~ Chapter Two : Settling In ~
The new Slytherins gasped in shock at their first glimpse of their new common room.
"It's so dull and dreary," complained Seamus.
Harry glanced around, it hadn't changed since he and Ron had entered after taking Polyjuice Potion. The stone walls and floor were just as dark and drab as they had always been. The only thing adorning the walls were five or six mirrors hanging in various locations around the room. Green leather armchairs and sofas were scattered about the room with matching green tables and lamps beside them. Since it was in the dungeon there were no windows, and the dark colour scheme made it seem smaller than it actually was.
"Hey!" Draco said indignantly. "I'm sure this common room is far more luxurious than the Gryffindor common room!"
"Oh it is," Fred replied with a grin. "But the Gryffindor common room is cosy and warm. This place is as cold as a tomb."
Draco opened his mouth to argue but clearly decided not to bother as he turned abruptly and stalked up the stairs to what was evidently the boys' dorm.
Harry, Justin and Seamus followed slowly, none of them eager to find out if the dorm was as monotonous as the common room.
Draco was flopped on what was obviously his bed with his eyes tightly shut.
"It's not a dream, Malfoy," Harry taunted the blonde boy.
Before anyone knew what had happened, Draco was on his feet with his wand aimed at Harry's heart.
"How easy would it be, Potter, for me to kill you in your sleep?" Draco drawled icily.
"I'm sure your master would be pleased," Harry replied just as coldly, not moving to draw his own wand.
"I answer to no one," Draco snapped, his eyes flashing angrily as Seamus and Justin watched warily.
Harry merely raised an eyebrow.
"What the hell would you know, Potter?" Draco retorted as he threw his wand aside and started to mutter to himself as he got ready for bed. "....think you know everything and if you don't know, you think you have the right to go poking into other people's business just because you're the Boy Who Fucking Lived...."
Harry raised his other eyebrow at this and glanced at Seamus and Justin. "I think this is going to be rather fun."
They grinned at him and started to prepare for bed as Draco glared around at them all one more time before viciously pulling the curtains around his bed.
That night, all four boys hardly slept a wink.
Seamus and Justin were waiting for the inevitable confrontation between Draco and Harry.
Draco was plotting ways to humiliate Harry the next day.
Harry was plotting ways to annoy Draco the next day.
By the time the sun rose, the boys were exhausted and a little disappointed that nothing had happened during the night. They dressed in silence for a while until...
"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to wearing a green and silver scarf and tie," moaned Harry.
"They match your eyes," Draco said without thinking.
Harry, Justin and Seamus stared at him. Draco stared back for a moment before realising what he'd said. He grabbed his robe and scarf and ran from the room.
"Well, that was weird," Harry finally commented.
"He's right though," Seamus said thoughtfully, his eyes flicking between Harry's eyes and his scarf.
"What?" Harry asked, amazed at where this conversation was going. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Let's go."
Breakfast was a strange affair, sitting at a different table, without his closest friends. Harry waved to Ron and Hermione as he walked in and sat down next to Fred. Draco was seated at the opposite end of the table, with the first years. He looked incredibly annoyed by the inane chatter of the eleven year olds, something which pleased Harry enormously.
"Could I have your attention please?" Dumbledore asked. "Just a few announcements. Classes will begin tomorrow. Today you will be confined to your house common room and dorm so you can get to know each other better. The library will be closed until tomorrow and any students caught out of their houses will be given a week's detention and their house will lose 50 points. Have a great day."
Harry grinned as he looked over at the Ravenclaw table and saw Hermione talking furiously to Ginny, most likely about the library being closed today. Seamus, Justin, Fred and himself were just glad that classes weren't starting today.
Back in the Slytherin common room Draco was nowhere to be seen. Most of the other Slytherins were in their dorm rooms so it was only Fred, Seamus, Justin and Harry in the common room.
"I hope the little bugger gets caught," Seamus said rubbing his hands together with a sly grin.
"I don't," Justin replied. "He'll lose Slytherin 50 points if he does."
"Oh yeah," Seamus said despondently.
"I have an idea which will annoy the hell out of Malfoy and Snape at the same time. Are you guys in?" Harry asked, grinning wickedly.
"Always," replied Fred, grinning back.
"Of course," Seamus said indignantly, as if Harry even had to ask.
"Okay," Justin replied, a little more cautiously. He hadn't been involved in any of the pranks or mischief that Fred, Seamus and Harry had been involved in over the years.
Fred threw his arm around Justin's shoulders, "Don't worry, we'll make a prankster out of you yet."
"So what's the plan Harry?" Seamus asked enthusiastically.
"We are going to do a little redecorating," Harry said slyly.
"Huh?" Seamus didn't get it, but Fred's grin widened.
"I love it," Fred said.
"What?" Justin and Seamus said together.
"We are going to redecorate the Slytherin common room to make it lighter, brighter and more comfortable and unlike a prank that only lasts a short time, we are going to leave it like that forever. Plus, Hermione taught me a charm last year that can make mirrors look like windows, showing what's outside," Harry explained.
The four boys grinned at each other and got to work. Harry started charming the mirrors hanging around the walls while Fred transfigured the stones that made the floor into polished wooden floorboards.
"We really need to change the colour of the walls," Seamus said as he looked around. "These stones are so depressing."
"George and I know a colour changing charm that you could use," Fred said and told Seamus the charm. Seamus set to work changing the colour of the walls every few minutes to find one that worked. Justin used the same charm to change the colour of the armchairs, sofas, tables and lamps. Harry finished with the mirrors and started helping Justin.
The common room door opened suddenly and the four of them froze and stared expectantly at the door. Draco stormed inside and then stopped in surprise. The walls were currently a bright shade of orange, the sofas were violet and the lamps were sunshine yellow.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he finally asked. Harry stepped forward, stopping two feet directly in front of the blonde.
"Redecorating," Harry replied sweetly. "Don't you like it?"
"It's hideous," Draco spat out. "If you're going to change the colour scheme, at least choose colours that work together. This all clashes." He waved his arms around to indicate all the mismatched colours.
"Alright, if you know so much about it, what colour should they be?" Harry asked challengingly.
"First of all, this is the Slytherin common room, so it has to be decorated in silver and green," Draco started, his eyes never leaving Harry's. "The walls should be a middle shade of green, not too light and not too dark, and the ceiling should be a paler green. The wooden floorboards are good, so they can stay and the wooden doors match the floor so they can stay. But you need green and silver rugs on the floor. The sofas and armchairs should be a darker green than the walls but not too dark. The tables and the desks should match the floor and doors and the lamps should be silver. The wooden parts of the chairs at the desks should match the floor and the cushioned parts should match the sofas. The mirrors are an excellent touch. They make the room come alive."
Harry stared at Draco as the blonde stopped talking. Fred, Seamus and Justin had worked while Draco described the room and it now looked just like he'd described. The room was now so much lighter than before and much more homely.
"How do you know so much about this?" Harry asked finally.
Draco let himself fall onto the nearest sofa before he answered, "My mother. She redecorates the Manor every summer."
Fred, Justin and Seamus had started a game of Exploding Snap and were sitting at the desks at one end of the room. Harry sat down next to Draco on the sofa.
"Well....uh....thanks for your input," Harry said at last, being careful not to look at Draco. He stared straight ahead at a mirror, which showed Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was currently pouring some sort of gelatinous muck into Fang's bowl.
"Well, I couldn't let you leave it the way it was. We all would have gone blind," Draco drawled, though not as coldly as usual. What on earth is wrong with me? He wondered. First there was that comment about Harry's eyes and now he was having a civil conversation with Harry Fucking Potter of all people.
"So, Potter, want to duel?" Draco asked casually. Harry glanced over, seemingly unsurprised by the suggestion.
"Sure," he replied, drawing out his wand. Draco pulled his out of his pocket and hid a grin. He had spent every summer since he'd started at Hogwart's learning curses. Potter didn't stand a chance.
The two boys stood up and faced each other. Justin glanced up and saw the two of them circling each other with wands ready. He nudged Fred and Seamus and their game of Exploding Snap lay forgotten on the table and the three of them watched Harry and Draco.
Draco cast a particularly dark curse at Harry as the three spectators gasped. They didn't know what it was but it sounded bad.
Harry looked almost bored as he blocked the curse and cast a different, yet just as dark, curse at Draco.
Draco looked stunned at this and had to scramble to cast his own blocker. Harry Potter using dark curses? Would wonders never cease?
Harry hid a grin. Sirius had sent him a book of dark curses at the start of the summer along with a spell which would confuse the sensors the Ministry of Magic used to keep tabs on the underage use of magic. He'd been practicing all summer and now it was paying off.
Harry took advantage of Draco's confusion and cast another curse. This one hit it's target and
Draco fell down in a quivering mess.
"Finite Incantatum," Harry said, pointing his wand at Draco. "That was fun, Drac. We should do it again sometime."
Draco glared up at Harry, "Don't call me that, Potter."
Harry merely grinned down at him. Justin, Seamus and Fred returned to their card game, since it was obvious the show was over.
"And since when did you become so aggressive?" Draco enquired.
"Since I watched an innocent person die because of me," Harry replied flatly as he dropped back down on the sofa.
"I highly doubt that Diggory was innocent. Didn't you see all those girls with him wherever he went?" Draco said with raised eyebrows as Harry glared at him.
"You know what I meant," he snapped. "He didn't deserve to die, now you on the other hand...."
"I what? No, come on Potter, finish what you were saying. I deserve to die, is that it?" Draco sounded vaguely hurt although Harry couldn't fathom why.
"I don't know why on earth I'm talking about this with you," Harry said wearily, running a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes and lay his head back on the sofa
Draco's eyes followed Harry's hand as it ran through his hair and then, realising what he was doing, he shook himself and pulled himself up to sit on the sofa beside Harry.
"You have talked about this with other people, haven't you?" Draco asked, watching Harry's expression. He could tell instantly that Harry hadn't spoken of this to anyone before, although he didn't know how he knew this.
"You haven't even talked to the Weasel and the Mudblood about this?" Draco sounded incredulous. "Look, I might not know much about emotions and all that sort of stuff, but I do know that if you don't talk to someone soon, you are going to go insane."
"Oh, like you would be so upset if I was insane," Harry said sarcastically.
This is serious, thought Draco worriedly, he totally ignored me insulting his best friends.
~ to be continued ~
The new Slytherins gasped in shock at their first glimpse of their new common room.
"It's so dull and dreary," complained Seamus.
Harry glanced around, it hadn't changed since he and Ron had entered after taking Polyjuice Potion. The stone walls and floor were just as dark and drab as they had always been. The only thing adorning the walls were five or six mirrors hanging in various locations around the room. Green leather armchairs and sofas were scattered about the room with matching green tables and lamps beside them. Since it was in the dungeon there were no windows, and the dark colour scheme made it seem smaller than it actually was.
"Hey!" Draco said indignantly. "I'm sure this common room is far more luxurious than the Gryffindor common room!"
"Oh it is," Fred replied with a grin. "But the Gryffindor common room is cosy and warm. This place is as cold as a tomb."
Draco opened his mouth to argue but clearly decided not to bother as he turned abruptly and stalked up the stairs to what was evidently the boys' dorm.
Harry, Justin and Seamus followed slowly, none of them eager to find out if the dorm was as monotonous as the common room.
Draco was flopped on what was obviously his bed with his eyes tightly shut.
"It's not a dream, Malfoy," Harry taunted the blonde boy.
Before anyone knew what had happened, Draco was on his feet with his wand aimed at Harry's heart.
"How easy would it be, Potter, for me to kill you in your sleep?" Draco drawled icily.
"I'm sure your master would be pleased," Harry replied just as coldly, not moving to draw his own wand.
"I answer to no one," Draco snapped, his eyes flashing angrily as Seamus and Justin watched warily.
Harry merely raised an eyebrow.
"What the hell would you know, Potter?" Draco retorted as he threw his wand aside and started to mutter to himself as he got ready for bed. "....think you know everything and if you don't know, you think you have the right to go poking into other people's business just because you're the Boy Who Fucking Lived...."
Harry raised his other eyebrow at this and glanced at Seamus and Justin. "I think this is going to be rather fun."
They grinned at him and started to prepare for bed as Draco glared around at them all one more time before viciously pulling the curtains around his bed.
That night, all four boys hardly slept a wink.
Seamus and Justin were waiting for the inevitable confrontation between Draco and Harry.
Draco was plotting ways to humiliate Harry the next day.
Harry was plotting ways to annoy Draco the next day.
By the time the sun rose, the boys were exhausted and a little disappointed that nothing had happened during the night. They dressed in silence for a while until...
"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to wearing a green and silver scarf and tie," moaned Harry.
"They match your eyes," Draco said without thinking.
Harry, Justin and Seamus stared at him. Draco stared back for a moment before realising what he'd said. He grabbed his robe and scarf and ran from the room.
"Well, that was weird," Harry finally commented.
"He's right though," Seamus said thoughtfully, his eyes flicking between Harry's eyes and his scarf.
"What?" Harry asked, amazed at where this conversation was going. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Let's go."
Breakfast was a strange affair, sitting at a different table, without his closest friends. Harry waved to Ron and Hermione as he walked in and sat down next to Fred. Draco was seated at the opposite end of the table, with the first years. He looked incredibly annoyed by the inane chatter of the eleven year olds, something which pleased Harry enormously.
"Could I have your attention please?" Dumbledore asked. "Just a few announcements. Classes will begin tomorrow. Today you will be confined to your house common room and dorm so you can get to know each other better. The library will be closed until tomorrow and any students caught out of their houses will be given a week's detention and their house will lose 50 points. Have a great day."
Harry grinned as he looked over at the Ravenclaw table and saw Hermione talking furiously to Ginny, most likely about the library being closed today. Seamus, Justin, Fred and himself were just glad that classes weren't starting today.
Back in the Slytherin common room Draco was nowhere to be seen. Most of the other Slytherins were in their dorm rooms so it was only Fred, Seamus, Justin and Harry in the common room.
"I hope the little bugger gets caught," Seamus said rubbing his hands together with a sly grin.
"I don't," Justin replied. "He'll lose Slytherin 50 points if he does."
"Oh yeah," Seamus said despondently.
"I have an idea which will annoy the hell out of Malfoy and Snape at the same time. Are you guys in?" Harry asked, grinning wickedly.
"Always," replied Fred, grinning back.
"Of course," Seamus said indignantly, as if Harry even had to ask.
"Okay," Justin replied, a little more cautiously. He hadn't been involved in any of the pranks or mischief that Fred, Seamus and Harry had been involved in over the years.
Fred threw his arm around Justin's shoulders, "Don't worry, we'll make a prankster out of you yet."
"So what's the plan Harry?" Seamus asked enthusiastically.
"We are going to do a little redecorating," Harry said slyly.
"Huh?" Seamus didn't get it, but Fred's grin widened.
"I love it," Fred said.
"What?" Justin and Seamus said together.
"We are going to redecorate the Slytherin common room to make it lighter, brighter and more comfortable and unlike a prank that only lasts a short time, we are going to leave it like that forever. Plus, Hermione taught me a charm last year that can make mirrors look like windows, showing what's outside," Harry explained.
The four boys grinned at each other and got to work. Harry started charming the mirrors hanging around the walls while Fred transfigured the stones that made the floor into polished wooden floorboards.
"We really need to change the colour of the walls," Seamus said as he looked around. "These stones are so depressing."
"George and I know a colour changing charm that you could use," Fred said and told Seamus the charm. Seamus set to work changing the colour of the walls every few minutes to find one that worked. Justin used the same charm to change the colour of the armchairs, sofas, tables and lamps. Harry finished with the mirrors and started helping Justin.
The common room door opened suddenly and the four of them froze and stared expectantly at the door. Draco stormed inside and then stopped in surprise. The walls were currently a bright shade of orange, the sofas were violet and the lamps were sunshine yellow.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he finally asked. Harry stepped forward, stopping two feet directly in front of the blonde.
"Redecorating," Harry replied sweetly. "Don't you like it?"
"It's hideous," Draco spat out. "If you're going to change the colour scheme, at least choose colours that work together. This all clashes." He waved his arms around to indicate all the mismatched colours.
"Alright, if you know so much about it, what colour should they be?" Harry asked challengingly.
"First of all, this is the Slytherin common room, so it has to be decorated in silver and green," Draco started, his eyes never leaving Harry's. "The walls should be a middle shade of green, not too light and not too dark, and the ceiling should be a paler green. The wooden floorboards are good, so they can stay and the wooden doors match the floor so they can stay. But you need green and silver rugs on the floor. The sofas and armchairs should be a darker green than the walls but not too dark. The tables and the desks should match the floor and doors and the lamps should be silver. The wooden parts of the chairs at the desks should match the floor and the cushioned parts should match the sofas. The mirrors are an excellent touch. They make the room come alive."
Harry stared at Draco as the blonde stopped talking. Fred, Seamus and Justin had worked while Draco described the room and it now looked just like he'd described. The room was now so much lighter than before and much more homely.
"How do you know so much about this?" Harry asked finally.
Draco let himself fall onto the nearest sofa before he answered, "My mother. She redecorates the Manor every summer."
Fred, Justin and Seamus had started a game of Exploding Snap and were sitting at the desks at one end of the room. Harry sat down next to Draco on the sofa.
"Well....uh....thanks for your input," Harry said at last, being careful not to look at Draco. He stared straight ahead at a mirror, which showed Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was currently pouring some sort of gelatinous muck into Fang's bowl.
"Well, I couldn't let you leave it the way it was. We all would have gone blind," Draco drawled, though not as coldly as usual. What on earth is wrong with me? He wondered. First there was that comment about Harry's eyes and now he was having a civil conversation with Harry Fucking Potter of all people.
"So, Potter, want to duel?" Draco asked casually. Harry glanced over, seemingly unsurprised by the suggestion.
"Sure," he replied, drawing out his wand. Draco pulled his out of his pocket and hid a grin. He had spent every summer since he'd started at Hogwart's learning curses. Potter didn't stand a chance.
The two boys stood up and faced each other. Justin glanced up and saw the two of them circling each other with wands ready. He nudged Fred and Seamus and their game of Exploding Snap lay forgotten on the table and the three of them watched Harry and Draco.
Draco cast a particularly dark curse at Harry as the three spectators gasped. They didn't know what it was but it sounded bad.
Harry looked almost bored as he blocked the curse and cast a different, yet just as dark, curse at Draco.
Draco looked stunned at this and had to scramble to cast his own blocker. Harry Potter using dark curses? Would wonders never cease?
Harry hid a grin. Sirius had sent him a book of dark curses at the start of the summer along with a spell which would confuse the sensors the Ministry of Magic used to keep tabs on the underage use of magic. He'd been practicing all summer and now it was paying off.
Harry took advantage of Draco's confusion and cast another curse. This one hit it's target and
Draco fell down in a quivering mess.
"Finite Incantatum," Harry said, pointing his wand at Draco. "That was fun, Drac. We should do it again sometime."
Draco glared up at Harry, "Don't call me that, Potter."
Harry merely grinned down at him. Justin, Seamus and Fred returned to their card game, since it was obvious the show was over.
"And since when did you become so aggressive?" Draco enquired.
"Since I watched an innocent person die because of me," Harry replied flatly as he dropped back down on the sofa.
"I highly doubt that Diggory was innocent. Didn't you see all those girls with him wherever he went?" Draco said with raised eyebrows as Harry glared at him.
"You know what I meant," he snapped. "He didn't deserve to die, now you on the other hand...."
"I what? No, come on Potter, finish what you were saying. I deserve to die, is that it?" Draco sounded vaguely hurt although Harry couldn't fathom why.
"I don't know why on earth I'm talking about this with you," Harry said wearily, running a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes and lay his head back on the sofa
Draco's eyes followed Harry's hand as it ran through his hair and then, realising what he was doing, he shook himself and pulled himself up to sit on the sofa beside Harry.
"You have talked about this with other people, haven't you?" Draco asked, watching Harry's expression. He could tell instantly that Harry hadn't spoken of this to anyone before, although he didn't know how he knew this.
"You haven't even talked to the Weasel and the Mudblood about this?" Draco sounded incredulous. "Look, I might not know much about emotions and all that sort of stuff, but I do know that if you don't talk to someone soon, you are going to go insane."
"Oh, like you would be so upset if I was insane," Harry said sarcastically.
This is serious, thought Draco worriedly, he totally ignored me insulting his best friends.
~ to be continued ~