to a group of people who act like I'm invisible. During our second year I nearly died along with Ginny and while she went back to her family all of which went off on a holiday to make her feel better, I was sent to a group of people who didn't want me around. If that wasn't enough I was soon being chased by a mass murderer. End of third year I had seen a glimmer of hope, I thought my prayers had been answered only for it all to come crashing down. Last year I saw Cedric die at the hands of the man that I loathe the most and I was again sent off and none of you bothered to check up on me. Save it, the whole Dumbledore asked us to is pure bull, one because friends do everything in their power to ensure the wellbeing of their friends and two if you really wanted to, you could have figured out a way to contact me."
"But…"
"No, Hermione! Every year you nicely skip off to go spend time with your family, this was the first time that you decided to spend the summer away from them and that too by choice. And since when have you become so rule-abiding Ron? Maybe we should have listened to Dumbledore and gone to our common room when the troll was attacking Hermione or we should have listened to McGonagall and again, gone to the common room when Ginny was taken. Or maybe we should have abided by the rules and not altered the timeline by saving Buckbeak. No, the rules only apply when it comes to Henry. Well not anymore, now I actually have people looking out for me. People who will make or break the rules to keep me safe."
"You are only choosing him over us because he's rich and famous. But it was us by your side during every adventure."
"In the first year maybe, but in our second year you needed to save your sister and yet I ended up doing all the work. In our third year Hermione wanted to save the hippogriff because that's what really mattered to her and last year the only task the two of you participated in consisted of saving you from a group of angry merpeople. I was going to say that I would like to carry on having a cordial relationship, but, thank you Hermione, this little talk of ours has made me realize that I'm done. As far as I'm concerned the two of you are nonexistent from today onwards."
Henry exited the compartment quickly not wanting to hear Hermione's excuses or listen to her rationalize everything to fit her narrative and neither did he want to live through one of Ron's temper tantrums. Though he mentally patted himself for staying surprisingly calm.
He went back to his previous compartment, giving Harry a reassuring smile and taking a seat. Luna was excitedly talking about an unknown creature, telling them all about the adventures that her father and her went for during the break.
He wasn't sure but something about Neville felt different as well, he couldn't help but smile at the effect that his brother had on those around him.
Before they knew it they'd reached Hogsmeade, several heads turned to look at Harry and him. He could see the gossip mill working overtime but watching Harry he took a page from his book and ignored it all. They dropped Harry off with the group of first year students , who all looked up to him in awe, literally, seeing how they were all two feet shorter.
"Henry!" An excited voice called, making him sigh "Henry, Henry" the boy said as he excitedly made his way towards him "is it true? Has your brother really come back? Do you think I could take his picture?" Colin Creevey greeted him with the same enthusiasm that he'd shown during his first year.
"Um, you'll just have to wait and see now won't you." He said not wanting to overindulge the boy before an idea popped into his head "oh Colin, this is Luna. I think you are both in the same year." Colin gave Luna a brilliant smile which she returned.
"Would you like to ride with us?" He asked her pointing to two other students, she readily agreed, waving at Henry as she followed him.
Turning around he was glad that Neville had waited for him, he jogged up to him and they quickly climbed into the first carriage that they saw available.
"Ouch" a girl yelped as Henry in his hurry stepped on her foot.
"Oh, sorry, sorry. I didn't know it was occupied." He said, taking a seat opposite her.
Neville had followed him in at a more sedate pace.
"I'm Henry Potter, by the way and this is Neville Longbottom."
"We know who you are, we've shared classes for the past four years." The blonde girl replied bluntly.
"Err, yeah. I suppose we were never really formally introduced. So yeah. Hi."
"Ignore her, she gets cranky when she's hungry. I'm Susan Bones and this is Hannah Abbott." The other girl said getting a scowl from her friend.
"I wonder who we'll have for Defence this year." Neville, who was usually quiet, said to Henry's surprise. His statement did the trick to break the ice as the four discussed plausible candidates.
"What House do you think he'll be in?" Neville finally asked as he took a seat in the great hall.
"It could be any really." He responded, just as Harry walked in following McGonagall. The great hall immediately quieted down.
"Harry Potter." She said out aloud indicating for him to take a seat on the tiny stool as she placed the hat on his head, it fit snuggly like a witches hat.
He kept the lazy smile on his face as he looked around the hall "you would do well in Gryffindor and Slytherin." A voice said inside his head "hmm yes I can see what's stopping you, well then it better be SLYTHERIN!"
For a couple of seconds only Henry and Draco could be heard clapping, slowly the rest of the student body joined in. Harry removed the hat and strolled towards the table with the snake banner, taking a seat in front of Draco as low murmurs filled the hall with people turning to their friends to discuss the repercussions of Harry's sorting.
It took McGonagall a minute to bring in the first years and get the hall to quiet down as she started calling out names.
Once the sorting finished Dumbledore stood up to make his beginning of year announcement "welcome back to another year at Hogwarts, please welcome the new potions mistress, Professor Holly Frost." He waited for the applause to die down before carrying on "also, I'm happy to announce that Professor Remus Lupin will be teaching Defence against the Dark Arts once again." The great hall erupted in cheer "though he won't be staying at the castle." He added taking a seat and waving his wand.
"Is it just me or was Dumbledore's welcome speech missing it's usual flair?" Neville asked as he helped himself to some roast chicken.
"I'm just glad that we have a competent teacher this year." Dean chimed in getting nods from those around.
"So it's true? You are a nobody?" A pug faced girl said snidely to Draco.
"I'm a Black I'll have you know. Draconian Black." He replied with a sneer "Theodore Nott, Meet my cousin Harry Black Potter." He added turning his back to the girl.
Harry was only half listening to the conversation around him as a certain blonde, on his right, had caught his eye.
"Tracey Davis. Big fan." A brown haired girl introduced herself, wincing slightly "and these are Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass." She added glaring at the blonde girl as she bent down to rub her shin.
Ignoring her friend Tracey turned to Draco. "I knew there was something different about you. You haven't once mentioned your father ever since you've taken a seat, it's actually been a peaceful welcome feast so far. Ow! Will you stop that! It's going to bruise you know." She snapped at her friend.
"I will if you stop embarrassing us all, I apologize on her behalf, she doesn't have a filter. And what are you doing?" Daphne snapped at Draco who was sniffing in her general direction causing Harry to groan inwardly.
"Sorry, wrong girl. It's supposed to be sweet and spicy but it isn't burning my nose." He said with a slight frown making Daphne scowl and mouth 'weirdo' and Tracey giggle.
Harry was in half a mind to take a page from Daphne's book and kick Draco under the table, but years of discipline helped him reign in his irritation.
"I would like to thank the Black's" Theodore said, breaking the awkward silence. "You might have made a lot of enemies in this house but I'm grateful. I wasn't too keen on having to repeat my father's mistakes."
"Merlin! He can talk! I thought he was mute!"
"You've heard him say spell incantations, Trace." Blaise said with a sigh.
"Yeah. But I've never heard him string an entire sentence together. What?" She exclaimed looking at her friend's exasperated expression "all I'm saying is that I'm glad to see all the changes this year. It feels like for the first time we'll actually enjoy Hogwarts, honestly all the hostility and scheming always gave me an upset stomach." The boy in question gave her an uneasy smile. Harry couldn't help but shake his head in amusement, Tracey was clearly a handful.
A week had gone by and Henry had barely seen Harry, he was adamant on cornering his brother before he disappeared again so on Saturday he woke up at 5 a.m. and sat down in the corridor that led to the Slytherin common room.
He dozed off and found himself being shook awake, opening his eyes he found his brother's sweaty face gazing at him in concern.
"Are you alright? What are you doing down here?"
"Waiting for you. You only come to the great hall when ten minutes are left for any meal, you barely look at me during classes, leave alone talk to me. Is it because I'm a lion? The hat said that I'd do well in Slytherin, you know."
Harry couldn't help but be amused by Henry's little tirade. "The hat said something similar about Gryffindor to me."
Henry suddenly looked hurt. "Are you ashamed of me? Is that why you chose Slytherin?"
Harry gently whacked the back of Henry's head. "Don't ever think that I'm anything but proud of you. I chose Slytherin for the same reason that I'm keeping my distance from you, I don't want you to end up living in my shadow. You are not just Harry Potter's brother. You are Henry Potter, you need to make your own friends and live your own life. But I've missed you too, tell you what! Let's make Sunday our day. Now come on, on my way down I saw two Hufflepuffs waiting for you."
"Aren't you going to shower and change?"
Harry shrugged and shook his head, he was wearing a grey tracksuit with a white wife beater "it's Saturday, we don't need to be in uniform as it is."
Daphne, like most girls in the great hall, found herself eyeing Harry Potter as he said goodbye to his twin. She couldn't help but sigh at his physique, especially now that he was wearing Muggle clothes that showed off every lean muscle of his torso.
Of course, he had to ruin the moment by plonking himself right next to her all sweaty. He wished everyone a good morning and winked at her as he started scooping up some porridge. She wrinkled her nose in response and started talking to Tracey instead, which was hard to do as his woody musky scent was going straight to her head.
He was done with breakfast and was planning on taking a shower and lazing around a bit but McGonagall approached him.
"Mr. Potter, Lord Black will be waiting at the headmaster's office at 9 a.m."
He thanked her and cast a tempus, he had half an hour to get dressed. He took a quick shower and wore the Black Wands uniform, knowing that Arcturus would only come if there was a mission.
Walking out into the common room, a few of his housemates who had been sizing him up baulked and averted their gazes, being reminded of who he was and what he was capable of.
On his way to the headmasters office people either gaped at him in awe or avoided him by changing directions. He gave the password that McGonagall had given him and entered the office. As expected, Arcturus was seated on a chair having a heated discussion with one of the portraits that Hary recognized as, Phineas Black.
"Good you are on time. Let's go." He said upon seeing Harry.
"Wait." Dumbledore who'd been quietly sitting on his chair said. "We need to talk, it is of the utmost importance."
"Go on then we don't have all day." Arcturus said impatiently.
"This may take a while." He waited for them both to take a seat, when they carried on standing he sighed. "You cannot defeat Voldemort, I had a hunch when I found Henry and examined his scar but that feeling turned into belief when Henry attended his second year. I have been trying to locate these objects ever since and have even managed to collect memories…"
"For Merlin's sake, will you stop going around in circles and get to the point already!" Arcturus said as he walked upto the fireplace.
"If you are referring to the Horcruxes then you don't need to worry Professor." Harry added as he followed Arcturus.
"You know?" Dumbledore asked, surprised.
"We figured it out when we found out what happened down at the chamber."
"Then you know that they must be found and destroyed. Harry, I was hoping to share these details with Henry when the time was right. But now with you here, I think it's important for us to work together."
Harry sighed. "Professor, I respect you. I think you are a great wizard but I also feel that you've lost your path. If you expected Henry to defeat Voldemort, you wouldn't have sent him to the Dursley's. You would have kept him close and taught him everything you know. I am sorry but I cannot work with you."
Dumbledore watched them leave with a pained expression, he just hoped that with time Harry and Henry would understand and most importantly forgive him.
"Who is the target?" Harry asked as Arcturus handed him a portkey and a photograph.
"Bloody Jim. There are whispers about death eaters approaching him, if you take him down it'll send a message to any other vampire who's thinking of accepting Voldemort's offer."
The portkey brought Harry to a dirty alley, it was still dark. He stuck to the shadows as he approached a faint sound that was coming from a backdoor, he stood in a crouched position as he strained to listen.
The door flew off its hinges and something was thrown at him, a man took off at a run at lightning speed. He barely registered the corpse of the woman now lying at his feet as he started apparating every 20 feet to keep up with the man.
He thought he'd lost his target when he apparated into a dead end but a rustling of cloth caught his attention. Spinning around he saw his target along with two companions.
Jim, the largest of the two, who could easily be Hagrid's brother had blood trickling down his chin. He smiled viciously showing two sharp white teeth.
"I only want him, if you leave now I'll spare you." Harry said to the woman and man without looking at them.
The woman hissed in anger.
"Fine, have it your way!" He said casually and launched into action.
Hundreds of arrowheads left his wand forcing his three opponents to split up, the woman screeched as an arrow pierced her chest. He caught the man by his ankles and hung him upside down.
A sharp pain to his right side forced him to look away from his main target. The woman had ripped a chunk out of his waist with her teeth and was going for a second bite. His wand was replaced with a machete that sliced her head off clean. He didn't wait to see her lifeless eyes as he started scaling the wall after his original target.
He managed to find his target on the rooftop getting ready to leap onto the next, firing a stunner he got his attention. The man spun around and charged at him with a feral growl.
He felt his sharp teeth sink into his neck, he fired a blasting hex through the man's stomach leaving a gaping hole. It did the trick, he felt the warm blood ooze out of his neck as the vampire was pushed back with the force of the spell. Within seconds he once again conjured a machete and sliced the man's head off clean.
Grabbing the head by the hair he jumped off the roof of the ten story building and landed in front of the vampire that was still hanging upside down.
He shoved the head in his face "you will only be able to leave if I allow it. The chains are a nifty little thing I came up with for your kind. The question is, do you want to leave?"
The man's eyes widened in fear. The boy in front of him was bleeding profusely yet he was talking like he was out for a stroll.
He managed to nod.
"I was hoping you would say that, take this with you and make sure that everyone knows what happens to vampires that decide to side with Voldemort." He didn't wait any longer, he undid his spell and dropped the head, activating the portkey immediately.
He honestly didn't know how he'd held out so long, he could feel his heart stopping as he reached his room in Grimmauld place.
"You let yourself get bit." Arcturus growled as Harry came to.
"He found two companions. The woman was feral, I didn't have a choice."
"You are lucky she didn't pierce an artery, like her boss did."
"I know, I know that their fangs inject a poison into the body when they bite paralyzing their prey and slowly stopping the heart. She bit my side, I figured I had another five minutes before my arms and legs gave way. It made me a little sloppy but I got the job done."
An angry yell from somewhere within the house caused them to turn and look at the bedroom door. Within seconds Sirius blew the door open and strode in looking completely crazy as he brandished the Daily Prophet in Arcturus' face.
"For Merlin's sake, does nobody respect this house. I'm getting tired of replacing doors." Arcturus spat shoving the paper and Sirius aside.
"I. You. I. Harry. You. ARRGH."
Harry sat up and winced, his side was still sore. Fortunately Arcturus had removed all the bloody sheets, he didn't want Sirius having a heart failure. The man was experiencing a facial spasm as it was as he tried to articulate his anger.
"I'm fine." Harry tried reassuring him as he picked up the paper. A photo of him holding Bloody Jim's head and casually talking to the vampire hanging upside down covered the front page. He hadn't realized that he had been using the woman's head as a footrest as his leg had started numbing.
"Lana was following me? She must have been livid about getting photographer duty."
"The team knows the importance of documenting our achievements, someone has to do the job. I'll send her on a mission tonight to calm her down."
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE TWO OF YOU!" Sirius yelled, finally finding his voice "HE COULD HAVE DIED!"
"But he didn't."
"Why didn't you inform me?"
Arcturus flared up his magic forcing his grandson into obedience. "I am still the Lord of this house and you are not ready."
Sirius once again broke the spell and let out a savage yell, pouncing on Arcturus and punching him. They heard the crunch of his nose breaking but Arcturus managed to get the upper hand and pinned Sirius on the ground placing his arms around his neck and his knee on his back.
"You still have a lot to learn. Take this anger to the training room and show me that you mean business."
They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, till Sirius broke into quiet sobs. Arcturus stood up and left, leaving the man curled up on the ground.
"I know how you feel." Harry whispered "I felt it every time I heard about Henry and I wasn't ready to be able to help him." He got out of bed and walked up to Sirius placing a hand on his arm.
"I'm sorry Harry, I am so sorry." He whimpered between sobs.
They both sat in silence for ten minutes till Sirius managed to get his outburst under control.
"I need to get back to school, I promised Henry that we'd spend the day together. Will you be okay?"
Narcissa stepped into the room and went to comfort Sirius. "He'll be fine Harry, you should go."
Harry stepped out of the flames into Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was seated behind his desk, he looked at Harry with a sad expression.
"Is all this death necessary?"
Fawkes trilled from his perch inviting Harry to come stroke his fiery plumage.
Harry smiled at the beautiful creature as he gently ran a hand down its back. "It was necessary to send a message."
"You could have sent a message without killing. What difference is there between the light and the dark if we all go down the same path?"
"I don't kill mindlessly. I only kill the ones who deserve it."
"Harry, taking a life is not okay…"
"Headmaster, how do you see this playing out? Do you think Voldemort will just drop everything and hand himself over? Or do you think his followers will suddenly change their minds and start living honest lives?"
Dumbledore looked at the young man standing in front of him stroking Fawkes with a carefree smile, like he'd just come back from his Christmas break. "They are misguided, everyone deserves a second chance Harry."
"I agree and they've all had well over a decade to make that decision. Every single one wasted their second chance when they rejoined his ranks. He is now recruiting new allies, if we don't send a message he'll soon have an army. An army that will kill innocents mindlessly. If by killing one bad man I can save hundreds then I won't be losing any sleep over it."
Dumbledore sighed "I just hope that you realize what you are doing."
Harry whispered a goodbye to Fawkes and made his way to the door. "I am haunted by what I do, if you were wondering. I don't take any pride in it, but it must be done and someone has to do it."
Fawkes trilled a happy note comforting his friend as the boy left.
Henry and Draco were pacing the corridor in front of the great hall waiting for him to come. He'd barely stepped off the last step when Henry had him wrapped in a hug and Draco was barraging off a list of questions.
Neville was standing in the corner wringing his fingers nervously and to his pleasant surprise Daphne was sitting on the feet of a statue glaring at him.
"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving? All anybody could talk about yesterday was seeing you in your Black Wands uniform, each story was crazier than the one before. I couldn't sleep all night."
Harry ruffled Henry's hair fondly, "I'm sorry kiddo, Arcturus doesn't like to be kept waiting. But I promise next time I'll be sure to tell you beforehand."
"There will be a next time?" Henry asked, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Hey" Harry said looking him straight in the eye "I promise I'll always come back. I have fifteen years to make up for with you, I won't be going anywhere anytime soon."
Henry didn't look convinced but he nodded.
"Draco, I'll answer all your questions at dinner but I really want to take a quick shower now. Henry, I'll see you near the lake in twenty minutes." He walked up to Daphne and extended his arm. "Can I walk you to the common room?"
She ignored his hand and stood up by herself. "I can walk myself." She replied coolly.
"Excellent, you can walk me then." He linked an arm with hers and started walking towards the dungeons.
"She's the one?" Draco asked, looking perplexed.
Henry shrugged "she smells okay and her eyes aren't scary. Oh, by the way, I checked. Hermione has brown eyes."
Neville looked between the two not knowing what they were talking about but decided to stay out of it.
"I'm sorry if the picture in the paper scared you." Harry said as they reached the corridor that led to their common room.
Daphne didn't reply nor did she look at him but he could see her mind working in overdrive.
"Were you scared?" She asked instead, taking him by surprise.
"I was." He admitted.
"But you are not scared of dying."
Harry stopped forcing her to stop as well, but she adamantly kept her gaze fixed on an alcove on their right.
"You are scared for the fates of the people you leave behind."
"You are very perceptive." He said with his gaze fixed on her.
She pried her arm away from his. "You should take that shower." She whispered, wrinkling her nose as she walked away making him chuckle.
Daphne was fascinated by Harry Black Potter. He didn't strut around the place like he owned it, he didn't even try to throw his weight around. He simply walked into a room and people looked up to him, he kept his head down in class and laughed like a carefree teenager with his friends. Then why did he scare her so much? She had to work doubly hard to keep appearances up, but his emerald orbs had been haunting her ever since she'd met him at the bookstore.
"So how's everything been going so far?" He asked Henry twenty minutes later. They were sitting under a tree near the Black lake.
"Things are good. Hermione hasn't talked to me but she's barely spoken to anyone ever since term started. She's always busy studying for the OWL's and Fred and George are driving her crazy by trying out their products on the firsties. Ron's tried to talk to me a couple of times, but every time he brings you up and things go south. Hopefully he'll get the message and stop trying."
"Has anyone given you any trouble because of me?"
Henry shook his head. "I've been busy helping Neville with his wand work. He's actually got a really good grasp on theory, he mostly gets EE's and O's in assignments but he can't seem to work his wand. I suggested he talk to Flitwick, we'll stay back after charms tomorrow. His Gran sounds awful though…"
"What about Susan and Hannah? You four have been hanging out quite a bit."
"Yeah, they are cool. They apologized for wearing the badges last year so that was nice. We've actually been exploring the castle, oh you wouldn't believe it. We found a room that can become anything that you want it to, up on the seventh floor…"
They snuck into the kitchen at lunch time and got two sandwiches each, spending the rest of the afternoon roaming around the castle. In the evening they were joined by the rest of their friends.