Part I
(The Train)
The summer had gone by all too quickly for Harry, as he found himself once again boarding the scarlet mechanical marvel that was the Hogwarts' Express. The now sixteen-year-old boy had spent the duration of his summer at his horrid aunt and uncle's house. It wasn't as though an offer hadn't been made to relieve him of his living situation for the last two weeks of the summer though.
The Weasleys, a less than wealthy wizarding family, had offered to host him for the final two weeks of the summer, but were severely disappointed when Harry had turned down the offer. And why had he turned down the offer when he was more than sure that his best mate Ron would take it to heart?
During his fifth year at Hogwarts, or more correctly, towards the end of his fifth year, Harry's disposition and bright attitude had changed. No longer the hope filled determined boy he had once been, the summer at Privet Drive hadn't seemed nearly as bad as he had remembered it being every year before this one. His relatives ignored him and he ignored them in return. It was as though Harry's mind had shut him off from the taunts and maltreatment that he received from his relatives, and sometimes he would find that he had spent the entire day staring out the window… as though waiting for something.
Sirius' death had changed Harry and need be said, not for the better. All of the hopes and fantasies that Harry had built up from the moment he had been informed of the possibility that he may have a chance to escape Privet Drive and live with his godfather had come crashing down around him. Hopelessness and despair had replaced them, leaving Harry to dwell and daunt on his memories and 'what ifs'.
Sirius had been his only chance at having a family, or so he told himself. Surely the Weasleys would welcome him in with open arms into their family, but they just weren't Sirius. Sirius had needed Harry just as much as Harry had needed Sirius.
Going to the Weasleys for the holiday would have surrounded Harry with love and affection, unrivaled by some people's true relatives. But why hadn't he gone? It was simple, Harry couldn't stand to see this family, so loving and caring… it broke his heart as he knew he would be reminded daily of his loss of family.
Harry sighed as he peered out the window, settling his gaze upon the platform. His uncle had dropped him off at the station three hours earlier than necessary, no doubt eager to be rid of him for another year. So he waited.
He was soon going to be flooded with questions as to his strange behavior over the summer and his lack of correspondence… all questions Harry didn't want to deal with. For once he wished that Ron and Hermione, his two best friends, would just let him be.
As if on cue, the compartment door slid open to reveal a tall girl with bushy brown hair, Hermione. Harry looked up to meet her gaze as she entered the compartment and tossed her bag on the seat across from him. "Hello Hermione." He started, not giving any inclination to his current somber mood.
Hermione didn't respond immediately. She had allowed herself a few moments to give her companion a once over and opened her mouth to speak when she felt she had assessed all that she could from his appearance. "All right Harry?" She asked, still not having sat down yet. "Have a good summer?"
Harry nodded once and didn't attempt to further the conversation; he knew well enough that she would be doing that anyway.
"Anything happen over the summer that you'd like to tell me about?" She asked with an inquisitive brow.
A light smirk appeared on his face as his body became a bit more animated than it had been before. "Subtlety is going to be forever lost on you, isn't it?"
An amused expression flitted across Hermione's features and she flashed a brief smile in his direction. Surely whatever was wrong couldn't have been too terribly bad if he could still rib her this way.
"I've just been doing a lot of thinking over the summer." He started, realizing if he didn't answer her question, she'd only take it upon herself to ask it again.
Hermione knew enough to leave the conversation at that. She knew Harry was still in mourning over the loss of his godfather, and as if that wasn't enough, added on were the ever-present pressures of Voldemort. She had been slightly curious when Harry had turned down Ron's invitation to come and stay with him and his family though. She had thought it would have been just the right chipper atmosphere to snap Harry out of his morbid thoughts.
Harry's gaze had returned to looking out the window onto the platform, indicating also that he hadn't the thought in his head of taking the conversation any further. Looking through his own reflection, he watched as other students said their goodbyes to their parents and families, and couldn't help but be reminded of how out of place his reflection looked among this scenery. One family however caught his eye and stood out over the rest. The Malfoy's.
The bright platinum hair of the Malfoy family stood in sharp contrast to every other head on the platform. 'Lucky git.' Harry found himself thinking as he watched Draco's mother straighten his robes some and give him a kiss on his cheek when she was sure she had done a satisfactory job. Lucius stood a further ways away, surveying the passing students with what looked like a mild sneer of disgust on his face.
Harry had the unpleasant opportunity of meeting Lucius Malfoy on several occasions prior to this one. To the best of the young boy's knowledge, Lucius was supposed to be being held in Azkaban at this time, but it didn't surprise him in the least to see him waltzing around in public. No doubt that he had pulled strings to gain his freedom, or even knowing that family, was arrogant enough to strut around unperturbed after escaping Azkaban. He still seemed as cold and contemptuous as ever in Harry's eyes as he watched him, shifting his gaze to Narcissa.
Narcissa. Draco's mother was a different story though. Harry had met her briefly at the Quidditch world cup during his fourth year. Though at the time, the woman appeared to be reserved and overly snobbish, she showed no hint of those traits now. She was animatedly talking to Draco, and every now and again, the conversation seemed to elict a smile on her face. She was beautiful, but even more so when her face was lit up in this way. Harry frowned as he watched Draco's reaction to his mother's affections. The git had the nerve to roll his eyes! If he only had the slightest clue of how lucky he was to even have a mother to smile upon him!
Storing that scene in his mind, filing it under yet another reason to hate the toe headed boy, Harry turned around to face Hermione once again. "So how was your summer?" He asked, though he did care the answer, he found himself not paying much attention as she rambled on about her summer's events.
No one else had entered their compartment before the train had started moving, and Harry felt himself slightly disturbed by this. Where was Ron? Could he be avoiding him?
Hermione must have noticed the bemused expression on Harry's face and assumed it to be over the matter of Ron's absence. "He probably just missed the train Harry." She provided the answer before the question could be asked.
"You don't think… well… is he upset with me?" Harry asked.
Her bushy head of hair shook from side to side. "No, I'm sure that he's not upset with you, maybe a little disappointed, but not enough to avoid you. Besides, I'm in here too."
"Yeah."
"Listen, you know the Weasleys, the whole lot of them can never seem to find it in themselves to keep time like normal people." Hermione pointed out but saw minimal relief in her friend's features. "I'll go have a look around the train if you'd like, you know, to see if Ginny got on."
"Thanks." Harry said, looking down to find the laces of his sneakers rather interesting. Without another word, Hermione was out of her seat and on her way to seek out heads of flaming red hair.
It was a while before Hermione made her way back to their compartment. Truth be told, it was an exceedingly large train to hold the entire school. "Any luck?" Harry looked up brightly.
She merely shook her head and closed the door behind her, but before she could latch the handle, she felt a sudden tug bringing it back against her force. Hermione had caught a brief glimpse of the scowl on Harry's face before she spun around to see just who was entering the compartment behind her. Rolling her eyes, she crossed her hands over her chest. "Malfoy."
"Well," Draco drawled as he stepped into the compartment, his lip curling in a slight smirk. "I see-", but Hermione had cut him off.
"What do you want?" The Gryffindor girl was sure Malfoy's torments were the last thing that Harry needed to deal with right now and was curt as possible in getting rid of him.
"It's rude to interrupt people Granger." He glared at her.
"And it's also rude to invite yourself into other people's space!" Her eyes flicked to the open door behind the blond.
"Stop it Granger, or you're going to make me feel unwelcome." He smirked some more and turned his gaze to Harry.
"Well you're not welcome here." Harry spoke gruffly, shooting daggers with his eyes at Draco. He hadn't forgotten about his new reason for his distaste in the boy.
"Tut tut Potter. I was just wondering who you were going to have come in for you meetings."
Hermione's face drained of color. She had forgotten about the meetings that the students were to have during their sixth year. In their sixth year, the students were to solidify their choice of careers following graduation. For this, the student's parents were to come to the school and have a meeting with their child and their child's head of house. "Leave Malfoy." She growled before he could continue.
"Now that you've gone and gotten your godfather killed, I suppose that oaf Hagrid will fill in. You know, one big stupid animal for another." His smirk stretched into a grin.
"Get. Out. NOW!" Hermione's voice was firm and she chanced a look at Harry who was still sitting there glaring at Malfoy.
What could he say back to that? Draco was right, he had gotten his godfather killed, Sirius' death was indeed his fault. But one thing was for sure, he wasn't going to let Draco get away with insulting his memory of his godfather. "Neither Sirius or Hagrid are stupid animals!"
"Right." Draco's sarcasm didn't go unnoticed.
Hermione stepped between Harry and Draco, knowing full well that Harry couldn't control his anger or rage when his emotions were out of control. "Why do you feel the need to do this every year?" She spat in Draco's direction. "You don't ever see us seeking you out and starting trouble, it's always the other way around."
Draco shrugged. "What? Can't I be social? Can't I be interested in my schoolmates' lives?"
"Not mine." Harry said indignantly.
"Oh, but everyone else is, I'd just feel left out." The blonde's mock innocence wasn't fooling anyone. He turned to leave, about to throw a wave back over his head when he heard Hermione begin to speak again.
"Probably just doesn't have any real friends to talk to, has to come and take his boredom out on us." Any further words were cut off as she slid the door shut behind her without even glancing where Draco had been standing.
But Harry had seen it, he had seen Draco's face after Hermione spoke her thoughts. Crestfallen. If he had heard them though, why hadn't he burst through the door insisting that she was wrong? Why hadn't he defended himself, that wasn't like Draco at all.
Ron had indeed missed the train just as Hermione had suggested. He arrived later on that evening with his younger sister Ginny.
"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall's face rounded the corner from the entranceway of the Gryffindor common room. "What are you doing out of bed at this hour?" She asked sternly.
It was true, Harry was out of bed past curfew, he was longing on the sofa before the great fire. He couldn't sleep and was in fact lost in his thoughts and not realized the time. Behind McGonagall, he spotted Ron and Ginny grinning at him. "Sorry Professor, I lost track of time. I had stayed up waiting for Ron."
"Well that's no excuse. Your concern for others doesn't constitute you habitual rule breaking." She let out a sigh. "But I see no need to do anything about it at this time of the night. I'm sure it will not happen again, correct?"
Harry stood. "No mamma, it will not happen again."
McGonagall eyed him curiously, knowing full well that the statement was false. "Very well then. If you would, please help Ginny with her things."
Without having to be told twice, Harry rushed to Ginny's side to relieve her of some of the heavier things she had been carrying.
Once they were alone, and Harry had helped Ginny with her trunk, he turned to Ron. "Look mate, I'm really sorry about this summer."
"It's all right." Ron said, waving it off as though it had meant nothing to him.
"Ron, it's not like I didn't want to see you, it's just that… well… I'm just sure that no one would have wanted to see me this summer." Harry started, pulling on his pajama top. "I can't say I would have been much fun."
"Well you could have told me about it, instead you just shut me out." Ron quipped, the remark coming off a bit more vindictively than he had meant.
Harry winced. "I know. It wasn't really something I wanted to talk about though."
"I know." Ron sighed dejectedly. He had known why Harry had turned down his invitation to stay with him this summer. His mother had sat him down and explained some of Harry's possible feelings to him after the initial tantrum he threw after receiving Harry's refusal. Though he didn't like it, he knew that time alone may have been just the thing for his friend. "It still would have been nice to have you around, even if you had insisted on being a moping prat." Ron had ended with a smile, revealing that he had in fact truly missed Harry.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day. Tomorrow was the parent meetings, Dumbledore had informed them of as much. Their timetables for the rest of the year would reflect the decisions that were made in those meetings. Harry had a flutter of a thought scrape his mind. If he had no parents or guardians to intercede on his behalf, he could take whatever courses interested him. He would have no one but himself standing in his way of becoming an Auror. No 'It's too dangerous.' or 'Maybe you should try this…'. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all.
A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fan fic. ANY constructive criticism is MORE than welcome.