Harry awoke to a familiar sound. It was the sound of someone's fists hitting flesh, followed by a soft groan. He froze, the many times when he had been caught by Dudley's gang flashed through is mind. The thought of interfering made him queasy, but he reached for his glasses (discovered they were still on his face) and pushed the covers back anyway. No one was ever going to be beaten up if he could help it. He fumbled in the pocket of his robes for his wand, his eyes fixed on the scene before him.
Draco was lounging on his bed, his eyes fixed on the other end of the room where Crabbe and Goyle were fighting against an olive-skinned boy with dark brown hair. Or to be more accurate, Crabbe was holding the boy in place while Goyle delivered his punches to different body parts. The boy had his eyes closed tightly and his jaw clenched. Harry winced in sympathy as Goyle's fist crashed into the boy's shoulder.
Harry mentally ran through the rather long list of spells and curses at his disposal before stepping into the middle of the room. His wand was being held the way his father had drilled into him, and it was pointing straight at Goyle's back.
"Let him go," he demanded, trying to put as much force behind the command as his father always did. It didn't completely work. Goyle and Crabbe froze and looked ready to obey him, but then Draco spoke up.
"No!" he called, jumping up from the bed and coming to stand next to Harry. "His father and my father dislike each other," he explained casually. Harry stared at him incredulously.
"And that's a reason to dislike him?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. Draco nodded.
"Of course. This will teach him not to get uppity." Draco sounded like he was parroting someone. Harry shook his head.
"Call them off, Draco, or I'll do it for you," he commanded. Draco began to look angry, any of his goodwill from the night before evaporating in the face of Harry's challenge to his authority.
"I covered for you last night, Harry," he warned. Harry could think of no way of explaining that Draco's good deed did not mean that he was going to sit by and watch him bully someone. He looked toward Goyle and made sure his aim was correct. Snape always said aim was important.
"Acerverbera." In order to learn the curses that were performed on another person, Harry had had to feel each curse at least once. He knew Goyle would feel like he was being slapped all over his body for as long as he maintained the curse, which was why he took it off after a few seconds. Goyle stumbled backward in surprise, though he didn't look hurt. Harry turned the wand on Crabbe, but the dull-faced boy showed some sense and let go of his victim. Harry kept his wand in his hand, as he crossed the room and helped the other boy to his feet.
"Where did you learn that?" asked Draco. He sounded both curious and angry. Harry shrugged, though his mind was racing for an explanation. His father had never discussed this with him.
"I've been here at Hogwarts for a few weeks now. There was nothing to do but learn," he said as casually as possible. He turned his attention to the boy. "Are you alright?" The boy's dark brown eyes widened a little at being addressed.
"I'm fine," he mumbled. He turned back to his bed and began to pull on his outer robe. Harry glanced at his watch, than ran to grab his things. They were going to miss breakfast if they didn't hurry. When he left the room a few minutes later, the olive-skinned boy was right behind him. He was very quiet.
"What's your name?" Harry finally asked him.
"Blaise Zabini," responded the boy in a soft voice. After a moment, he spoke again. "Thank you." Harry was embarrassed.
"It was no trouble," he said. Blaise just nodded. When Harry took his seat at the Slytherin table, Blaise sat right beside him, though he didn't say another word all through breakfast. Harry ignored Draco and his flunkies when they came to the table and was ignored in turn. He glanced up at the High Table and saw his father scowling into his plate. McGonnagal was attempting to engage him in conversation, but Harry could have told her it was a wasted effort to get a civil word out of his father before breakfast.
The arrival of the post startled him. He had never seen so many owls in the air at once. He was easily able to pick out Godewina's white body from the crowd. He realized with sense of guilt that he hadn't even thought of her since the Sorting. She dropped a piece of parchment in front of him, than perched near his plate. He fed her a bit of toast.
"Did you spend the night in the owlry?" he asked. She hooted in affirmation, rubbing her head affectionately against his hand before flying off. He was glad she wasn't angry with him for forgetting her. He nearly jumped when someone thrust a parchment under his nose. He looked up in time to see his father striding angrily along the table, distributing parchment as he went.
Bemused, Harry looked to see that the parchment held his time table, which was colour coded to show which houses would be together for classes. Across from him, Draco groaned.
"We have double Potions with Gryffindor!" he complained to Crabbe and Goyle, who nodded their heads in agreement. Harry was beginning to doubt their ability to think, much less read their own schedules. He put the schedule aside however, to read the note that Godewina had brought him.
Harry,
Why don't you come on down and have a cup of tea with me after your classes today? Fang's been missing you.
Hagrid
Harry was overjoyed at the simple note. He had been expecting Hagrid not to like him now that he was in Slytherin. Going to see him would bring him dangerously close to his expected detention time with Snape, but he wouldn't have missed seeing Hagrid for the world.
His first classes went by in a blur. History of Magic couldn't have been more boring, but luckily, Binns didn't expect anyone to pay attention. He was ahead of everyone in Charms thanks to his practicing, and even the charms he didn't know seemed simplistic compared to the ones his father had been teaching him. Herbology was a lot like the gardening the Dursleys had always made him do.
It would have been a perfect first day if not for two things. Everyone was staring at him. They would whisper his name as he passed, and the creepy feeling that people were watching him began to make him very jumpy. Somehow his trip to Diagon Alley hadn't really conveyed just how famous he really was in the wizarding world, and he was sure that getting into Slytherin hadn't helped matters.
His second problem was Blaise Zabini. The boy wouldn't leave him alone, following along behind him like his second shadow. He sat next to him in class and worked with Harry whenever they were told to pair up. Harry had no chance to talk to Josiah. It wouldn't have been so bad if Blaise ever talked to anyone, but he was the quietest boy Harry had ever met. By the end of the day, Harry was sure he hadn't heard more than ten words out of Blaise's mouth.
When classes were over, Harry headed for the main doors, but paused when he realised that Blaise was still with him.
"I'm going to see Hagrid, Blaise," he said. The other boy shrugged.
"Okay." Harry couldn't stand it any longer.
"Look. Why are you following me? You don't owe me anything for this morning," he said. Blaise gave him a strange look.
"Malfoy has Crabbe and Goyle. You have me," he said simply.
"I don't need a bodyguard or a lackey," protested Harry, appalled by the idea. It made him sound like Dudley and his gang. Blaise shook his head.
"You will once Malfoy gets over his awe at your presence. I'm just making my allegiance clear." Harry stared at the boy in frustration. Somehow he suspected that being in Gryffindor would have been much less complicated. Then he had an idea.
"Look, you can stay with me, but only as my friend," he said. Blaise looked shocked. "I don't want you doing things just because I say so, and if I ask you to do something you don't want to, I expect you to say no. You don't have to follow me around, and you certainly don't have to be so quiet."
"I'm always quiet," said Blaise.
"Oh," said Harry lamely. "Well, are we friends?" He held out his hand. Blaise stared at it for a very long time before taking it. He gave Harry a small smile, the first Harry had seen on him.
"Friends."
*****
L. Acer "stinging" + verbera "blows"
Next chapter: Hagrid and Snape…
Thank you so much to all my reviewers. You guys really inspire and encourage me:) Harry opened the wall by speaking parseltongue, though he doesn't realize it yet. Thanks to Ozma for suggesting the visit to Hagrid, even if it didn't make it into this chapter;)
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